INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP PARTICIPATION Response Papers (due at the beginning of class, March 7)

INSTRUCTIONS: Your response paper should be relatively short: 2-3 pages,
 double-spaced.  You do not have to fret over rules such as how to report
citations or what font size to use.  No folders, plastic covers, or other
enhancements are necessary.

ADVICE: Make sure you answer the question thoughtfully, in an organized way that
shows detailed familiarity with the readings.  If you summarize too much or
take up too much space with quotations, you are unlikely to have written a
good essay.  The emphasis should be on analysis and illustrating your
level of understanding (or your ability to identify clearly and
comprehensively what you do not understand about the readings).

Answer one of the following questions, drawing heavily on the assigned
readings for the topic:

1) Do you believe that the American political system requires us to choose
whether we want a system run by political parties (as we once had) or a
system run more by interest groups (as we now have)?  If so, which type of
system would be better American voters?  If not, what is our additional
alternative and, practically speaking, how could we get it to come about?
In answering your question, you'll definitely want to use FPV Chap. 8, but
you also should draw on the relevant S&L readings (e.g., Greider, Birnbaum,
Baer).

2) Balz and Brownstein describe a large and diverse pool of American
activists who are cynical about the national government.  After reading
about their complaints and thinking about the nation's political
institutions in various chapters of FPV, do you think they have a
legitimate complaint?  Why or why not?  Be precise...

3) Voter turnout in the United States is low and declining.  Is American
political better off or worse off because most citizens are content to
stay out of political conflict?  Defend your answer using all of FPV Chap. 6
(not just the page range on the syllabus), but also the various relevant S&L
readings (e.g., Greider, Balz/Brownstein, Cronin, Thompson).