Introduction To American Politics: Course Analysis

In this course we have discussed several topics involving the American government. In this paper I will discuss the American domestic policy and give some details about the goals of the domestic policy. I will explain how domestic policy affects relationships between the United States and the other nations. In addition, I will discuss how domestic policy affects the United States strategy on internationalism and how the media influences such decision. Finally, I will discuss why the shared power of the three branches of the government is sometimes referred to as an invitation to struggle about policy making for foreign affairs.

The danger of politics lead to the principal factor of checks and balances, within the government and Founding Fathers, throughout the “most crucial and consequential [decade] in American history” (27). Politics were also what lead to the quarrel between John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson.

Wilson Q. James. American Government, Brief Version. 11th ed. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. 2009, 2012, 2014.

1. Identify the Article & section, or Amendment number, and explain the following Clauses in the

In my life I have never had any political enforcement or strict religious influence. My parents were very lenient when it came too political preaching. I was taught to be a caring and respectful individual. My political understanding and beliefs have been molded from my early political memories and socialization experiences. As a young adult I have always strived to become knowledgeable about political ideals mainly because I was never really taught to believe in something specific. I eventually was drawn towards many different social and political perspectives, which is how I came to a logical conclusion of how I view the world politically

I will be taking viewpoints from both sides of each party and to identify whether they acted democratically in terms of how they promoted themselves to the public. Additionally, how public opinion is persuaded through political discourse will be theorized through the works of Habermas and Lipmaan.

Explain how and why political ideas, beliefs, institutions, party systems, and alignments have developed and changed. (Focus on Loyalist vs. Patriots and Federalist vs. Anti-federalist).

The purpose of this assignment is to give you an opportunity to apply some of the critical reading strategies you have evaluated.

The purpose of this paper is intended to summarize my views on what has influenced my understanding of politics and government prior to taking this class, and how my understanding is now since completing this course.

“The American Political Tradition” published in 1948 was written by a well-known historian at Colombia University. Richard Hofstadter was born on August 6, 1916, in Buffalo, New York. He attended both the University of Buffalo and Columbia University where he studied philosophy and history. Hofstadter was married twice and later in 1970 died from leukemia. Throughout his life Hofstadter had a lot of published works including Social Darwinism in American Thought, William Leggett, Spokesman of Jacksonian Democracy, The Age of Reform, The United States: the History of a Republic, and many more. Hofstadter’s purpose for writing this book was to give people a better understanding about our history. He wanted to help Americans understand who was

Political polarization can be analyzed by two approaches i.e. elite polarization and mass polarization (Fiorina & Abrams 2008). In its simplest form, what influence politics and what influences the public. Both types can take place over time

McKenna, George and Stanley Feingold. Taking Sides, Clashing View on Political Issues, 17th Edition. Dubuque, IA: McGraw Hill, 2011.

For the past two years, I have been involved in the University of Washington’s Student Senate and am familiar with parliamentary procedures. Through participation in this program I will enhance my skills and gain experience that will help me further my career choices. My passion for foreign policy and laws led me to pursue majors that have introduced me to domestic and international issues through specialize coursework such as Human Rights in Latin America, Cultural Interactions and Crime, Politics and Justice. Through my courses, I have been introduced to several world problems that have yet to be resolved. My ultimate goal, is to be employed in a job that allows me to work on issues concerning foreign policy.

The first area I looked at was political parties role in our history. There were a multitude of sources that came up, but only a few that dealt with American political parties or was broad enough to use for this topic. For example, there was one article that dealt interpreted the political parties role in U.S. tariff policy in the 1820s (Daniel Purt). I felt that that subject was too narrow for the area of interest I was looking to explore, so with that I decided to move on to another article. The first article I really looked in depth at was an article from Richard L. McCormick, titled “Politics in the United States: Reinterpreting their Natural History” And this article goes over, broadly, the different realignments and political transitions that have occurred in our country. In the article it also talks about new ideas political scientists now focus on. Being as previously they only focused on voting patterns (McCormick), the scope of inquiry has now increased to a multitude of topics. While

Sources for this paper include articles, books, and websites. Terms will be defined as the arguments are presented.