Third Party Research Project

Part I

Pick three third parties from the list below and for each, answer the following:

1. Name of party
2. Is this party a single-issue party, ideological party, or splinter party?
3. Summarize the parties' beliefs in the following areas in 1 sentence each.
• Economic issues
• Domestic social issues
• Foreign Policy
4. What are your overall impressions of this party? (Their organization, their platform, their leadership, anything) Is this a party you would vote for? 

Choose from this list:

Natural Law Party

Reform Party

Constitution Party

Green Party of the United States (note: do not confuse with Green Party USA)

Libertarian Party

Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL)

Peace and Freedom Party

Prohibition Party

Socialist Party USA

Socialist Workers Party

U.S. Pacifist Party

Workers World Party

Part II

Create a one-pager on a third party you would like to join - this may be on any of the parties chosen above or check out this quick summary for more third parties. Your one-pagers should include:

1. Party symbols
2. Party platforms
3. Current party leadership
4. Candidates and history of the party in politics
5. Roles, if any, the party had on elections and policies in America 
6. Why you want to join that party (and why you want people to join you as well)
7. Illustration with a caption that exemplifies your party
8. A border/slogan that is relevant to your party

Project - Poll Assignment

Background:

We measure public opinion in the country today by asking people questions and then creating statistics about these much-directed questions. The study of American public opinion attempts to understand how and why the American People think and act the way they do about politics and policy issues.

George Gallup first developed polling people about political and public opinion when he did it for his mother-in-law who was running for office in 1932. Her victory excited him and made him continue his quest to understand people’s minds. The Gallup Organization does the same thing George Gallup started many years ago, just on a broader scale.

The Gallup Organization uses approximately 1,000 to 1,500 people in a sample to accurately represent a cross-section of voters. They try their best to give a random sampling, which means that everyone has an equal chance of being selected as part of the sample. However, even with random sampling, there is always going to be sampling error. This means that polling is not an exact science and involves estimation. For example, if there was a poll that said it has a ±5% sampling error, this means that 95% of the time the poll is within 5% of what the entire population thinks. So for a poll that says 70% of the people in America support the President’s handling of the War on Terror with a ±5% sampling error, the figure is somewhere between 65% and 75%.

Project Directions:

You may do this part of the assignment in pairs, or choose to work by yourself.

You are going to create a poll of 5 questions about any topic in Government and Politics.  You are to administer this poll to at least 100 random people each.

You will want to either have this poll completely randomized.  I will caution you though, to think carefully about how to get proper and valid poll results; think about how you will conduct this poll and to whom you will ask.  

Remember, the more randomized the poll is and the more people you ask, the more accurate your findings will be.  (If you choose to do this with a partner, you will need to double your sample size.)

1. Tabulate the results and create a chart or graph of your results digitally on Google Slides.  This can be done for you through Google Sheets or Excel.
2. With your information, you are to individually hand in a write-up/analysis of your results and your experience, not exceeding two pages.
3. You are finally going to give a quick presentation to the entire class about your poll, your findings, and how you think your poll results compare to the professional polling efforts.  Be prepared to answer questions. 

Student Sample:

This is a simple one, there is a lot more information that can be included on your slide or slides. Be sure to include your name.

Fight Night: Federalist v. Anti-Federalist

Aim: What were the major disagreements between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists in ratifying the Constitution?

Administrative Stuff:

1. One half of the class will be analyzing and annotating The Federalist Papers. The other half of the class will be analyzing and annotating a collection of works known collectively as The Anti-Federalist Papers.
2. The Papers are extensive, but you're an AP class... I believe in you!
3. You will be given two class periods only to work on this.

Directions:

1. As said above, you will be analyzing and annotating each document.  To do this, you may want to break up the papers among your group.
2. For each document, you want to annotate it and pull out its main arguments for or against ratification of the Constitution as it stood in 1787.
3. Everyone should be contributing to this endeavor.  By the end, I should be able to see comments and contributions from every student along the side.
4. Feel free to play around with the interactive cooperative features of Docs.  You should be able to reply to each other's comments to allow for multiple perspectives and interpretations.

On Monday, we will be staying in our groups and recreating the debates between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists.  Therefore, while you are working in your groups, you may also want to take some time and prepare your arguments and anticipate what the other side will be bringing to the table.  You will want to organize your arguments in a way that is persuasive and meaningful.  A debate will follow Parliamentary Style rules.

Note:  The main points of contention are

1. National v. State Sovereignty
2. The Necessity of a Union
3. The Bill of Rights
4. Democratic Principles
5. Powers of the Government
6. Powers of the Legislative Branch
7. Powers of the Executive Branch
8. Powers of the Judicial Branch
9. Responsibility and Checks in Government

Participation in Government (PiG) Paper

Oink Oink Baby

Your PiG paper requirements can be found at the link above.

DUE DATES:

Wednesday 11/24/21 - Pre-Task Question

Friday 12/03/21 - Task I
Friday 12/17/21 - Task II
Sunday 01/02/22 - Task III
Friday 01/07/22 - PiG due

For all procrastinators, late work is not accepted.  No, you cannot have more time.  If you need more time, just think of each task being due a week earlier.

"If you're early, you're on time; if you're on time, you're late; if you're late, you might as well not show up at all."

Weekly CE Homework Assignment - Topics Vary, Refer to Classroom

Read all three articles by class on Friday. Be prepared to discuss what you have read. For homework, still due at the usual time, create an argumentive essay for or against this topic. Cite where appropriate.

For our purposes, sentence starters like "In the [author's last name] article..." or "In the article, [article title],...." will do.

Keep in mind, for all argumentative essays:

1. Introduction where you introduce your claim (argument).
2. Choose a side and tell me why.  Use at least 2 examples from the articles - this can be a direct quote or paraphrase.
3. What is the other side's claim (argument)?
4. Why is your argument better?
5. Restate your claim and conclude.  Leave with a poignant thought on the matter.

Current Events Ongoing Project

Pick a current events topic from the following list or if there's a current events issue that particularly moves you, let me know.

You and your partner(s) are to present the topic to the class and lead a class discussion that will take the entire class period (roughly 45 minutes).

Requirements - You need to:

1. Have some sort of presentation with visuals.
2. Present your topic as a controversial issue with two sides
3. Find at minimum three articles and send links to these articles to Mr. Lee by the Saturday before your presentation.  These articles should be 1 neutral/informational article, 1 article in favor, and 1 article against.  
1. If your articles are not submitted, you will be deducted 10 points.  
2. If they are late, you will be deducted 5 points.
3. If the articles are not up to par and I ask you to replace any of the articles - if you get them back to me on time, no further points will be deducted, but I have to replace those articles for you, you will be deducted 2 points per article.
4. Send Mr. Lee your presentation along with a list of 10 discussion questions no later than the day before you're scheduled to present.
5. Create a quick 3 question quiz to give the class after your presentation - you should only ask questions that are actually discussed in your presentation or your readings.  Avoid opinion questions (I reserve the right to change the questions up).

For your presentation, you must include (but not limited to):

1. A "Do Now" where you lead the class - this could be a well-thought-out political cartoon of your choosing that relates to your topic. 
2. The history of your topic 
• What is your topic about?  
• How did it come about?  
• What's the historical context of your topic?
• Why is it an issue of controversy today?
• What are the two sides arguing? (Present both sides of the argument)  Are there any people or organizations leading the charge?
3. How is your topic "current?" (use your articles)
4. What has the government done, of note, so far in regards to your topic?
5. How do your elected officials (President, Governor, Mayor, Representatives, etc.) view this topic?
6. Most recent and relevant court cases and laws (summarize)
• What does the Constitution say about this?  How can the Constitution be interpreted for this issue?
7. Your opinions on this issue
8. Some media - no more than 8 minutes long
9. Citations/References

With the time you have left, you will be using your discussion questions and leading the class in a discussion on your topic.

HW #3 - We Will Never Forget

The slogan for 9/11 since that fateful day back in 2001 has been "we will never forget." Reflect on what that means to you. Maybe your family was personally affected or maybe as a New Yorker, you just have a deeper connection. Think about how 9/11 has affected you, even though most of you weren't alive to remember it. In addition to your own reflection, I want you to interview someone who remembers 9/11 and ask them about their memory and experiences of the day. I'm leaving this assignment purposefully open-ended so you can have a little creativity with it and see where it goes, but if you need some guidance, please let me know.