• Available Jan 6 at 6am – Feb 22 at 12:30am about 2 months

Signature Assignment 3 (Unit 6): Governor and Public Policy Paper

(3-5 pages)

8 % of final grade 

Due Friday, February 21, by 11:59 pm

Paper must be double spaced, with 12 point font and include section headers for each of the paper sections noted below (Effective Campaign Issues, Summary of Formal and Informal Powers, Formal Powers Applied to Issues, Informal Powers Applied to Issues)

Objective: The objective for this assignment is for students to understand the critical linkage between participatory democracy (elections) and public policy in a representative democracy. It is the individual and corporate responsibility of the voters to make sure that elected officials implement public policy beneficial to the public and, if they do not, to remove them from office the next election. Students must explain how elected governors can use their formal and informal powers to influence public policy.

Congratulations! You have recently been elected the Governor of Texas. You built your successful campaign around promises to address four issues that are significant to the voters of Texas: controlling immigration from Mexico, upgrading the state’s roads and highways, making sure the death penalty is applied fairly and improving k-12 education. Please discuss each of these issues and focus on the following:

• Why these issues likely helped get you elected Governor (refer to Campaign message and campaign strategy from Unit 2)? (Unit 2 Written Lectures, Slide 2-25)
• List and discuss the formal and informal powers of the Governor Texas and clearly distinguish between the two? (Unit 6 Written Lectures, Slides 6-5, 6-6, 6-7, 6-8, 6-9, 6-10))
• What is at least one formal power (do not use the same formal power all of the issues) that you can use to get each policy passed by the legislature? (Unit 6 Written Lectures, Slides 6-5, 6-6 & 6-7)
• What is at least one informal power (do not use the same informal power for each of the issues) that you can use to get each policy passed by the legislature? (Unit 6 Written Lectures, Slides 6-9 & 6-10)

Paper should be organized using subject headers (ie. Campaign issues, Formal and informal powers, etc.). The paper should be at least 3-4 pages in length.

Assessment: Your Assignment will be assessed based on the following rubric.