To participate in the following discussions, go to this week’s Discussion link in the left navigation.

1. Party Platforms and Winning Elections

   Political parties mobilize voters to win elections and implement policy goals. Parties use their stated policy goals (i.e., their platforms) as a way to mobilize voter support. Generally, in order to be successful in a two-party system, parties must have policy goals across a broad range of issue areas to appeal to a broad range of voters.

   Before writing your initial post, review the assigned resources. To easily access the resources from the Ashford University Library, please see the table located in the Course Materials section.

   For this discussion, you will identify one issue area that you want investigate. Use the assigned resources required for this discussion to gather information about the goals and proposals, in that issue area, of three political parties – the Democratic and Republican parties and a third party.

   In your initial post of at least 200-250 words, summarize each of the three parties’ policy goals in your issue area.  Compare and contrast the parties’ goals in that area. Evaluate each party’s goals from two perspectives:

   • Your own political philosophy, values or ideology.
   • How effective each party’s goals are likely to be in mobilizing voters to support the party’s candidates on the national level. In making your assessment from this perspective, consider what influence the factors which underlie the two-party system have on each party’s ability to use its policy proposals to generate voter support.

   Justify your conclusions with facts and persuasive reasoning.

   Fully respond to all parts of the question. Write in your own words. Support your position with APA citations to two or more of the assigned resources required for this discussion. Please be sure that you demonstrate understanding of these resources, integrate them into your argument, and cite them properly.

   By Day 7, respond to at least two of your classmates’ initial posts. Your peer responses each must be at least 75 words. They must demonstrate critical thinking (e.g., ask a relevant question about your peer’s post while explaining why your question is significant, or state a perspective that contrasts with your peer’s while explaining or justifying your position).

2. Voting and Turnout

   The U.S. has one of the lowest voter turnout rates among modern democratic political systems. One study ranks the U.S. 120th on a list of 169 nations compared on voter turnout (Pintor, Gratschew, & Sullivan, 2002). While during the last decade many initiatives have been undertaken to increase voter participation, concerns about the possibility of election fraud have also increased. Additionally, some political interests feel threatened by the increase in turnout among some traditionally low-turnout ethnic minorities.

   Several states have recently passed legislation imposing new registration and identification requirements. This has sparked debate about whether these are tactics intended to suppress turnout or to prevent fraud.

   Before writing your initial post, review the assigned resources. To easily access the resources from the Ashford University Library, please see the table located in the Course Materials section.

   In your initial post of at least 200-250 words, summarize recent developments in several states enacting voter ID laws. Explain the pros and cons on both sides of the debate about these laws. Share your own experience with the relative difficulty or ease of voting in your locale. Draw your own conclusion about the debate over voter ID laws. Finally, share your perspective about whether voting in the U.S. should be made easier or harder. Justify your conclusions with facts and persuasive reasoning.

   Fully respond to all parts of the question. Write in your own words. Support your position with APA citations to two or more of the assigned resources required for this discussion. Please be sure that you demonstrate understanding of these resources, integrate them into your argument, and cite them properly.

   By Day 7, respond to at least two of your classmates’ initial posts. Your peer responses each must be at least 75 words. They must demonstrate critical thinking (e.g., ask a relevant question about your peer’s post while explaining why your question is significant, or state a perspective that contrasts with your peer’s while explaining or justifying your position).

   Reference:

   Pintor, R., Gratschew, M., & Sullivan, K. (2002). Voter turnout rates from a comparative perspective. In R. Pintor & M. Gratschew (Eds.), Voter turnout since 1945: A global report. Stockholm, Sweden: The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. Retrieved from