1.) INSTRUCTIONS: (300-500 words) consisting of TWO paragraphs compose a well-written, coherent essay – organize your thoughts and ideas, write in complete sentences, and check your grammar and spelling. 

• Paragraph 1: What is your political ideology? Use the lecture notes and textbook to consider where you stand ideologically. Then do a mini-quiz on one or both of the links provided below, or any other website source that you find credible (please list the website at the bottom of your essay in this case), to get a more accurate information on your ideological stance. Discuss the specific findings, such as issue areas, and then relate them to your partisanship. Are you a registered member of a political party? Do you generally support a particular party or a candidate? Why or why not? Studies show that a majority of young people are not loyal to a particular political party, so you aren’t alone even if you cannot provide affirmative responses to these questions, but you must provide an explanation for your answers.  https://www.people-press.org/quiz/political-typology/ 
• Paragraph 2: In November 2022, all of Texas’s executive and legislative offices were up for election. Have you voted? Was there a candidate, executive or legislative, you were excited to support? What issues were important to you in your voting decision? What issues do you think were important in this election? Even if you had not voted, research on a candidate you would have voted for and discuss why you’d support him/her on at least two issue areas (such as foreign policy, health care policy, gun rights, etc). Use and cite at least two of your own sources by providing a website address. Common sources are listed under “Websites” on the top left pane, but you may use other sources as long as they are legitimate and credible sources. Please don’t use wikipedia, personal blogs, fake/conspiracy news sites, etc. DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. No MLA/APA format is required – providing a website address at the end of your essay is sufficient.

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2.) INSTRUCTIONS: (300-500 words) consisting of TWO paragraphs compose a well-written, coherent essay – organize your thoughts and ideas, write in complete sentences, and check your grammar and spelling. 

•  Read the Focus Report on Texas Constitutional Amendments Proposed published by the House Research Organization provided in the link below. There are 10 amendment proposals and you are required to select anddiscuss 3 amendment proposals. For each proposal you selected, describe in your own words what the amendment proposal is about and how it will affect Texas if passed. Then state your position on the proposal and the reasons for your support or opposition. Include in your discussion how you feel about such specificity in Texas constitution – do you think this is good or bad? Should we rewrite Texas constitution to be more general and succinct or should we keep it this way? How about the amendment process? Do you think it’s a good thing to allow Texans to vote on constitutional amendments? What are the pros and cons?
• https://hro.house.texas.gov/pdf/focus/amend86.pdf

*Try not to use direct quotes in describing amendments and rewrite in your own words as much as possible to demonstrate your understanding of the proposals. 

*DO NOT USE BULLET POINTS 

If you use additional sources to support your opinion, remember to include a link at the end of the essay.

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3.) INSTRUCTIONS: (300-500 words) consisting of TWO paragraphs compose a well-written, coherent essay – organize your thoughts and ideas, write in complete sentences, and check your grammar and spelling. 

• Paragraph 1: What do you see as the role of media in a today’s society? Do you believe that the media plays an important role? Do you trust the information provided by the media? Why or why not? As an example, please read two articles on the importance of social distancing and other ways to slow the spread of an epidemic and discuss what you have learned

Article 1: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator/

Article 2: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/health/coronavirus-how-epidemics-spread-and-end/

• Paragraph 2: What is your opinion on the effectiveness of the leadership of Governor Abbott in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic? How is it similar to/different from the federal government’s policies? Include in your discussion the specific policies/steps that have been in place, e.g. lockdowns, mask mandates, temporary halt on eviction of renters, additional unemployment benefits, stimulus payments to individuals and businesses, etc., and what you believe is necessary for the future. Please refer to at least two of your own sources to support your opinion and provide the website link to those articles. 

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4.) Instructions: (300-500 words) consisting of TWO paragraphs compose a well-written, coherent essay – organize your thoughts and ideas, write in complete sentences, and check your grammar and spelling. 

Is the criminal justice system of the state of Texas flawed as much as criticized by (pretty much) the rest of the nation? The state of Texas tops the chart in the number of executions among the fifty states and there is a growing trend of states (including Texas) moving away from imposing death penalty. To make matters more complicated, the recent advances made in the DNA technology made it possible to test out the old evidences and as a result, many inmates in Texas prisons have been exonerated after the DNA evidence showed that they have been wrongfully convicted. For this assignment, you will look into these cases and then consider the possibility of reforming the criminal justice system (300-500 words).

1. First read the Texas Monthly article entitled “The Exonerated.” Is our criminal justice flawed? If so, how much? If not, why not?  

link: https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-exonerated/

2. watch 2 cases below and discuss their case and your reaction to them 

case 1: Michael Morton case (watch this 14 minute clip) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7rEfV67630

case 2: Ruben Cantu Case (read this article) https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Did-Texas-execute-an-innocent-man-1559704.php

3. What reasonable recommendation/s would you offer to the governor/legislature to consider in an effort to reform/improve our criminal justice system? Or is our system “good enough?” Justify your recommendation/argument.