Category: Government

Purpose:  As you learned in this module, local governments are separate from the state government and each other. The purpose of this assignment is for you to review the powers and responsibilities of local officials. 
This is a critical thinking assignment – i.e. analyze and evaluate the information before you make a judgment. Critical thinking is one of the skills you are supposed to develop in college no matter what your major is. 
This assignment is worth 20 points.
Please follow this format: 
Copy the question in bold font and then type the answer below it in regular font. Do this for each individual question.
Put a blank line in between your answers. 
Do not highlight any portion of your assignment.
Do not give your assignment file a long name. 
Do not include spaces when naming your assignment file. 
Instructions:
Read the following instructions carefully.
Part A: 
Step #1: Read this: County Officials
This assignment requires you to apply what you are learning, so the answers will not be written straight out of the file above. You need to first understand what each power/responsibility listed for each official(s) mean. The readings in the textbook will help with that if you need further examples of what is written in the slides.
Step #2: 
To which elected county official should one go to for the following? What specific power or responsibility makes this official the correct person to go to? 
The elected county officials you are to choose from for this assignment are the ones discussed in the County Officials handout.
You do not need to put the name of the official, just his/her title (e.g. county judge, etc.).
Do not list all the powers and responsibilities of the official. If you do so otherwise, your response will be marked wrong. The whole purpose of the assignment is for you to determine which specific power or responsibility makes this official the correct person to go to.
You can use the same official more than once.
Each question is worth 2 points.
If you got the “Official” portion wrong, then the “Power/Responsibility” portion of your answer will also be marked wrong for that question. 
If you got the “Power/Responsibility” portion wrong but got the “Official” portion correct, then you will be awarded 1 point for that question. 
Please number your responses and follow the assignment format below.
Example:
pay your property tax bill 
Official – tax-assessor collector
Power/Responsibility – collects county’s property taxes
The tax assessor-collector is responsible for collecting the county’s property taxes. Unless the mortgage on your house has an escrow account (i.e. This is the dedicated amount you pay for your property taxes and home owner’s insurance.), then you will need to go or send a check to the tax assessor-collector’s office to pay your property tax bill. 
Note: You do not need to explain your answer for this assignment.
You live in the neighborhood of Alamo Ranch, which is an unincorporated area in Bexar County. To which elected county official should you go to for assistance on the following issues?
1. get a copy of the birth certificate of your child, who was born in Bexar County, so you can enroll him for kindergarten 
Official – type the title of the official here
Power/Responsibility – type the specific power here
2. express support for putting up traffic lights at a busy intersection in the neighborhood 
Official –
Power/Responsibility –
3. get speed bumps put in front of the elementary school in the neighborhood
Official –
Power/Responsibility –
4. complain about how long it took for the county deputies to respond to your burglary call when your car was broken into at the movie theatre parking lot in the neighborhood 
Official –
Power/Responsibility –
5. challenge a speeding ticket issued by a county deputy while you were driving to the grocery store in the neighborhood
Official –
Power/Responsibility –
Part B:
Step #1: Read this: Forms of City Governments
This assignment requires you to apply what you are learning, so the answers will not be written straight out of the file above. You need to first understand what each power/responsibility listed for each official(s) mean. The readings in the textbook will help with that if you need further examples of what is written in the slides.
Step #2: 
To which city official should one go to for the following? What specific power or responsibility makes this official the correct person to go to? 
The city officials you are to choose from for this assignment are the ones discussed in the Forms of City Government handout.
Do not list all the powers and responsibilities of the official. If you do so otherwise, your response will be marked wrong. The whole purpose of the assignment is for you to determine which specific power or responsibility makes this official the correct person to go to.
You can use the same official more than once.
NOTE: Individual city departments are not possible answers for this assignment.
Each question is worth 2 points.
If you got the “Official” portion wrong, then the “Power/Responsibility” portion of your answer will also be marked wrong for that question. 
If you got the “Power/Responsibility” portion wrong but got the “Official” portion correct, then you will be awarded 1 point for that question. 
Please number your responses and follow the assignment format below.
Example:
You live in the city of San Antonio. It uses the council-manager form of city government. You want to complain about the fireworks ban in the city. You don’t think it’s fair that your family can’t light fireworks for the Fourth of July. 
Official – mayor and council
Power/Responsibility – adopt ordinances
Fireworks bans are examples of city ordinances (i.e. city laws). The city of San Antonio uses the council-manager form of city government. Looking at the Forms of City Governments handout, we can see that in a council-manager form of city government, the mayor and council have the power to adopt city ordinances. Therefore, the mayor and council were the ones that passed the fireworks ban ordinance. They will then have to pass another ordinance getting rid of this ban, if they choose to do so. 
Note: You do not need to explain your answer for this assignment.
1. You live in the city of Houston. It uses the strong-mayor council form of city government. You want to express support for the city’s gun buyback program. A gun buyback program is when a government asks citizens to turn in their guns in exchange for money. Gun owners are not forced to sell their guns. 
Official –
Power/Responsibility –
2. You live in the city of Houston. It uses the strong-mayor council form of city government. You want the pot holes on downtown streets fixed. 
Official –
Power/Responsibility –
3. You live in the city of White Oak. It uses the weak-mayor council form of city government. You want the city to hire more police officers as a response to the increased crime rate in the city. 
Official –
Power/Responsibility –
4. You live in the city of Leon Valley. It uses the council-manager form of city government. You would like to make homeless camps illegal in the city.
Official –
Power/Responsibility –
5. You live in the city of Helotes. It uses the council-manager form of city government. You want to complain about the increased traffic on your street caused by people living in a nearby unincorporated area. These drivers are using your street as a short cut to bypass the traffic on a main road. You would like to make it illegal for non-residents, non-visitors, and non-delivery personnel to use your street. 
Official –
Power/Responsibility –
Bonus Question (2 points):
This portion of the assignment is optional. You will not be penalized if you get it wrong. Partial credit is possible. Each question is worth 1 point. 
1. get a copy of the transcripts of your child custody case heard at the district court
Official –
Power/Responsibility –
2. complain about how there’s only a few dog parks in the city of San Antonio
Official –
Power/Responsibility –

The U.S. Constitution is one of the oldest constitutions and it has influenced constitutions in many other countries, but scholars like McCullough argue that American do not appreciate enough the founding fathers who created the constitution. What is your assessment?
Required material for this essay:
Book chapter on Constitution.
The Daily (2023) What makes the U.S. Constitution unique, anyway? Case Western Reserve University, September 18. Retrieved fromhttps://thedaily.case.edu/what-makes-the-u-s-constitution-unique-anyway/ Links to an external site..
Debidatta A. Mahapatra (2022) Understanding the moral and ethical foundation of the U.S. Constitution. The Florida Times Union, September 25. Retrieved from https://www.jacksonville.com/story/opinion/columns/guest/2022/09/25/understanding-moral-and-ethical-foundation-u-s-constitution/10400753002/.
David McCullough (2012) Do Americans misunderstand the founding fathers? Big Think, April 23. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV2g6Lt64B8.
Links to an external site.
You are not required to use other resources. You MUST use all the above material in your essay. Please use the sample essay in the first module as a reference.
Assignment Details: You will write an essay (350-400 words) on the prompt as provided on the Canvas. You must follow the word limit. You must write the word count for your postings.
You will study the required material for the essay, and you must cite and refer to that material in your essay.
No plagiarism will be allowed. Plagiarized (25 per cent or more) posts will receive ZERO.
Please read the instructions CAREFULLY before you start the assignment. While grading, I will follow the writing grading rubric.
If more than 25 per cent of your essay is AI generated, you will be required to rewrite your essay in your own language to receive a grade for that assignment.
If you use AI generated resources, for example ChatGPT, you must give reference to them otherwise the essay will receive zero grade. See this link on how to refer ChatGPT in your essay: https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/how-to-cite-chatgpt Links to an external site.
Your essay must demonstrate the knowledge you have gained from the assigned readings. You must integrate and refer to the assigned readings. Your post must be well articulated, relevant to the topic, and demonstrate critical thinking and academic writing skills.

Imagine a world without NATO. Prominent experts, such as Professor Paul Poast, suggest that counterfactual thinking is crucial for policy analysis and International Relations (IR) scholarship.
Question what might the global landscape look like without NATO’s presence, especially in the West. For instance, “If NATO weren’t here, what would happen?”
The counterfactual thinking analysis of up to 800 words should answer the question: What might the global landscape look like without NATO’s presence, especially in the West?
PLEASE ONLY USE SOURCES PROVIDED

This is the assignments content.
Texas finds itself at the forefront of a new culture war, and issues such as the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT), transgender individuals competing in sports, and a proposed version of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill are the frontlines of this war. Texas has long been a conservative state, and many politicians appear to be pushing the state even further to the right, and despite what many more progressive people/politicians feel about this hard-right shift being antiquated and pushing back against the headwinds of progress, this approach appears to be paying political dividends for them. 
Gov. Abbot has taken a very vocal stance against how the issue of slavery is taught/discussed in public school by signing a law which bans the teaching of CRT. CRT is an academic theory which says that while slavery itself ended long ago, the system itself is built to maintain the status quo, and the system itself is flawed and perpetuates system racism in our nation. Proponents of CRT say that it is important for students to understand this underlying racism in the system, while opponents claims that CRT teaches that white students should feel ashamed and accept responsibility for an issue which they have had no direct participation in. 
Similarly, LGBTQ issues have also become political fodder in states across the nation. The story of Lia Thomas, the Ivy league swimmer who transition from male to female, raised the issues of fairness and rights for those who have transitioned, but also the same for those who compete with and against them. Lia has been swimmer for all her life, but prior to transitioning to female, she ranked quite low in men’s competitions, but afterwards, she began shattering records when she began competing against other females. She claims that the transition had nothing to do with gaining a competitive advantage, and certainly no one would deny her the right to be the person she wants to be, but nonetheless, the competitive advantages do appear to be present despite Lia claiming she is not a threat to women’s competitive swimming. It is worth noting that World Swimming recently banned transgender women from competing in women’s events. Then there is the issue of the rights of others competing both with and against Lia. Many of her own teammates penned a letter in support of inclusion on the team, but many other teammates penned a letter speaking out against her being on the team, claiming she has an unfair advantage over them. While they are all on the same team and competing for a team championship, they are also competing against each other for the right to claim the top spot on their team for specific events and to compete for those titles against others. If Lia does indeed maintain an unfair physical advantage over her fellow female athletes, then their rights are also effectively being denied, thus raising the question of whose rights should be upheld.
Finally, on the heels of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, many other states, including Texas, has either pursued, or promised to pursue, similar legislation themselves. This type of legislation effectively bans the teaching of lessons on sexual orientation or gender identity below the 4th grade. For proponents of such legislation, they claim it is about parental rights and that their children should not be taught about such issues unless or until the parents feel the timing is right, and that schools teaching such material may cause children to ask questions which parents are not comfortable answering, or which perhaps are contrary to their religious beliefs. Opponents of “Don’t Say Gay” legislation claim that it further “others” children identifying as LGBTQ, or who come from families that are LGBTQ, and that they deserve to see themselves and families represented as much as any other student does. 
These are all highly complex and controversial issues, any of which could serve as the basis for a discussion board on their own, and I do not expect you to effectively address all of these in the limited space/time available, so you may choose to address a single one of these three inter-related issues, or you can attempt to address each of them within your post if you wish, so long as your post meets the minimum requirements as noted in the Syllabus. Remember that there is no “right” or “wrong” responses here. I have provided numerous articles with which to read about these issues, and I look forward to reading your thoughts and responses to them. 
Articles must use one
Critics of Texas’ push for a “Don’t Say Gay” bill say acknowledging LGBTQ people isn’t the same as teaching kids about sex
Republicans say they don’t want young kids learning about sex. Educators say that’s already the standard.
Jason Beeferman
The Texas Tribune
State education board members push back on proposal to use “involuntary relocation” to describe slavery
The Texas State Board of Education is fielding proposals to update the state’s public school social studies curriculum this summer.
Brian Lopez
The Texas Tribune
Why are states banning critical race theory?
It’s important to understand what critical race theory is and is not.
Rashawn Ray and Alexandra Gibbons
Brookings
A Look At the Numbers and Times: No Denying the Advantages of Lia Thomas
The times and rankings of Penn’s Lia Thomas are clear and undeniable. The transgender swimmer has an obvious edge over biological women.
Swimming World News
https://www.si.com/college/2022/05/31/former-penn-swimmer-lia-thomas-didnt-transition-competitive-advantage
https://apnews.com/article/transgender-swimmers-new-rules-fina-world-governing-body-
c17e99d3121fa964336458b57ae266f7
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wants Texas version of Florida law that critics dubbed “Don’t Say Gay”
The Florida law prohibits teachers from teaching sexual orientation or gender identity to kids below the fourth grade.
Brian Lopez and Emily Hernandez
The Texas Tribune
Not just Florida. More than a dozen states propose so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bills
The specific details regarding the bills vary between state. But overall, they seek to prohibit schools from using a curriculum or discussing topics of gender identity or sexual orientation.
NPR
READ IMPORTANT!!!
Discussion board posts should be a minimum of 525 words and typed in 12-point Times New Roman font and should include at least one outside source other than the lecture materials which you must cite in APA formatting at the end of your post.  If articles are given for reading with the Discussion Board prompt, then you may use them as your required source material, provided that you cite the source used in your post.  All posts should be typed in a Word document to ensure proper length.

Compare the United States Constitution and the Constitution for the State of Georgia. What are some of the primary similarities and differences? Why might these documents seem so different?  In particular, discuss the differences in the amendment processes for the U.S. Constitution and the Georgia State Constitution. Under which amendment process does the successful passage and ratification of amendments seem easier? Which amendment process allows for more citizen involvement? What are some potential benefits and drawbacks to having more citizen involvement in the amendment process?