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Essay Instructions: The lack of targeted funding resources in the Black Urban Community and the impact on elections if the Black Church would encourage their congregation to consistently vote and hold elected officials accountable to their community

Essay Instructions: Democratic theory presupposes at least some link between the votes taken by members of Congress and
the policy preferences of their constituents. In a 6-7 page essay, discuss to what extent Bartels argues that
this link actually exists between elected officials and the mass public, at least on matters of economic
inequality. Given the description of the political capacities of the average citizen provided by Bartels, is
this level of responsiveness appropriate? To what extent should members of Congress adopt
representation tactics more in line with the delegate or trustee model of representation than those they
currently employ?
In writing, you should begin by stating your thesis and briefly summarizing Bartels? argument before
answering these questions. You may also draw on ideas and concepts from class lectures and readings,
but you do not need to do outside research for this paper.
This assignment may overlap with some part(s) of the first and/or second assignments. Please note that
reusing text from either assignment (i.e., plagiarizing yourself) is considered plagiarism

Essay Instructions: Discussion 3: The Social Work Advocate in Politics
Social workers often have commitments to specific policies, laws, or funding of programs that are vital to the population they serve or an issue that they strongly support. Such commitments often lead social workers to become involved in political issues and the campaigns of specific candidates. Being a social worker, such campaign experiences, the outcomes of your efforts, and how effective you felt you were may affect your view of the political process and the likelihood of becoming involved in similar campaigns in the future.

For this Discussion, reflect on your experiences if you have ever participated in a political campaign. What was the outcome of your participation? If you have not participated in a campaign, choose a campaign topic you support or oppose and consider the ways you might like to participate in that campaign. Likewise, think about your experiences if you have ever lobbied on a topic. If you have not, choose a topic for which you might like to lobby in favor or against. Finally, consider how you think social workers might have a powerful and positive effect as elected officials.

Post by Day 4 an explanation of the role of lobbying and campaigning in social work practice. Then, explain how you think social workers might have a powerful and positive effect as elected officials. Finally, explain of the impact, if any, the experiences and opinions of your colleagues have had on your own experiences and opinions.

Support your post with specific references to the resources. Be sure to provide full APA citations for your references.

Essay Instructions: Most explanations of policy decisions argue that narrow, organized interests with large stakes and their congressional representatives establish and maintain a high level of political influence through sub-governments or issue networks. This decision making system yields at best small changes from prevailing policy. Occasionally after a focusing event or extended periods of public controversy, an issue reaches the national agenda and larger policy changes become politically feasible.
Scientific and technological issues are different from typical policy choices in two important respects. First, the scope of the impacts and the size of the stakes can be particularly large. From nuclear weaponry and national security to basic questions about public health, these ?life and death? decisions can profoundly influence our lives. They are highly salient for elected officials. Second, most citizens and their political representatives lack the necessary expertise to reach an independent judgment about the impacts of these high stake decisions. Citizens and politicians must rely upon and judge the credibility of technical experts to reach informed decisions. Scientific and technical expertise thus plays an important - even decisive - role by providing claims about future scientific or technological impacts.
The purpose of this paper is to use concepts such as the process and political streams to explain a major policy change in which claims about scientific and technical expertise appear to have a significant impact. Show how a political decision by Congress and/or the president produced a significant shift in the substance (i.e., what is being done) and the level (or how much) of the particular policy (requiring air bags in cars). Focus on identifying a single major shift in the policy. Do not attempt to account for many years or even decades of multiple policy changes.
After providing a brief overview of the policy change, use political concepts to explain the political decision making in two critical periods. First, provide an explanation for existing policy immediately prior to the time that political forces mobilized for change. Let us call this period the status quo when an issue is not highly visible and special interests typically wield significant power. The second stage involves the discovery and/or dissemination of credible technical information concerning the policy problem and its solution. Show how the opportunity for policy change has improved because elected officials now perceive that the future distribution of votes has changed to favor a particular policy initiative. Alternatively, elected officials could conclude that the distribution of future votes is likely to change and favor a new initiative if certain events were to occur.
The purpose of this paper is to explain a specific set of events using political concepts. A descriptive account of the events will not fulfill this requirement. Thus apply ideas we from political science. Be sure to identify explicitly the expectations of these approaches for the major actors (e.g., interest groups, Congress, the President, scientists, the general public) and then determine whether the case conforms to those expectations.