Please read the following instructions carefully.
a. The minimum length of your essay is
1,000 words (approximately 3 pages
without
your name and essay title; no maximum length limit; MS Word
document only
; typed, double-spaced, font-size 12, no extra spacing between
paragraphs; maximum 1.25 inch margins).
No PDF document, please.
b. The paper should proceed in this order: (1) essay title, (2) student name, (3)
total
number of words
, and (4) essay text. As for (3), please use the word count
function of MS Word to count the total number of words in your text that
excludes (1) and (2).
c. Use
at least four outside sources to support your argument. You may use
academic journals, scholarly books, and newspaper sources,. Our textbook (
We
the People
, 9th edition) should not be counted as one of these sources.
d.
Cite all the sources you have used. You may use any major standard citation
format (e.g., MLA, APA, Chicago).
e.
Do not cite any encyclopedia sources (e.g., Wikipedia, Britannica Online
Encyclopedia).
f.
Plagiarism is strictly prohibited. Do not copy material, even short passages
from the Internet or any other source.
g. In your paper, do not write the question of your choice.
Make your own essay
title
based on the content of the question and provide the title in the paper
Questions. Please choose
one
of the following.
1. Discuss same-sex marriage in California with a focus on the state’s Proposition 8
(2008). In your essay, analyze how the issue has developed in the state since 2000,
when the Californian voters passed the Proposition 22 (2000), the state’s first
ballot measure to restrict marriages to heterosexual couples. Also, include in your
essay an analysis of
Hollingsworth v. Perry
.
2. Discuss same-sex marriage with a focus on
United States v. Windsor
. Analyze the
controversy over the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Also, discuss the
possible implications of
United States v. Windsor
for the states that currently
approve same-sex marriage.
3. Discuss the barriers to the U.S. Congress passing any comprehensive immigration
reform and what this tells us about the nature of Congress. Explain in detail why
recent immigration legislation has stalled in the House of Representatives.
4. What is so important about the 14
th
Amendment? How did it fundamentally
change the Constitution?
5. Watch a PBS video entitled
Obama’s Deal
and discuss the roles health care
interest groups (“special interests”) played in the making of the Affordable Care
Act. Explain how interest groups influenced the health care reform bill. Analyze
the costs and benefits of the lobbyist-influenced provisions in the bill in light of
President Obama’s goals for health care reform.
The video is available on a PBS Frontline site:
<http://video.pbs.org/video/1468710007/>.
Its transcript is available at:
<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/obamasdeal/etc/script.html>
Audiocast:
< https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/frontline-audiocastpbs/
id336934080>