C. (Optional) Read the following chapters from the textbook.
Chapters 05 - 06
D. The following
Optional Links are designed to help you do better in your course but
they are not required.
E.
Activity #2:
The Power of Interest Groups
(10 points)
Assume that you are so concerned about a problem that you have formed an organization, an interest group,
to do something about it..
Choose a problem from the list below.
-
A sexually-oriented business is scheduled to open two blocks from your home. You and your neighbors want to prevent its opening.
-
The Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation has purchased a house in your neighborhood with the intent of opening a halfway house where retarded persons would live while holding down jobs in the community. You and some of your friends support the house, but you know that others in the neighborhood are trying to prevent the house from opening.
-
Because of budget constraints, the mayor and city council are considering budget cuts that would lead to the closure of the branch library in your neighborhood. You and several other students use the library regularly and want to see it kept open.
-
You discover that your child's high school is dispensing birth control pills to students. You strongly oppose the idea and want to stop it.
-
You learn that your child's elementary school practices school prayer. Although you and your family faithfully practice your religion, you believe that prayer does not belong in public schools.
-
You recently read in the paper about several persons with AIDS in your city who have no insurance and no support from their families. You and some of your friends are concerned that a number of these individuals may soon lose their apartments and be without money to purchase food.
Develop two solutions.
Develop TWO plausible solutions that your interest group can use to deal with the problem. The solutions don't necessarily have to include government action. They do, however, have to be
fully developed. For example, simply deciding to use "protests and letters to the editor" is not sufficient. You need to provide a detailed plan for each.
Once you've
fully developed your solutions, write a summary
of your decisions (sentences and paragraphs, not a list of answers) that includes the
4 points below. Your summary should be thorough, specific, include
relevant concepts from the course material and be free of spelling and grammar errors.
-
Briefly describe your choice from the list above and why you chose it.
-
Describe in detail two different and fully-developed solutions to the problem that your group could use.
Keep in mind who is likely to be in your group, what kinds of resources
you might have available, any other groups that might be willing to work
with you and the kind of opposition you might encounter.
-
Explain your rationale for why those are the best solutions for
your group and this problem.
-
Make specific and detailed connections to course content.
Always include course concepts in your work. If you're reading your margin notes and watching the presentations, you'll have plenty of material from which to choose on every activity.
