Political science assessment

Instructions
An enduring debate in American politics has been over the issue of WHERE power and authority should be vested within our Federal System. The Constitution provided initial guidance. The Civil War was fought over the issue. Supreme Court decisions have further defined the appropriate boundaries between state and federal authority. In California, Governor Brown proposes to return more policy and taxation decisions to county and city governments. But in many areas the lines remain unclear and the subject of intense political debate.

Some of the continuing debate centers on the practical questions of whether the federal government is well-suited to adopt “one size fits all” policies for the nation as a whole or whether local and state authorities are better able to tailor solutions to local problems.

For this activity, you will need to access US census data at:

http://www.census.gov/library/publications/2011/compendia/statab/131ed/rankings.html

This link should take you to “State Rankings.”

You should then see a list of categories for which data is collected on a state-by-state basis. Click on the tables to view the data about the following categories:

Doctors Per 100,000 Population
Public Elementary and Secondary Teachers’ Average Salaries
Persons Below Poverty Level
Energy Consumption
Note the differences in rates between California, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, and Utah in each of the categories above. Think about how developing policies in the delivery of medical care, education, poverty, and energy conservation would be affected by the differences in the scope of the problems between the selected states as shown in the data.

Then answer the following questions, using the data from the census site, the book, and your own thoughts: (Note that all the data is already adjusted for population differences)

Doctors Per 100,000 Population: A city of 100,000 in Massachusetts would be expected to have how many doctors? ______ A city of 100,000 in Mississippi would be expected to have how many doctors? _______.

Why do you think there is such a wide difference in the number of doctors between different states?

The Obama health care reform program passed in 2010 sets as its goal the provision of near-universal health care for American citizens by 2014. What would be necessary to provide similar standards of health care for people in Massachusetts and Mississippi? Any thoughts on how to accomplish this?

Public elementary and secondary teachers average salaries: How much does the average teacher in California make a year? _______ How much does the average teacher in Utah make a year? _______

In your view, should teachers make the same salary no matter where they teach if they have similar class sizes, credentials, and experience? Why or why not?

Persons Living Below Poverty Level: What percent of the population in Mississippi lives below the federal poverty rate? _______ What percent of the population in Iowa lives below the federal poverty rate? _______

In your view, should the federal government work to reduce the high poverty rates in states such as Louisiana and Mississippi or should each state be left to its own resources and policies to reduce poverty within the state? Give one reason to support your position.

Energy Consumption: The per capita energy consumption in California is _____ million btu. The per capita energy consumption in Louisiana is _____ million btu. Differences in state energy programs explain most of the differences between the California’s and Louisiana’s energy consumption per capita (per person).

What type of energy conservation programs do you think have led to California having among the lowest per capita consumption of energy? Remember that “green” energy still counts as energy consumed.

In view of the threats posed to the country (and the planet) from high levels of oil imports and global climate change, should the federal government restrict the right of individual states to consume significantly more energy than others by imposing restrictions similar to those in California on “energy hogs”? Why or why not?

Copy and Paste these questions into Word and upload your detailed response as your assignment.