Discussion 11

2.  When it comes to defamation of character, the press is given greater latitude when it comes to public figures than with private citizens. Is this appropriate? Why or why not?

I think that it is important that the press can freely analyze the actions and morals of public figures, especially political figures. That said, if they had less latitude, they would be subject to a great amount of litigation just from stating facts. The individual being written about could easily sue on the grounds of defamation, even if that was not the motive of the press. They would do this to avoid negative press. This actually does happen even now with the great freedom the press has. It even happens when private citizens try to spread the word on negative aspects of corporations and politicians. But, it does not happen to near the extent that it could. I believe this is appropriate because of the need to protect the privacy of citizens and to have the freedom of press to hold prominent people and organizations accountable. 

Web Critique 6

Website Name: Federal Election Commission www.fec.gov (Links to an external site.)
Operated By:  The Federal Election Commission
Funded By:  U.S. Government, allocated by Congress

The website of the Federal Election Commission is a great resource to anyone involved in elections: candidates, treasurers, organizations, attorneys, parties, donors, and more. Even the average citizen can gain some helpful information from the FEC website. For instance, the Quick Answers page offered me helpful information about election finance that I wasn’t aware of, and the library page (located at the bottom of the site) offered easy access to older publications. They have pretty full disclosure of financial matters all right there on their website. I felt that the FEC does help those closest involved with election finances by having all of this information available and easily accessible online. Especially for treasurers, they have a specific tips section to help them fulfill their legal obligations. I feel that one good addition may be to have a learning section for curious citizens. It was all very confusing for me, as I have little experience with organizational or election finances. If they truly want to offer full disclosure, it may be helpful to have a small part of their site devoted to helping people understand the basics of what they are presenting on their website.  They do have in their Press section, a tutorial for reporters to use the website, however something geared toward informing citizens would be great as well. 

Web Critique 5

Website Name: Rock the Vote, www.rockthevote.com (Links to an external site.)
Operated By:  Rock the Vote, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization
Funded By:  Donations and fundraising

Rock the Vote is an organization whose goal is to equip the youth of America to vote. The website gets right to this the moment you arrive by popping up a dialog box allowing visitors to immediately and easily to register to vote over the Internet. The website is full of helpful information for people who may be confused and overwhelmed by the process of voting. Along with this information, there are pages on the site for youth to contact their local representatives and also a page with polling and research data. The website has a page where visitors can request the Rock the Vote Democracy Class can come to their school. The organization is non-partisan and I noticed looking at their Twitter feed a mix of both political parties being represented. The website makes good use of celebrity supporters to garner rapport with young visitors to the website. There are pictures of celebrities all over the site, lists of celebrity supporters, and ongoing use of celebrity support in social media streams.  The site has easy linkage to Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media, and a Tumblr blog. There is also a store selling items to help young people “represent” Rock the Vote to their peers. There are many ways offered to get involved from Washington D.C. internships, hosting an event, volunteering, or even just helping “Spread the Word”, as is the name of a particular page on the site with several options of how to spread the word. The very best thing about this site is how it demystifies voting for young Americans and places knowledge about voting at their fingertips in an easy navigable, attractive website.

Instructor's Notes-Voting and Political Parties

Instructor Notes for Chapters 7 and 8 - Participation and Voting and Political Parties

Each of the chapters in the textbook contain just the basics about the topics covered when actually political scientists devote their entire careers to the study of each individual aspect of our political system.  This is a very interesting time in our country to be studying these two topics as we are in the midst of an important election campaign. During the study of the media in the last chapter, you should have noted the activity of the political parties and the changes that have been made in voting laws in a number of states. These laws will undoubtedly affect voter participation for the upcoming election. As you study these chapters and you learn of the history of the election process in the USA you will have a better understanding of current events affecting our voting process.

A very recent development highlights concerns expressed by a great number of American citizens and now the international community. " US election system criticised over finance rules and voting restrictions Commission led by Kofi Annan says the rise of Super Pacs and voter ID laws has 'shaken citizen confidence' in elections." Read this story at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/14/us-election-campaign-finance-voting (Links to an external site.)

DC Douglas' "Why #OccupyWallStreet? 4 Reasons."   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wK1MOMKZ8BI#! (Links to an external site.)

Chapter 8 gives us a brief history of political parties and their evolution through the years. The parties are still in the process of evolving. It mentions the Tea Party that has become part of the Republican Party. Since the textbook was written another movement has been formed called the Occupy Movement. Occupy does not align itself with either political party. “Occupy Wall Street is a people-powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. #ows is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations. The movement is inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, and aims to fight back against the richest 1% of people that are writing the rules of an unfair global economy that is foreclosing on our future.” http://occupywallst.org/about/ (Links to an external site.) There is an Occupy Group that meets regularly here in Wichita.This week has a 50-point selftest with 50 questions to assist you in learning the basics of Participation and Voting and Political Parties

Protesters unveil a banner at the Lincoln Memorial in 2010 to protest the Citizens United ruling. The Annan report criticises the ruling for shaking Americans' confidence in the political process.
Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Instructor's Notes-Ch. 1 and 2

by Dr. Ramona Becker

Instructor Notes for Part One - PartOne in the textbook (Chapter 1 - Freedom, Order, or Equality &Chapter 2 Majoritarian or Pluralist Democracy) Two themes underlie The Challege of Democracy. The first is that contemporary government involves tradeoffs between three important political values--freedom, order, andequality. Keep these political values in mind as we study and discuss issues this semester.In the Overview each week, you will find a brief synopsis of the chapter(s) that should be quite helpful to you. When appropriate videos are available online, the links will be provided to you in this area. Each week's assignments will have the same basic format. Each lesson will have a Discussion Forum that is a critical part of the class. You may select the discussion question(s) that interest you the most. You will have a self-test that you may take as many times as you like until you achieve the grade you desire. It will be graded and should be an easy A most of the time. You will also have a Web Critique to do each week. You may select which website you want to critique from the choices provided. My students in past classes have truly enjoyed and appreciated these great links.