POLI 201

Final Exam

Name: ­­­­­

Instructions:

Below, you’ll find 5 questions covering course material from Weeks 1-8. You must answer all 5 questions. Each response can earn you up to 4 points, for a total of 20 points.

Take as much space as you need to demonstrate your full understanding and command of the material. You can type your responses directly into this document, or in a separate Word document. Please make sure to put your name on the document.

You must answer all exam questions in your own words. If you use information from the textbook or supplemental readings, you must include proper citation (including page numbers). I will not accept responses that take information from outside sources.

You must upload your responses, in Word format, to the Assignments section in Blackboard. Responses are due Monday, December 16 (7 am).

Good luck!

• How does the Constitution both a) ensure that states retain important governing powers, and b) ensure that there is some unity across all of the states? Your response should point to specific places in the text of the Constitution that accomplish both of these goals.
• Explain the process of redistricting. When and why does it occur? How is the process linked to the principle of democracy? And how might redistricting transform into gerrymandering?
• What are “delegated powers”? How does the president, specifically, exercise delegated powers? And why, according to the authors of We the People, have the president’s delegated powers expanded significantly since the early twentieth century?
• Where in the Bill of Rights does freedom of speech appear? What does it mean, and why, according to Justice Brandeis in his Whitney opinion, is freedom of speech an important democratic value? How does government suppression of speech harm the practice of democracy? (Your response should include direct references to at least one key passage in Brandeis’ opinion, and you should be able to explain Brandeis’ argument in your own words.)
• How did the legal advocates mentioned in the “Sex Appeal” podcast – including future Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — want the Supreme Court to interpret the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution? What unique legal strategy (in cases like Craig v. Boren) did these advocates employ? And why was the outcome in the Boren case significant in terms of civil rights?

Bonus (2 points): Is there a right to privacy in the Constitution? If so, where can we find it? How has the notion of privacy played a key role in important Supreme Court decisions? (You should be able to discuss at least one Supreme Court case discussed in We the People.)

Notes: I will provide my Blackboard account so that you can sign in and check all the readings/course material that you need to use to answer these questions and I will provide the link of the digital book: We The People that is also required for answering these questions. I really need a perfect score since I am not doing good at the class and of course I also need to answer that bonus question correctly. This is really an emergency and I hope I can find someone to help me. Kind regards.