Next Semester

I will be teaching two groups of L1 LEA E22ANY3 British Culture & Civilization. Here are the times/place if you would like to be in my group:

Tuesday 15h45-16h45 F004A
Wednesday 15h45-16h45 F106

Best,
Megan Oprea

Exam #3

Don't forget that you have your last exam this week. The exam will be on the articles from week 11 and 12. I have just posted the discussion questions to help you to study.

The format: 5 short questions for each essay for a total of 10 questions. Each question is worth 2 points for a total of 20 possible points.

Email me if you have any questions.

Discussion Questions for Week 11 & 12

Week 11 Discussion Questions:

1.     What happens once a decade? Why?

2.     What is a legislative district?

3.     Why do districts need to be made equal?

4.     What does “one-person, one-vote” mean?

5.     Why is redistricting difficult & contentious?

6.     What did the Democrats do in Georgia? Why?

7.     What happened in New York?

8.     What was the difference between Georgia & New York?

9.     What is another way districts are made uneven sometimes?

Week 12 Discussion Questions

1.     What bill did the House of Representatives pass?

2.     Which party was “for” the bill?

3.     What is the Obama administration’s reaction?

4.     Where does the bill say funds should come from?

5.     What is the main benefit of the bill?

6.     Why do democrats say it is dangerous?

7.     What does “special interests” mean?

8.     Did Obama or McCain use public financing in 2008?

Week 12 Reading

Please read this article for next week, which is also our last week of normal class. The week following that there will be your final exam which will cover the articles from week 11 and 12.

House passes bill to end public funding of campaigns

By Catalina Camia, published: January 26, 2011, from USA TODAY

The U.S. House passed a bill today to end public financing of presidential campaigns, but the bid to kill a system considered outdated by some Republicans could end there.

The vote was 239-160. Ten Democrats supported the measure and one Republican voted no.

The Obama administration is "strongly opposed" to the bill and wants to see public financing for presidential campaigns "fixed rather than dismantled."

Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., sponsor of the measure says the Watergate-era program of taxpayers helping to pay for presidential campaigns is "obsolete."

Instead, the bill seeks to have presidential candidates rely on private funds for their campaigns and transfer the remaining balance in the Presidential Election Campaign Fund to the Treasury to help pay off debt.

Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., said Republicans are trying "to further erode whatever protections our government has left against a state of democracy for the highest bidder."

Republicans won the House majority on promises to chop federal spending. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the campaign bill would save $617 million over 10 years -- a fraction of the $1.5 trillion budget deficit now projected for this year.

The Obama administration said the measure would deal another blow to the campaign financing system, on the heels of last year's Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case that opened the door to more election spending by corporations and unions.

"This is not the time to further empower the special interests or to obstruct the work of reform," said the official Statement of Administration Policy, issued earlier this week by the White House budget office.

The public-financing system was created in the 1970s, as a way to end the abuses highlighted during the Watergate scandal. USA TODAY's Fredreka Schouten reported earlier this week that taxpayer support has waned, with only 7.3% of taxpayers choosing in 2009 to check off a box on their federal income tax forms to donate $3 toward the public-financing fund.

Shortly after the House passed its bill, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced a companion measure in the Senate. "The American people have spoken and the verdict is clear," said McConnell, R-Ky. "They'd rather reduce the deficit than pay for attack ads and robo-calls."

President Obama set a record for fundraising in his 2008 campaign, relying on private donors, and bypassed the public financing system.

Republican John McCain, however, did not forgo public funds and received more than $84 million in taxpayer money to help pay for his general election bid against Obama.

Source:

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2011/01/house-presidential-campaign-financing-/1

Week 11 Discussion Questions

Week 11 Discussion Questions:

'One person, one vote' still an unsettled question for states

1.     What happens once a decade? Why?

2.     What is a legislative district?

3.     Why do districts need to be made equal?

4.     What does “one-person, one-vote” mean?

5.     Why is redistricting difficult & contentious?

6.     What did the Democrats do in Georgia? Why?

7.     What happened in New York?

8.     What was the difference between Georgia & New York?

9.     What is another way districts are made uneven sometimes?

Week 11 Reading

Please read the following article and be prepared for our normal discussion in class.

'One person, one vote' still an unsettled question for states

Friday, February 11, 2011

By Josh Goodman

From Stateline

Legislatures will begin tying themselves in knots in a matter of weeks as they redraw the boundaries of their own districts. The difficult, costly, contentious once-a-decade process occurs for one reason: Population has shifted over the past ten years, giving some districts too many people and some too few. To abide by the principle of "one-person, one-vote," district populations must be made equal — more or less.

But just how equal is equal enough? For state legislative districts, that’s a key legal issue that remains unresolved. The muddle comes from two relatively obscure court cases originating in the last redistricting cycle.

A decade ago, Democratic dominance in Georgia was waning. The party still controlled the state Legislature, though, and as a result had the power to draw state House and Senate lines to try to perpetuate its hold on power a little bit longer. That’s just what the Democrats did. One of their tactics was to create suburban Republican-tilting districts that were over-populated — they had more people than the statewide average — while under-populating Democratic seats in cities and rural areas. The most populous districts had almost 10 percent more people than the smallest ones. The end result was more Democratic districts and fewer Republican ones.

Predictably, Republicans cried foul. A federal district court agreed with them, throwing the map out on one-person, one-vote grounds in a case called Larios v. Cox. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the decision.

In New York, the Republicans who controlled the state Senate also were clinging to power in a state Democrats increasingly dominated. Their redistricting plan looked a lot like the one in Georgia. They stretched their power by underpopulating Republican-leaning upstate districts, while over-populating Democratic seats in New York City. Once again, the population deviations were just under 10 percent. This time, though, in the case of Rodriguez v. Pataki, a U.S. district court said the plan was constitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld that decision, too.

Given the conflicting Supreme Court judgments, which occurred just five months apart, courts are nearly certain to revisit the issue this cycle. What’s at stake is how much power legislators have to draw maps for partisan ends. If the courts follow Larios, and limits variations even in the 10 percent range, political gerrymandering will be harder. If they follow Rodriguez, it will be easier.

Population deviations, though, aren’t all about partisan politics. States often draw legislative districts with unequal populations in order to keep communities intact or make life more convenient for election administrators. State lawmakers hope they’ll be able to keep that power. 

Source: http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=549681

Exam #2 & Discussion Questions

As you know, you have an exam next week (week 10 on the calendar).
Exam dates are: November 16, 17, 18, depending on which group you are in. If you know that you are going to miss class you MUST email me BEFORE the exam so that you can come to one of my other groups.

The exam will consist of 1 essay question for each article for a total of 4 essay questions. The articles are: a) Is health care-reform constitutional, b) House adopts resolution scolding Obama on Libya, c) Obama picks Kagan..., d) Who is the Tea Party?

Below are the discussion questions from each week. You should go back over these questions, making sure you can answer them. You should also re-read the articles carefully making sure that you understand them.

If you have any questions email me. Megan.Oprea@univ-montp3.fr

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

Is Health Care Reform Constitutional?

      1. Where will the battle over federal control of health care shift if the health-care bill becomes law?
2. What does the health-care bill require everyone to do? What clause of the constitution discusses this?
3. Has Congress ever used the commerce clause to affect economic inactivity? Did it in WWII?

      4. What was done to get some senators to vote for the bill?

      5. What are some states thinking of doing? Will it work?
6. How can a state make the bill unconstitutional? When was the last time this happened?

House Scolds Obama

1.     Why did the House of Representatives adopt a resolution rebuking Obama?

2.     What did Obama do in Libya? Why?

3.     Why does the President need approval from Congress?

4.     What does the resolution do?

5.     Who is Boehner and what does he want from the Obama administration?

6.     What does Obama’s administration say in response?

7.     What does the War Powers Act say?

8.     Why is it important to have a War Powers Act and to require approval from Congress before going to war?

      9.   How do Republicans & Democrats feel about Obama’s treatment of Congress?

Obama Chooses Kagan

1.     How are Supreme Court Justices (judges) chosen?

2.     How many has Obama chosen?

3.     What worries Obama about the current Supreme Court?

4.     What is Obama’s “agenda”?

5.     Why did he choose Kagan?

6.     What is her background (name 3 things)

7.     What makes her different from other Supreme Court Judges?

8.     Why is it a big deal when a president gets to appoint a Supreme Court Judge?

Who is the Tea Party?

1.     Who has been asking, “Who is the Tea Party”?

2.     What does this imply?

3.     What is Jonathan Rauch’s definition of a Tea Party member? (List 3 things)

4.     What does RINO mean? How doe Tea Partiers feel about them?

5.     What is a RUAN?

6.     How do Tea Partiers think of themselves? How does this affect how they vote?

7.     How do Tea Partiers generally feel about compromise?

8.     What does the Tea Party want to do?