Policy and Your Life

Policy and Your Life

Prepare: Prior to beginning work on this discussion question, read Chapters 3 and 4 in American Government. In addition, watch the videos provided on federalism: Quick Study of Federalism Part 1, Quick Study of Federalism Part 2, and Quick Study of Federalism Part 3, and the U.S. Constitution: Episode I – A More Perfect Union.

Reflect: The U.S. government’s expansive role in public policy is caught in a swirl of conflicting crosscurrents. On the one hand, popular expectations about government’s responsibility to solve problems often exceed the capacity of state and local authorities to respond effectively. On the other hand, policies developed at the national level may not sufficiently reflect the great diversity of interests across the U.S. to be effective at the local level. Moreover, the search for effective policy is further complicated by theoretical debates about the constitutional framework of federalism, that is, what limits on national power can be derived from the Tenth Amendment?

Write: Select a policy or piece of legislation that involves the program you are seeking a degree in (i.e., your major). In your initial post, discuss the federalism challenges that this policy is creating or facing. For example:

If you are an education major, how are local, state, and federal government policies affected by the Every Child Succeeds legislation or some other piece of education-related legislation?
If you are a criminal justice major, how does recent legalization of marijuana in some states affect local, state, and federal control over this issue?
If you are a business major, how does the insurance mandate in the Affordable Care Act affect local, state, and national businesses and their employees?
If you are a political science major how has the recent Citizen’s United ruling affected the amount of money available for campaigns at the local, state, or federal levels?

Fully respond to all parts of the prompt and write your response in your own words. Your initial must be 200 to 250 words. Support your position with APA citations from two or more of the assigned resources required for this discussion. Please be sure that you demonstrate understanding of these resources, integrate them into your argument, and cite them properly.

Respond to Peers: By Day 7, respond to at least two of your classmates’ initial posts. Your peer responses each should be 75 to 100 words. As your reply to your classmates, attempt to take the conversation further by examining their claims or arguments in more depth or responding to the posts that they reply to you with. Keep the discussion on target and try to analyze things in as much detail as you can. For instance, you might consider reflecting on why the legislation selected by one of your classmate’s is impacted differently than the one you selected.

Week Two Reflection

Prepare: Prior to beginning your reflection this week, complete all course readings and assigned videos, and the Discussion, “Policy and Your Life.”

Reflect: Once you have completed these assignments, think about how federalism and the U.S. Congress have or will affect your life. The federal structure ensures that there is a clear line between local, state, and federal government regulations, policies, and oversight—sometimes! Think about how federal statues affect your work or will affect your work in the future. Does Congress have oversight of any of the processes or products in your workplace? Do the government regulations, policies, and oversight sometimes conflict with local or state regulations, policies, and oversight?

Write: In your initial post of, based on your current or desired job, complete the following:

Describe how a federal policy affects your current or desired workplace.
Explain what role Congress has in establishing workplace conditions in your current or desired job.

Fully respond to all parts of the prompt and write your response in your own words. Your initial post should be 200 to 250 words. Support your position with APA citations from two or more of the assigned resources required for this discussion. Please be sure that you demonstrate understanding of these resources, integrate them into your argument, and cite them properly.

Wk2 assigment

This week, we continue completing the worksheets in preparation for the Final Paper. One of the most important structures in the national government is federalism. Understanding the relationship between local, state, and national level governments is critical in being able to understand all of the key features of our national government. Describe an advantage and a disadvantage to a national policy that an agency in the federal bureaucracy must implement. In addition, recommend an option to maintain the advantage and one to improve the disadvantage.

To complete the assignment, save the Week Two Learning Activity Worksheet to your computer, fill it out, and submit it.

Develop a detailed outline of your second main point using the Week Two Learning Activity Worksheet.

Week Two Learning Activity Worksheet

Develop a detailed outline of your second main point. (For assistance with your writing skills, refer to the Ashford Writing Center.)

Federal Policies:
1. Provide a paragraph that briefly describes one advantage and one disadvantage to a national policy that must be implemented by one agency of the federal bureaucracy.

(Use the space below to complete this section.)

1. Provide a paragraph that recommends one option to maintain the advantage and one to improve the disadvantage.

(Use the space below to complete this section.)

Scholarly Support: (For assistance with your research, the Ashford University’s Library provides tutorials and recorded webinars on a variety of topics. To access these helpful resources look for the links located under the FindIt@AU search box on the library home page. For help with writing, please review the APA Style Aid, and Ashford Writing Center’s Sample Annotated Bibliography for additional help.)