2.    The Supreme Court
The Supreme Court often plays an important part in American society since it makes landmark decisions that can affect the lives of Americans for years to come. With the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a new justice must be appointed. 

Essay question: First, give a short outline of the powers of the Supreme Court, including its part in the system of checks and balances (no more than half a page). Second, discuss how the liberal or conservative preferences of justices can have an impact on American society. Last, discuss briefly why the recent nomination of Amy Coney Barrett as a Supreme Court Justice is so controversial.

There are a few points that are important if your paper is to be accepted:
1.    The paper must be written in your own words. It will not be accepted if large sections are copied from a book or the Internet.

2.    APA style, I need sources and everything.

3.    Sources: At least three sources in addition to Contemporary American Society + your lecture notes and handouts. You should have at least two different kinds of sources (not just the internet, but an article or book etc., although you may use an article from the internet edition of a newspaper). In addition, the sources you use must have an identifiable and trustworthy author, thus e.g. Wikipedia and many other web pages cannot be used as sources.

4.    Carefully and critically evaluate your sources to make sure they are trustworthy and not strongly biased.

5.    The paper should be typed (size 12; space 1.5), approximately 800 words (max. 1000 words), excluding footnotes and bibliography.