Political Linkage in America

Choose ONE political linkage topics from theme 3 in the syllabus. There are a total of six political linkage topics in theme 3 to choose from: 1) Political Parties, 2) Elections and Voting, 3) Interest Groups, 4) Social Movements, 5) The News, and 6) Public Opinion. In your essay, you must address both of the following two parts. 

Part 1: Identify a personal (real world) experience that you have with your chosen political linkage topic, and analyze how your personal (real world) experience compares to what you have read in the assigned readings for that topic. For example, let’s say you choose Elections and Voting as your political linkage topic from theme 3. You will then describe in detail your own personal, real-world experience with voting in an election. You will then compare that personal experience to what the assigned readings on Elections and Voting say about this topic (as listed in the syllabus, the assigned readings for Elections and Voting are found in We the People, Chapter 7). Is your personal real-world experience the same or different from what is presented in the assigned readings? Explain. That is just one example. You can choose any political linkage topic from theme 3. 

Part 2: Discuss in detail how you would use your overall knowledge about your chosen political linkage topic gained from this class to respond to a specific political issue/event in the news right now. For example, let’s say you choose Elections and Voting as your political linkage topic from theme 3. Identify a specific political issue/problem that is currently highlighted in the news right now, and use everything that you have learned about Elections and Voting in this class to create detailed strategies for taking action to respond to (or even solve) that political issue/problem.