Public Policy Project Essential Standard Government 12 You or your group will create a project to demonstrate how the three branches of government and how “linkage institutions” (the media, interest groups, & parties) create public policy & influence each other in this process. You will get to choose the public policy issue of your choice, but you cannot pick an issue that another group in this class chooses. There are many public policy choices for this project some of which include: immigration, gun control, abortion, global warming, & civil liberties. Steps: In order to do this assignment you will need to research: • What the three branches of government (the Congress, the courts, & the president & his/her agencies) are doing or have done on your issue. • What 2 interest groups, 2 political parties, & 2 media sources are saying or have said on your issue. You will need a minimum of 7 sources to receive full credit for this assignment. Your textbook cannot be one of those sources. You cannot use Wikipedia as a source. Products: You will create a slideshow presentation. All projects need to include a bibliography that uses MLA format. Your project should address the following topics: • Identify specific actions of the courts, the Congress, & the president or his agencies on this issue (what laws have they passed, what programs have been created, what court cases have been decided, etc.). You should give an example from each branch of government in your project. • Identify 2 interest groups, 2 political parties, & 2 media sources & summarize what they are saying or have said on your issue. • Explain the influence a linkage institution (parties, interest groups, & the media) has had on how or to what degree the national government has addressed this issue. In your project, you should give an example of a specific success or failure of a political party, interest group, or media source trying to influence the government on your issue. • Predict, based on your research, how you think this issue will be dealt with in the short or long term future. Explain & justify the reasons for your prediction.

Potential topic list: Gun control Capital punishment Women’s rights Abortion Foreign policy Welfare Gun Rights/control

Civil rights Net Neutrality Alternative energy Environment Healthcare Same-sex marriage Taxes

Civil liberties Illegal drug policy Nuclear energy Climate Change Education Affirmative action OTHER??

Patriot Act Terrorism Torture Social Security Illegal Immigration Food regulations

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Content: 3 Branches 15%

Clearly identified & explained specific actions of the courts, the Congress, & the president or her/his agencies on this issue (what laws have they passed, what programs have been created, what court cases have been decided, etc.). Project gave more than one example from each branch of government.

Clearly identified specific actions of the courts, the Congress, & the president or her/his agencies on this issue (what laws have they passed, what programs have been created, what court cases have been decided, etc.). Project gave an example from each branch of government.

Identified actions of the courts, the Congress, & the president or her/his agencies on this issue (what laws have they passed, what programs have been created, what court cases have been decided, etc.). Examples lacked specificity or one braches’ example was missing.

Attempted to identify actions of the courts, the Congress, & the president or her/his agencies on this issue (what laws have they passed, what programs have been created, what court cases have been decided, etc.). Examples were missing, confusing, or incorrect.

Content: Linkage Institutions 15%

Clearly identified 2 or more interest groups, political parties, & media sources, & summarized & analyzed their communication on the issue.

Clearly identified 2 interest groups, political parties, & media sources & summarized their communication on the issue.

Identified 2 interest groups, political parties, & media sources. Summaries on their communication were superficial.

Content: Connections 20%

Explained with insight the influence linkage institutions (political parties, interest groups, & the media) have had on how or to what degree the national government has addressed this issue. Project offered more than one specific example of a success or failure of an interest group, political party or media source influencing the national government’s policy.

Clearly explained the influence linkage institutions (political parties, interest groups, & the media) have had on how or to what degree the national government has addressed this issue. Project offered one specific example of a success or failure of an interest group, political party or media source influencing the national government’s policy.

Partially explained the influence linkage institutions (political parties, interest groups, & the media) have had on how or to what degree the national government has addressed this issue. Project offered an example of a success or failure of an interest group, political party or media source influencing the national government’s policy, but example was vague.

Started to identify interest groups, political parties, & media sources. Summaries were missing, confusing, or incorrect. Attempted to explain the influence linkage institutions (political parties, interest groups, & the media) have had on how or to what degree the national government has addressed this issue. Example was missing, confusing or incorrect.

Content: Predictions 20%

Project offered a clear, nuanced, & insightful prediction, based on research, of how the issue will be dealt with in the short or long term future. Project explained & justified the reasons for the prediction.

Project offered a clear prediction, based on research, of how the issue will be dealt with in the short or long term future. Project explained & justified the reasons for the prediction.

Project offered a prediction, not fully based on research, of how the issue will be dealt with in the short or long term future. Project partially explained & justified the reasons for the prediction.

Project offered a prediction. Project did not explain or justify the reasons for the prediction. Prediction may be confusing or contradictory.

Presentation Skills 15%

Ideas were presented in the project in an engaging & critical manner. Project was well organized & had no spelling, grammatical, & fluency errors.

Ideas were presented in the project in a clear manner. Project was well organized & only had minor spelling, grammatical, & fluency errors.

Project was somewhat well organized & had multiple spelling, grammatical, & fluency errors.

Sources/Citations 15%

The project had more than 7 sources, correctly used the MLA format on their bibliography, & properly cited their sources within the project.

The project had 7 sources, correctly used the MLA format on their bibliography, & properly cited their sources within the project.

The project had 4-6 sources, attempted to use the MLA format on their bibliography, & cited their sources within the project.

Project was not well organized & had significant spelling, grammatical, & fluency errors which made the project difficult to understand. The project had a minimum of 3 sources, incorrectly used the MLA format on their bibliography, & did not properly cite their sources within the project.