°PS103 Syllabus - Fall 2000
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Renka's PS103 Examination No. 4- Essay Questions - Fall 2000

Essay:  Answer one of the following questions (100 points).  This is due by Friday, December 8 by 5:00 p.m.  Essay should take about 2 to 2.5 honest pages.  You may turn in the exam in person, send a physical copy to my mailbox at Carnahan 211-L, send by email attachment to rdrenka@semo.edu, or FAX to me at 573/651-2695.  As always, use appropriate citations to support your argument and conclusions.  When using website citations, be sure to include full information:  author (if any), file name, date accessed, and URL.  For APA style users who insert source information into text within parentheses, use either author or filename for website citations; but in References at the end, include full information.

  1.  How has the U.S. Constitution been altered since 1933 to affect the succession from one president to another?  Which of the modern presidents have been specifically affected by one or more of these constitutional provisions?  What effect has change in succession had upon the position of Vice-President? 

2.  The disputed election of 2000 is likely to influence the political powers and the public legitimacy of the new 43rd President of the United States.  What are the major duties of office and means of influence a contemporary President has?  Which of these will be affected by the narrow election margin and questionable method of determining the new President?  Which of these will not be affected?

3.   Judicial activism is identified with political liberalism in today’s political climate, but Judge Richard Posner and others insist this identification is faulty.  What evidence exists to show that judicial activists have been mostly liberal?  What is the argument made by Posner and others who deny an inherent link of activism with liberalism?