Essay 13

Congressional reapportionment is the reallocation of the number of representative each state has in the House of Representatives.  It is import ants to keep updated every ten years so that it is up to date with our societies population.  This will help the states keep their number of electoral votes correct and their amount of influence balanced with their population.  Congressional redistricting is the drawing or redrawing of house and congressional district lines within a state, it does not affect the senate.  During redistricting politicians may gerrymander in the hopes of enhancing their political party's strengths or weakening the opposing party, or protecting their incumbents.  When someone is gerrymandering to maximize their supporting votes they will try to either "pack" or "crack" their voters.  This means they will either try to concentrate their voters into a single electorate district to reduce their influence in other districts, or they will try to spread out their voters among many districts.  These tactics are often used together.  The U.S. Supreme Court has required that districts must be equally populated and compact so that redistricting is fair. 



2008-1) Congressional reapportionment and redistricting are conducted every ten years. When redistricting is conducted, politicians often engage in gerrymandering.
(a) Define congressional reapportionment and explain one reason why it is important to states.
(b) Define congressional redistricting.
(c) Explain two goals of politicians when they gerrymander during redistricting.
(d) Describe two limits that the United State Supreme Court has placed on congressional redistricting.

http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap08_gopo_us_sgs.pdf

Essay 12

Divided government is when the presidency and congress are from different political parties, which forms a split in our government.  This can lead to a decline of trust and confidence because many of the policies are not agreed on, creating tension and often leading to gridlock or less policy change.  Our society might start to believe that the government doesn't have the ability to pass necessary legislation and keep our government under control, then they start to lose their trust.  The increased cost of election campaigns has contributed to the decline in trust and confidence in our government because of the perception that they are wasting good money by spending it on things that people believe isn't helping or influencing their election.  This can also lead to a majority of the population believing that you must be a wealth or elite person to be successful in the government or in choosing who you would like to vote for.  Consequences of decline in trust in our government can be decreased voting, increase in protesting, and an increase in independents or third-parties (which could be considered positive or negative).  A decrease in voting could occur because people might think that their vote won't make a difference or it would only be a choice between two wealthy elites, whom they can't relate to.  Many of these reasons can lead to protest because people might think they aren't given a fair option, and they can only resort to protest to try and get their opinions heard. 

2004_4
3) Trust and confidence in government have declined in recent decades.
(a) Explain how divided government has contributed to the decline in trust and confidence in government. Be sure to include a definition of divided government in your response
(b) Explain how the increased cost of election campaigns has contributed to the decline in trust and confidence in government.
(c) Explain two specific consequences of the decline in trust and confidence in government for individual political behavior. 
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/repository/ap04_sg_gopo_us_37090.pdf

Essay 11

Incumbents have a high reelection rate in both the House and Senate, but the House typically has a higher incumbency rate than the senate.  Incumbents usually have an advantage point because of their experience in the field.  This goes along with the fact that they are usually running against a weaker opponent, who isn't as used to the environment and isn't as politically experienced as an incumbent.  This will usually lead to a challenger defeat.  Another factor that can lead to incumbency advantage is the finance advantage they have. They are experienced in fundraising and will usually have people who favor their view and are willing to donate to them, whereas someone who is new won't already have a following or people who know what their political views are. This makes it much easier for an incumbent to run a campaign successfully.  Consequences of incumbency advantage can either be positive or negative.  A consequence that is considered more positive is that it leads to more experienced lawmakers.  This helps because more people making decisions are experienced and know how to get favorable laws passed.  A more negative consequence is that may of the people becoming selected are the same people we have had before, this leads to fewer women and minorities being elected.

(2001_2) the graph above shows reelection rates for incumbents in the House and Senate. From this information and your knowledge of of the US politics, perform the following 
tasks. 
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/repository/sg_govpol_us_01_7046.pdf

Oil Spill Annotations

Source #1:

The Spill. 26 Oct. 2010. Frontline. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/the-spill/etc/introduction.html>.

Oil company, BP, has managed to create a bad reputation for the face of foreign oil by neglecting to attend to safety concerns. Cost-cutting measures have continued to lower the safety threshold and both injure and kill over 20 people so far. Frontline investigates and describes how this company has slowly decreased in safety and trust. It also shows just how dangerous the oil spills can be, leading to fire, explosions, and the death and injury of many bp employees. Lack of leadership in the company is the main cause of confusion with safety measures and cost-cutting which is making the company untrustworthy and not true to their word that they will bump up the safety measures to keep employees safe. 

Source #2:

Pelley, Scott. "Blowout: The Deepwater Horizon Disaster." CBS News. CBS Interactive Inc., 16 May 2010. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. <http://www.cbsnews.com/news/blowout-the-deepwater-horizon-disaster-16-05-2010/>.

The deepwater horizon disaster refers to the tragic explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico by bp, the largest oil company to date. It claimed 11 lives and is particularly terrible because there could have been many things done to prevent this disaster. To cut costs, bp avoided doing things for safety measures, not sealing the cement blocks being the largest of the cost-cutting activities, and that lead to the oil spill heard around the world. There could have been so many things that could have prevented this but bp has a major lack of leadership, starting with the CEO, that have ruined bp forever. 

Source #3:

McClatchy, David. "BP's Troubled Past." Frontline. PBS, 26 Oct. 2010. Web. 26 Feb. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/the-spill/bp-troubled-past/>.

For years, bp has been avoiding necessary safety measures to cut costs which has let to the injury and death of multiple employees. Now, there are documents being released that identify that bp truly could have done so much to save the lives of their employees but instead, they thought of the money aspect of it because they are greedy. Not only were people killed in the Texas City explosion, but there was a huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 people. The sad part of the whole story is that bp just needs new leadership to guide them in the right direction to make their company safe again and to prevent any more disasters from occurring anytime soon.

Smoke Meth Hail Satan Pt.3 j

Big Pharma And Meth Cooks Agree: Keep Cold Meds Over The Counter

     Meth production is both dangerous for those cooking and those using, it is corrosive to their communities as well.  The key ingredient is found in many cold medicines that can be found on the shelves in any convenient store.  Law Enforcement is trying to find a way to make this more restrictive and limit peoples easy access to buying this product, the ingredient which is known as the decongestant pseudo-ephedrine.

Heisenfelt, Ann. "Big Pharma And Meth Cooks Agree: Keep Cold Meds Over The Counter." NPR. NPR, 26 Sept. 2013. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. <Sources: http://www.npr.org/2013/09/26/226476602/big-pharma-and-meth-cooks-agree-keep-cold-meds-over-the-counter>.

Former meth addict describes highs and lows of drug abuse

      Brad Hearon, a former meth user, describes the night, during which he was cooking meth, that ruined his life.  At 19 years old he was cooking meth in a car with his friend, who's decided to light a cigarette, which caught the car on fire, he left Hearon to burn alive.  He was found 4 hours later burned to the bone.  He has had many surgeries and had to completely learn how to take care of himself again.  Meth can cause serious injuries and fatalities as it leads to paranoia, anorexia, hallucinations, hair loss, tooth decay and more.Ortiz, Erik. "Former meth addict describes highs and lows of drug abuse." NY Daily News. NY Daily News, 19 Apr. 2013. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. <Former meth addict describes highs and lows of drug abuse  http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/meth-addict-describes-highs-lows-abuse-article>.


The Meth Epidemic Summary
     Meth is the most addicting illegal drug in America. Meth cooks have found ways around the laws passed and pharmaceutical companies are fighting them.
Byker, Carl. "The Meth Epidemic." PBS. PBS, May 2011. Web. 07 Feb. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/etc/script.html>.

essay 9

     Policy agenda is a set of issues, problems, or subjects that get the attention of people involved in policymaking, examples would be government officials or decision makers. Even if they do not make the final decision, they play a role in policy-picking. The National News has the ability to inform everyone through raising awareness, providing information and demonstrating importance of the problem.  This will also help them get the attention of government and policymakers.
     Although everyone may not pay attention to the news, they are trying to get everyone to understand the dilemma going on. The President gains media attention easier than the Congress simply because he is the President. He is known as the leader of our country, who represents our nation, so he can gain interest in the public very easily.  Being just one person he has an advantage over the many members of congress.
     The viewing patterns were substantially higher in each age group in 1974. It has dropped by roughly 1/3 or more in each age division from the years 1974-2002. The pattern of youngest watching the least to oldest watching the most has stayed constant, but overall every category of ages have significantly dropped. The President is able to get attention by stating when he will address the country in advance so everyone is aware of when it will be happening.  The president will be more likely to use an alternate form of media to get issues out to the people, since TV viewing is so low in our society.

Essay 6

Essay 6:

In the U.S. political system there are several linkage institutions that can connect citizens to government. Elections constitute one such institution. Because of low voter turnout other linkage institutions can connect citizens to government.  Age and education are the two main factors that relate to ones likelihood of voting.  As voters become older they are more likely to take their own position and vote.  Along with age the more educated a person becomes the more likely they are to vote.

One current government electoral requirement that decreases voter turnout is preregistration to vote.  Many people don't want to take the time beforehand to register themselves to vote, states which allow registration on the same day have a much higher turnout.

Media is one of the linkage institutions that connects people to the government and helps them become more involved in politics.  The internet gives people more access to politics than the have ever had, and gives anyone the opportunity to be educated and involved in politics.  The newspaper, news on TV, and magazines are all also forms of media that are constantly updating citizens about our government and elections.