Unit Two Writing Assignment: Who are you and why?
Do most of us really know what each of the main party’s platform says or where each main party stands on the issues? What about minor/3rd/independent parties? Where do you side politically and how did you get those viewpoints? It is time to find out.
The Questions (There are 3 steps below to complete for full credit.):
1st step, answer the following:
- Define political socialization and explain how it impacts one’s political belief and values.
- Include a discussion of what influenced you politically (examples may be family, parents, peers, teacher/school, event, where you grew up, etc.).
- Do you have friends or family that hold the opposite beliefs from you? If not, why not?
- Do you have debates with this person(s), or do you only talk to people who agree with you? If so, why?
2nd step, answer the following:
Now take the https://www.isidewith.com/ Even if you are pretty sure of who you side with, it is fun (and required) to take because it will give you percentages of how much you agree with each party on certain issues and tell you which candidate is your best match. No one is 100% anything.
- Analyze and explain in your paper your top 2 results. Did the top 2 results surprise you and why or why not?
- Analyze and explain your bottom result. Did this result surprise you and why or why not?
- Connect these results with the concept of political socialization from step one. For example, based on your answer to step one, did your results make sense or do you feel you learned something more about where you stand by analyzing the party issues in more depth?
- Why is important to research the parties, candidates, issues, etc?
Step 3, answer the following:
Pew research indicated that two thirds of U.S. adults say they have seen the news sources they look at, report facts that are biased and lack fact checking. They also show that both Democrats and Republicans each expect fake news to target their own parties. That seems like a problem for us all. For the last section of your paper review the articles and answer the questions below:
- Discuss how you believe news and social media have impacted how you view political parties and your vote.
- What type of reporting or information would you like to see to help you as a voter choose a candidate, or party, or evaluate the issues?
- Should there be standards or accountability for news and social media outlets in reporting on politics and government? Who should set these standards, companies, state government, federal government and why?
- You will need to include all 3 steps and answers to all of the questions above in order to receive full credit on this assignment. I recommend reviewing the questions again after your first draft to make sure you did not miss anything.
- The rules: Remember, this needs to be at least 2 and half page
