Writing Assignment

The purpose of the essays is to provide students an opportunity to discuss a key concept or topic in American politics and to show a basic understanding of academic research and reporting skills. Students should offer evidence for their arguments. MUST include one Works Cited page (Note: there must be a parenthetical citation at the end of each sentence that contains information from a source). The textbook can be one of the sources included on the works cited page (sources other than the textbook may/should be used as well).Read both Chapter 3 in the textbook and the article “Abbott presses Congress for extra $61 billion to rebuild after Harvey.” Then, define federalism in the U.S. (explaining the relationship between the national and state governments). What are some benefits to leaving most of the control of programs (and their funding) in the hands of Texas and other states exclusively? What are some of the benefits of allowing the national government to provide funds (and control how the funds are spent) for programs administered by Texas and other states? Do you think the federal government should be allowed to enact “unfunded mandates” on the states? Why or why not? What state issues do you feel the federal government should be involved in? Why these and not others?