Public Policy, the News Media, and Outside Interests
“The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.” – James Madison
Open your physical or email mailbox during a campaign year and you may find hundreds of unsolicited, political handbills funded by individual campaigns, Political Action Committees (PACs), and Super Political Action Committees (SPACs). Handbills may include endorsements and/or condemnation from interest groups, public policy concerns, and snippets of news coverage favorable and/or unfavorable to a candidate and/or officeholder. Handbills may also contain information about a persons voting record and their public policy concerns.
As you can imagine, creating a favorable handbill that fully articulates the strength of the candidates character, public policy concerns, and endorsements takes a bit of research and finesse. In this assignment, you are going to give this kind of work a try.
Following are some suggested resources for creating your handbill:
Ballotpedias website on political parties in the United States.
Data on Campaign Finance, Super PACs, Industries, and Lobbying. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.opensecrets.org/.
Candidates official website, which you can find by googling the candidates name + official website.
Local, State, and National News Media.
On the Issues website about candidates and elected officials political positions.
Pew Research Centers website on public opinion polling and data-driven political research.
Vote Smarts website database on candidates and elected officials.
Directions: Select a recent candidate or officeholder at the federal level that you considered supporting with your vote. Craft a handbill that advocates your persons candidacy. Include the following:
The Individual
Does this persons moral and professional capacity make this individual capable of serving we the people ethically and well?
Political Party
Does the person align well with the political party?
Does the person have a political party endorsement?
Public Policy
Select two specific examples of public policy that your person advocates from the following fields:
Economic policy for example, U.S. budget deficit spending.
Education policy for example, the implementation of charter schools.
Environmental policy for example, the Clean Air Act.
Foreign policy for example, the interplay between civil liberties and the Patriot Act.
Healthcare policy for example, the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
Welfare policy for example, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
Why are these public policies important to this person and the potential voters?
Endorsements
Individuals?
Interest Groups? Note: PAC donations illustrate support.
News Media?
Others?
Support your analysis with information from the text and at least two additional academic sources.
Your assignment should also meet the following requirements:
APA format.
Title page.
Reference page.
APA citations.
Double spaced sentences.
12-point Times New Roman font.
Standard English grammar conventions.
Correct grammar.
Correct punctuation and spelling.
Logical, well-ordered sentences.
Not Required/Optional: You may use graphics, images, etc. Visually, a visualization company has some examples of graphic-heavy, public policy handbills.
