Formal Essay
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You will write an argumentative essay in which you will offer support for your chosen position in the Constitutional Amendment Debate. This assignment will require that you support your claims with evidence from both scholarly sources and from your own analysis of arguments. In order to write the paper and argue effectively, it will also be necessary for you to familiarize yourself with the major arguments on the opposing perspective. This paper should be typed in twelve point times roman, have one inch margins, about 6 pages in length, and employ proper citation format.
The paper will be due April 23, the week prior to the Constitutional Amendment Debate and will help you to formulate your oral arguments.
Some argue that the Electoral College system is a relic of an earlier, less democratic era and that it should be scrapped before it elects another presidential candidate who "loses" the popular vote. Perhaps the most obvious substitute for the Electoral College would be direct election using the plurality system. In a plurality system, the candidate receiving more votes than any other candidate is declared the winner, even if the candidate received less than a majority of the vote. Another possible substitute for the Electoral College would be an "instant runoff" system. Instant Runoff allows voters to rank candidates as their first choice, second choice, third, fourth and so on. If a candidate does not receive a clear majority of votes on the first count, a series of runoff counts are conducted, using each voter’s top choices indicated on the ballot. The candidate who received the fewest first place ballots is eliminated. The ballots are then retabulated, with each counting as a vote for the top-ranked candidate listed on the ballot that is still in contention. Voters who chose the now-eliminated candidate have their vote transferred to their second choice candidate—just as if they were voting in a traditional two-round runoff election. This process continues until a candidate achieves more than fifty percent of the vote. Pro: Write an essay in favor of a Constitutional amendment that would replace the electoral college with a direct instant runoff vote for the President. Con: Write an essay in favor of maintaining the Electoral College. Electoral System Web Resources Advisory: Consider using the "non-virtual" library (the one with actual books, journal, and magazines in it). You will find a wealth of information through various links to the web below, but you won't find all the information you might need nor will you find that information in the most efficient manner. The time it takes to walk to the "non-virtual" library might be far less than time consumed by hopping from one link to the next in the hope of finding a particular piece of information. This is a list of periodical databases available to University of Hartford students. I recommend two in particular:
If you want to use these databases off-campus, look at the information at this link.
The Electoral College (pdf format)
Electoral College-National Archives and Records Administration
Electoral College Helps Blacks, Latinos
Center for Voting and Democracy
EC The US Electoral College Web Zine
Citizens for True Democracy Advocates for Fair Elections
In Defense of the Electoral College
Should we adopt a guaranteed income?Real freedom, some claim, requires that persons be free from material deprivation. Others argue that social justice requires a substantial equality in wealth and power. One suggestion for promoting freedom and justice is to guarantee a minimum income for every American. A guaranteed income would be an income paid by a government, at a uniform level and at regular intervals, to each adult member of society. The grant is paid, and its level is fixed, irrespective of whether the person is rich or poor, lives alone or with others, is willing to work or not. Any other income–whether in cash or in kind, from work or savings, from the market or the state–can lawfully be added to it. The level of guaranteed income would be set by Congress and would not necessarily cover any definition of "basic needs" nor necessarily provide what is regarded as a decent existence. Alpha. Write and essay in favor of a Constitutional amendment that would guarantee a minimum income to every adult American. Beta. Write an essay against this proposal. Web ResourcesAdvisory: Consider using the "non-virtual" library (the one with actual books, journal, and magazines in it). You will find a wealth of information through various links to the web below, but you won't find all the information you might need nor will you find that information in the most efficient manner. The time it takes to walk to the "non-virtual" library might be far less than time consumed by hopping from one link to the next in the hope of finding a particular piece of information. This is a list of periodical databases available to University of Hartford students. I recommend two in particular:
If you want to use these databases off-campus, look at the information at this link.
Background Information
Arguments for and against Guaranteed Income
Arguments in favor of Guaranteed Income
Arguments Against Guaranteed Income
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