Part I – Original Posting Guidelines:

During each unit, you are expected to post an answer (in your own words) to the primary set of questions posed for the discussion forum. Please do not wait until the deadline to make your submission. You and your peers are expected to reply to each other’s posting, so try to allow enough time to reply. Each activity involves an element of independent research and critical analysis. The questions address your understanding of central themes in the textbook and your ability to think critically about the course material.

Your responses are to be in essay format. Be sure to fully explain your position, citing a high quality source as evidence if needed. Wikipedia, an online blog and similar items are examples of unacceptable sources on the collegiate level. Each student is expected to utilize high quality sources (academic journals, scholarly articles, current laws/policy, court cases, etc), in addition to the textbook. The grade for the primary posting will be determined by the quality, depth and originality of your writing. The minimum writing requirement is 250 words for the original posting, be sure to add your word count at the end of the posting.

Parts of the text book reading must be incorporated. This weeks readings are chapters 4, 5 and 6. Book download is attached. Doesn’t have to be much just enough to show the readings were read and a way to incorporate it. Any sourced must be cited.

Questions to choose from

Answer one of the following questions:

1. Should elected officials be bound by their party’s platform?
2. Is voting for a third party candidate in Texas a “wasted vote”?
3. In the past, critics frequently charged that very few differences exist between the two major parties. Is this true today?

NOTE: Says the book attachment is too large. I can email the PDF file f needed

Texas Politics Today, 2017-2018 Edition/Edition 18, Maxwell, Crain, Jones, et al., Cengage Learning, ISBN: 9781305952188 OR 2015-2016 Edition/Edition 17, Maxwell, Crain, Jones, et al., Cengage Learning, ISBN: 9781285861913