Wednesday, March 31, 2010

AP Gov & Pol on Facebook

From Dan Larsen at Stevenson High School:

The Facebook group - "A.Pnyx" has been created to help students review for their A.P Government and Politics test. The site is for teachers and students alike.

Check it out.

Like Pnyx Hill in Athens, it is a meeting place for all citizens.

On the site are these concise review videos (download them to your I-Pod! and join the group)

Thanks, Dan!

Practice Comparative FRQs

This advice from former AP Comparative Chief Reader Ken Wedding:

"The key to 'doing what you're asked to do' in the AP FRQs is to pay attention to the verbs. I think it's the natural tendency when we're confronted with exam questions to focus on the nouns, i.e. what the question is about. But doing what you're asked to do with those topics is vital for success."

There are three kinds of FRQs on the AP exam:
  1. Short Answer Concept questions (#1-5)
  2. Concept Analysis questions (#6)
  3. Country Concept questions (#7-8)

In the five weeks before the exam, I'll offer 15 Short Answer Concept questions, five Concept Analysis questions, and 10 Country Concept questions for practice.

When you look at the blog archive, you'll find 45 FRQs from 2008 and 27 from 2009 that you can also use for practice. Some of them are out of date, but you should recognize that and avoid them or update them so they are appropriate for 2010. You can also find FRQs from past AP exams at the College Board site (see "Worthwhile Links" at left)

You can submit an answer for any of the FRQs using the "Questions" e-mail link at the What You Need to Know web site. (Look in the lower, right-hand section of that page.)

If you submit the earliest best answer, I'll post your answer (without your name) here a week after the question was posted.

Here's Question No. 1 (It's a Short Answer Concept question):

Define political accountability. Describe a primary way the regime in the UK ensures accountability. Describe a primary way the regime in Mexico ensures accountability. (3 points)



(See pp. 35 and 54-58 in What You Need to Know.)

Here's Question No. 2 (It's a Conceptual Analysis question.):

a. Define state capacity.
b. Compare the limitations on the state capacity of Russia with the limitations of the state capacity of Nigeria. Which state has more capacity?
c. Describe two of the primary reasons why the state you identified with greater capacity has greater capacity. (5 point question)


(See pp. 36, 65-68, and 104-109 in What You Need to Know.)

Here's Question No. 3 (It's a Short-Answer Concepts question.):

What is the distinction between power and authority?
What is one reason you know that the Iranian president has more power than the Iranian Supreme Leader or that the Supreme Leader has more power than the president?
What is an illustration of the difference between the authority each of them has? (3 points)

(See pp. 35, 40 and 144-147 in What You Need to Know.)


Everyday Ken Wedding will post practice FRQs at the Studying Comparative blog.

A sound of Nigeria



Next we will speak of Nigeria.

Reuters did a profile of Yaw, a Nigerian radio personality who speaks Pidgin English in his show and wants to promote the dialect to his listeners.

In a country with over 400 languages overlaid with English as the official language, can a new invented common language catch on?

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

You have to face the Deemons to Pass



This Spring Break Potpourri of stuff that happened through the Health Care debate and other Capitol Hill happenings that are worth knowing for policy questions on the AP Test.

First for fun, the SNL current and former cast donated their time to be directed by Ron Howard for a 5-minute skit of 5 former US Presidents advising President Obama on government regulation of banks and credit. Jim Carey's advice as President Reagan might evoke a thumbs-down from some for student viewing, but this will be a nice opening to discuss government regulation in current context for many.

I embedded the video in my article here: http://tinyurl.com/y98cxjz

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From Senate.gov:

reconciliation process - A process established in the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 by which Congress changes existing laws to conform tax and spending levels to the levels set in a budget resolution. Changes recommended by committees pursuant to a reconciliation instruction are incorporated into a reconciliation measure.
reconciliation bill - A bill containing changes in law recommended pursuant to reconciliation instructions in a budget resolution. If the instructions pertain to only one committee in a chamber, that committee reports the reconciliation bill. If the instructions pertain to more than one committee, the Budget Committee reports an omnibus reconciliation bill, but it may not make substantive changes in the recommendations of the other committees.
reconciliation instruction - A provision in a budget resolution directing one or more committees to report (or submit to the Budget Committee) legislation changing existing law in order to bring spending, revenues, or the debt-limit into conformity with the budget resolution. The instructions specify the committees to which they apply, indicate the appropriate dollar changes to be achieved, and usually provide a deadline by which the legislation is to be reported or submitted.

Reconciliation is rarely used; it is used much more in the Senate; it has generally been used to "tidy up" budgetary figures in a bill, rather than alter the character and provisions of a bill; Obama was against it as a Senator but has encouraged it for the health care bill since Scott Brown won his Senate seat.

"Deem and Pass" is just a nightmare to explain. It involves House members voting for procedural provisions that would allow the bill to move forward ("pass") without actually being on the record for casting a vote in support of the bill.

A blog post on the New York Times does the best job of explaining it that I have seen:
http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/16/passing-legislation-without-voting-on-it/?scp=1&sq=passing%20health%20care%20legislation,%20tucked%20in%20a%20rule&st=cse

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From CBS2School:
Bracket Buster
March Madness this year has lived up to its name. We are all mad because our brackets have been completely decimated by the number of low seeded teams who have advanced. Even the ratings are down for CBS. It appears we do not want to watch underdogs play. They cost us big, literally.

Looking back at the Obama health care debate there was an equally big upset that made the difference. That score broke the bracket wide open and allowed the Democrats to achieve a victory that had eluded them for a generation.

The Congressional Budget Office provided the score that made the difference. Facing angst against another big government program, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) scored Obama’s health care reform as not only budget neutral but also a bill that would reduce the federal deficit by trillions of dollars. The CBO substantiated Obama’s claim that his plan would not “add a dime” to the deficit.

What next? Butler will advance to the Final Four?

The CBO reported that Obamacare, costing close to 1 trillion dollars, would actually reduce the federal deficit by over 1 trillion dollars. Without that report health care reform would not have passed.

Obama and the Democratic leadership could boast that health care reform was not another big government program but a plan that would shrink government liability.

The CBO numbers gave the Democrats cover. As laughable as those numbers looked on face value, the integrity of the CBO allowed Democrats to pass a giant new entitlement program under the pretense that it would save money.

What is the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)?

The Budget Impoundment Act of 1974 created the Congressional Budget Office. The CBO was created to be an objective, nonpartisan federal agency responsible to give timely analysis to economic and budgetary decisions. It currently employs over 250 analysts and has an annual budget of close to $50 million. Douglas W. Elmendorf is the current Director. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi appointed him.

Though many have criticized the CBO projections, history would suggest that their forecasts tend to overstate deficits. Their projections often underestimate economic growth. Our gut says not this time.

Certainly the Democrats are hoping the CBO score of health care reform is true. They have pinned their future on these CBO numbers. If health care reform does in fact reduce the federal deficit the Republican rhetoric will be quieted. If so the CBO will have busted another bracket. This time it will be the Republican racket.

The impact of their last score, however, will mean the CBO will be scrutinized more than ever. In the past we have trusted their nonpartisanship. Republicans will not forget the role the CBO played in passing health care reform.
This trust may foul out before playing a role in the next big game.
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Constitutional challenges to the Health Care Bill

From Harvard's Carl Herman:A law school grad and writing colleague, Ryan Witt, just wrote a useful article that has topical importance for students: An analysis of the constitutional challenges to the health care reform bill.

Following the signing ceremony today health care reform is now the law of the land. As Vice President Joe Biden put it this is a "big f**cking deal" as the legislation represents the largest overhaul of the health care system in over 50 years. However as soon as the ink was dry from the President's signature some 13 states attorneys general filed lawsuits to have the legislation struck down. All of Democrats efforts will be for naught if the federal court system nullifies the law because it is unconstitutional.

So is the bill unconstitutional? The most honest answer is no knows for sure. A law like this has never been passed and therefore no clear precedent applies. Georgetown law professor Randy E. Barnett seems to give credence to the constitutional challenges to reform but others such as Professor Timothy Jost at Washington and Lee University suggest the legislation is clearly constitutional. So some very knowledgeable people have contrary opinions.

Here is a breakdown of what we do know about the Constitution as it relates to the legislation.

The Individual Mandate and the Powers of Federal Government

First the legislation does present a new case in that it proposes to force individuals to buy insurance from a private companies. If individuals do not purchase insurance they will be fined approximately $700 or 2.5% of their income whichever is greater. There are some exceptions granted based on religious objections and financial hardships.

Now there are some similar laws but nothing that goes quite this far. For example states require individuals to have insurance in order to drive a car but if individuals do not want to obey that law they simply can chose not to drive. Under health care reform everyone would need to purchase insurance. People are also automatically taxed for Social Security and Medicare but these taxes are on income and not technically a fine for not engaging in some kind of behavior.

However just because the federal government has never done something this does not mean that it is unconstitutional. The Department of Justice is likely to point to many parts of the Constitution in defending the legislation. Article 1, Section 8 proscribes the powers given to Congress. The relevant powers in this case could be:

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof"

The government's power to tax is generally interpreted very broadly by the courts so if the Obama administration was able to effectively argue the mandate was in fact a "duty" or "tax" the courts would probably approve the mandate. Of course the state attorneys generals will argue the legislation does not fall under this power since a "fine" is different in nature than a tax.

The Department of Justice could also argue that the legislation is merely an attempt to "regulate Commerce." The commerce power is certainly not unlimited but generally Congress can regulate anything which has a substantial relation to interstate commerce. The Obama administration would have a strong argument here since health care makes up over one-sixth of the economic activity of the entire nation.

A Challenge Based on the Tenth Amendment

Idaho has already passed a law which states their citizens are not bound by the health care laws. While this is likely a nice political tactic in general states can not simply exempt their citizens from federal law. For example if Missouri passed a law exempting their citizens from the federal income tax the IRS will still be able to demand my payment next year. Under the Supremacy Clause (Article VI, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution) federal law generally trumps state law.

A reader may have noticed how I emphasized the "generally" part of my last analysis. There are exceptions to the Supremacy Clause rule. If a power is considered "reserved" for the States under the Tenth Amendment then theoretically a federal law could be nullified if it conflicted with state law.

The problem for the attorneys general is that once again a regulation of health care seems perfectly within the federal government power either to tax or to regulate interstate commerce. Given the vast nature of Medicare and Medicaid it will be hard for the states to argue that the regulation of health care is a power reserved solely for them.

A Challenge Based on the Fourteenth Amendment

The Supreme Court has interpreted the 14th Amendment as granting substantive due process rights to American citizens. Basically what this means is that citizens have certain rights which are not explicitly enumerated in the Bill of Rights. For example the Supreme Court determined a woman has a limited right to have an abortion based upon a right of "privacy" under the Fourteenth Amendment even though privacy is never explicitly mentioned as a right in the U.S. Constitution.

In order to challenge the health care bill a U.S. citizen would have to allege the bill violates a fundamental right they have as part of the "liberty" interest under the Fourteenth Amendment. Generally something is determined to be a "fundamental right" if it is "deeply rooted in American history and traditions." A claimant would have to identify a right such as "the right to make one's own health care decisions" or "the right to abstain from purchasing insurance." They would then have to show that this right has been deeply rooted in American history and traditions. The Department of Justice would of course argue to the contrary.

Even if the court agreed that a "fundamental right" was at issue the government could still argue the legislation is constitutional. Even legislation affecting fundamental rights is constitutional if it is necessary to advance a compelling state interest. The government would argue the individual mandate is necessary to meet the compelling state interest of providing affordable health care for all or something to that effect. It would then be up to the court to determine which side was right.

The hardest step in this process would be convincing a court that a "fundamental right" was at stake. Generally the courts are reluctant to create new fundamental rights since it opens the door to challenges of all sorts of other laws. For example if a court determined an individual has a "fundamental right" not to purchase insurance it could lead to a challenge of automobile insurance laws among other things.

Conclusion:

Anyone who says they know for certain how the court system will rule on an issue this complicated does not know of what they speak. Having said that the lawsuits that seek to have health care reform overturned are facing some long odds. The Department of Justice has a large staff of experienced and qualified lawyers who have many credible legal arguments to make for the bill. I have just scratched the surface of the legal arguments they are sure to come up with in defending the legislation. A federal court is unlikely to declare such a bill unconstitutional without a really good basis for doing so. Faced with such obstacles it is hard to imagine opponents of reform succeeding in getting rid of the law through the court system.


13 State Attorneys General filed lawsuit against the health care reform bill after it was signed.


Where Do We Go From Here: Russia, China and us



Terror in Moscow
Fearing the wider consequences of a bomb attack on the Moscow metro

The Economist reports on Monday's Moscow metro bombings. Quotes from President Putin returned as PM when he said the government will "destroy," the terror group. Consider the hard-line response with this from Anna Politkovskaya in 2001 -- five years before her murder.

"People in Chechnya have rights guaranteed by the Russian constitution to live, like you, me or anybody else. The western world is depriving them of these rights by supporting Putin."
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"TWO terrorist bombers on the Moscow metro killed at least 37 people and injured 102 in the morning rush hour on Monday March 29th. The first explosion, which killed 22 people and injured 12, struck just before 8am at the Lubyanka metro station, a few hundred feet from the Kremlin and next to the headquarters of the Federal Security Services, the successor to the KGB. The second bomb went off at Park Kultury, by the main circular road in central Moscow, killing at least 15.....Russia has grown tragically familiar with terrorist attacks over the past two decades, during which it has fought two brutal wars in Chechnya, in the 1990s. But Moscow has not seen attacks such as these since August 2004, when a bomb on the Moscow metro killed nine people. Last November a bomb on the Nevsky express, which travels between Moscow and St Petersburg, killed 26 people and injured 100.

Chechnya itself has been relatively calm in recent years under the thumb of the local strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, installed by Mr Putin as Chechen president in 2007. But violence has spread to neighbouring republics, particularly Ingushetia and Dagestan, both of which have descended into a state resembling civil war. Yet although killings and explosions have become daily occurrences in these north Caucasian republics, in Moscow they are not considered to be attacks on Russia itself."

www.economist.com/daily/news/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15806684
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Discussion questions for Putin's Russia

1) Big terrorist attacks have in the past been used by the Kremlin to justify tightening its grip on power and curbing the opposition. The second war in Chechnya, in 2000, which helped to propel Mr Putin into his presidency, was accompanied by a move to bring Russian television under Kremlin control. In 2004, after the school siege in Beslan, in North Ossetia, Mr Putin scrapped regional elections. Using examples from the reading, what would the author predict for Russia's new north Caucasus policy? Why would this be a mistake according to the author? Do you agree?

2) Putin's more autocratic state is supposed to be a more effective state. The author emphatically answers that fear is the only public good that Putin's Kremlin provided effectively. Explain.

3) The author devotes considerable space showing how Putin's government did little to provide most basic state services. She argues hotly that the Russian Armed Services, rather than protecting civilians from terrorism or violent crime, have themselves become perpetrators of state terrorism. How?

4) Effective States have independent courts capable of enforcing the Rule of Law. Institutionally, does Politkovskaya see Rule of Law in Putin's Russia?

5) According the the author, Russian Courts served the interests of criminals and oligarchs. From our unit of study, did that seem to be reformed in Putin's Modern Russia?

6) By the author's account, Putin does not care about the people. She criticizes the political and economic system he has consolidated with true stories and reporting that probably cost her her life. But every day an Army private is hazed to death, a middle class family in Moscow drives to Ikea to purchase furniture for their newly renovated Dacha. Russian GDP grew steadily for 6 years under Putin, and the number of people below the poverty line dropped significantly. In your opinion, do the ends justify the means in Putin's Russia?

7) JusticeforNorthCaucasus.com wrote in 2001, "That Politkovskaya herself has withstood poisoning and harassment to tell the truth about Putin's Russia should give even the most pessimistic observer of Russian affairs hope." But in 2006, the author was murdered and the president called her, "a person of no significance." What does this say about the hope for modern Russia becoming a liberal democracy?

8) Some have claimed Politkovskaya's critique of Putin's Russia is over the top. One on-line reviewer called her, "Russia's Michael Moore." Do you find this analysis objective and legitimate, or illegitimate opposition propaganda?

http://www.slate.com/id/2151209/
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Discussion questions for Red China Blues

1. Jan Wong tells us that all existing dictionaries and language textbooks were destroyed at the time of the Cultural Revolution. Why was this necessary? How effectively could a political system be shaped or controlled by such a measure?

2. When the author realises, early on, that she is not allowed the freedom to think, she says this is “only the beginning of my real awakening, a painful process that would take several years more.” Why was her awakening such a slow process?

3. If the author had grown up in China, do you think her doubts and questions would not have arisen in her student years? Or do you think her classmates went through similar “awakenings”?

4. In theory at least, the workers had better living conditions than intellectuals in China in the early 1970s. Does this strike you as any more unfair than the opposite situation?

5. Having completed the book, what are your feelings about Jan Wong’s informing on Yin (the girl who wanted help getting to the West) while she was still an unquestioning Maoist?

6. Could you characterize the four sections of the book? Do they differ in tone as well as content?

7. Broadly speaking, the first half of the book avoids overviews or hindsight, but in the second half the author adopts a more knowing perspective. What effect does this have for the reader?

8. What fresh insights have you obtained from Jan Wong’s analysis of the Tiananmen Square demonstration and the detailed description of the subsequent massacre?

9. The author says that the Tiananmen massacre could have been avoided: “An experienced mediator could have solved things so easily.” How different do you think life in China might have been after the demonstration if there had been no violence?

10. At the beginning of the book the author is writing largely about herself and her reactions to the political system. The last part of the book is more concerned with the stories of individuals living in post-Tiananmen Square China. What can you deduce from this? How much do you think she has changed, and how much has China changed?