Fucked over from Political Science

[MadCow809]

Who really governs or rules in the republic and in our state? Present an argument about the true nature of power at both levels of government by using either a (1) majoritarian (2) elite theory or (3) pluralist theory argument.

okay, so this subject has really stumped me, since I know absolutely nothing about the american political system. I do take notes during class, and read the prescribed text book, but while I understood every word, it just doesn't make sense when put together in the actual context.

So right now I'm busy googling my arse off here, trying to come up with a half decent 3~4 page essay, but the deadline is by tomorrow, and I'm running out of time.

Anyone wanna help out? I'm clueless here

 

[idk]

Money from lobbyists... so elite. Try to put that in a few more words Not gonna make your homework

 

[MadCow809]

okay, so elite theory it is... but how does that relate to the californian system?

and i'm not asking you guys to do my homework, i'm just looking for pointers where i can get started.

 

[spicysaurus]

You're kidding, right? You folks in school need to figure out that this isn't a tutoring session. If you're stuck, go get help on campus. I'd imagine if you go strike up a conversation with your prof he'll be glad to talk to you about those different theories.

 

[Pjuske2]

I know little about the US, and haven't had political science for a while so take this with a grain of salt
-majoritarian model is the actaul political model you used over there(at least in a federal context)
-the elite model is argueing that a small elite has all the power, and that the voters are merely a tool to get this power(I think it's just theoretical)
-pluralism has somethingto do with the interest groups(can't remember what )

I would say that the model to use, will be the majoritarian.

have to go to work now...

EDIT: i think the assignment is abut you choosing a model and then arguing why you think this is the correct one

 

[Dr_Grip]

You could get yourself "The Power Elite" by C.W. Mills, he's a bit of a leftist but it's a classic text on the subject.
Or get "Democracy in America" by Alexis de Tocqueville. That's from the 1830s, but still a classic in understanding the U.S. system.

 

[Cobol74]

The clue is in "true nature of Power" - you can make that mean anything really. Money, Social Control, Making you Moral Values the Countries and enshrining it it the law (there used to be loads of Catholic countries that did not permit contraception nor divorce for instance - even for non Catholics).

Having defined that the match it to your (1) majoritarian (2) elite theory or (3) pluralist and say why. Compare and contrast the federal system vs the state system - loads of arguement can be had about what each tier of government does and which model it fits. Yada yada yada. ...

 

[brydie76]

You're kidding, right? You folks in school need to figure out that this isn't a tutoring session. If you're stuck, go get help on campus. I'd imagine if you go strike up a conversation with your prof he'll be glad to talk to you about those different theories.

Professors don't have the time to do one-on-one tutoring anymore. At least, not at my uni. Have to see the duty tutor during an allocated time and you are lucky if you can get help within 2 weeks (too many students and not enough resources allocated to them). Again, this is just my uni, who thinks that they can keep shoving more and more students into the same (already overstretched) resources and boast about it to the papers and look awesome.
And don't even get me started on the parking situation.....

 

[argatoga]

I had plenty of one on one time with my profs. Few students come to see them in big classes, and there are few students in the higher level ones.

Then again WWU is a small Uni.

 

[spicysaurus]

I went to Texas A&M. Pretty massive school. Yet my profs always had time to have a chat.

Granted, I didn't do that in my lower-level, weed-out classes. But those classes had regular tutoring set up with TAs as well as extra sessions you could buy from a private tutoring company. There was plenty of help available if you just sought it out.

I guess what I'm saying is you have to take an interest, make and effort, and realize it's going to be a long, hard slog. People keep coming to FG and asking questions related to homework. If you're in university-level school, you shouldn't have time for FG. Simple as that.

 

[Dr_Grip]

If you're in university-level school, you shouldn't have time for FG. Simple as that.

Fun fact: Most of my periods of massive activity on FG were due to procrastinating when i should have been working on important papers for post-grad classes. (Were? Are! I should right now be preparing a fifteen-page outline for my Ph.D these due before whitsun)