Describe the characteristics and functions of American political parties.

In which stage (or stages) of decision making does each system best assist its respective user community — intelligence stage, design stage, choice stage, and/or implementation stage?
August 5, 2017
Describe the features of the current Texas constitution.
August 5, 2017
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Describe the characteristics and functions of American political parties.

Please choose from one of the following topics for your writing assignment:

  1. In Chapter 5, “Voting, Campaigns, and Elections,” the authors provide an in-depth discussion of voter turnout. Complete the following:
    • Explain how voter turnout is measured.
    • Compare voter turnout in the U.S. with that in other countries.
    • Describe the factors that affect the level of voter turnout in the United States.
    • Compare voter turnout in Texas to that in the United States as a whole.
    • Identify the historic and contemporary factors which have led to a culture of low voter turnout in Texas.
    • How do you think voter turnout could be increased in Texas?
  2. Describe the use of campaign contributions by lobbies and explain the extent to which lobbying is regulated in Texas.
    • Identify the organization responsible for overseeing lobbying in Texas.
    • Compare regulation of campaign finance at the national and state level (in Texas).
    • What appears to be difference in approach between the two?
    • Which method do you believe is better for purposes of maintaining the integrity of the election process?
  3. Describe the characteristics and functions of American political parties.
    • Explain the relationship between the national political parties and the state political parties.
    • Review the Texas Democratic Party platform and the Texas Republican Party platform and explain the differences.
    • Compare each state party platform to its national party platform counterpart and explain the differences between the national and state party platforms.
    • Why do you believe differences would exist between the national and state party platforms?

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