Directions: Please type your responses on a separate page. Label each page with your name and school name.
Section 1
Answer two of the following questions in 150 words or less for each question:
- Describe at least two ways in which public participation in elections in the United States can be increased.
- Do you think that California students should have to pass a test on civics and/or political knowledge to graduate from high school? Why or why not?
- Briefly describe the justification for why United States Senators serve longer terms in office than United States Representatives.
Section 2
Respond to as many of the following situations that apply to you in 150 words or less for each response:
- Describe a non-school political campaign or electoral activity in which you participated (i.e. phoning for candidates, voter registration, volunteering at polls, signature gathering, etc.). Discuss what you learned from it.
- Describe what happened at a local government meeting (i.e. board of education, city council, county board of supervisors, etc.) that you attended. Discuss what you learned from it.
- Discuss what you learned from writing a letter to the editor on a political or civic issue that was published in your school newspaper or in a local newspaper. Enclose a copy of it with this application package.
Section 3
Respond to one of the following six prompts with a well-written and logically organized essay in 750 words or less. Address all parts of the prompt and include specific details and/or examples to support your response.
- Briefly examine the historical evolution of the filibuster in the United States Senate, and provide a reasoned argument for why it should be kept in its current form, or revised to work differently.
- Because senators are allocated by state and not by population, California's delegation to the United States Senate, representing over 37 million people, has the same weight as the delegation from Wyoming, representing 563,000 people. What impact does the current system of representation in the Senate have upon state and national politics? Does the current imbalance in representation pose a significant problem, or is it a beneficial feature of our political system?
- Discuss how the politicization of the United States national debt has changed over the last few sessions of the United States Congress. Does the existence of the so-called "debt ceiling" for the United States national debt violate the 14th Amendment? What structural solutions would you propose for avoiding a possible default crisis in the future?
- Briefly analyze the impact that abolishing the Electoral College and replacing it with a straight popular vote would have upon the American electoral system. Do you support California joining the interstate compact to elect the president by national popular vote through the process outlined by Assembly Bill 459 (Hill) in the 2011 California legislative session?
- The DREAM Act is an example of bipartisan legislation pioneered by Senator Orin Hatch (R-UT) and Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) that would allow undocumented youth living in the United States, to become eligible for a 6 year long conditional path to citizenship that requires completion of a college degree or two years of military service. The DREAM Act legislation has not yet passed. Much of the discussion of the DREAM Act has focused on the potential benefit it will create for those that receive the amnesty. Almost no attention has been paid to the impact on American citizens. Write a case either for or against the passing of the DREAM Act.
- The United States government, by most accounts, has yet to fully address climate change. A cap and trade system which was meant to deal with climate change failed to garner enough votes to pass the Senate. What role should the United States government play in protecting the environment and in looking for reliable energy solutions?
