You watch a presidential debate, and the moderator of the debate asks a candidate the following: “People
criticize U.S. politics when it comes to elections and voting, campaign money, information, rights and liberties.
What are your thoughts?”
The candidate answers as follows:
“America’s democracy is so incredibly perfect! I’ll give you five fabulous reasons why. Firstly, the U.S.
presidential election is so clear and simple. That’s why we have excellent voter turnout. It’s not like you need to
write out some sort of math formula to figure out the Electoral College and Electoral Votes! That’s why voter
turnout in the U.S. is the highest in the world. Secondly, campaign money is always limited by the FEC, and
there’s no getting around this. Thirdly, the American news media does a fine job giving us important information
to keep us highly informed. Fourthly, our Bill of Rights perfectly protects our civil liberties without any exception
or loophole. Fifthly, there has never been a case where SCOTUS has weakened the civil rights protections of
people of color.
Is this candidate right? Or are things much more complicated? Using your superior knowledge of political
science, write an essay in which you debate against ALL FIVE of the candidate’s incorrect claims. The most
important thing is to really, really explain your thinking (like specific concepts, SCOTUS, senate, electoral votes,
etc.)
Sample Solution
