State and Local Politics

Gov 222

Fall 2010

Class Presentation Assignments

The purpose of these assignments is threefold. First, I want to develop your expertise in the nuances of your region's political institutions, policy, and political culture. Secondly, I want to develop your political science researching and analytical skills. All of these assignments encourage you to think systematically about political phenomena, to think theoretically, and to understand the importance of empirical verification—in short, to become a political scientist. Thirdly, I want to develop your oral and data presentation skills.These exercises are also designed to help you do basic quantitative and qualitative analysis and present your findings to your classmates using a variety of computer programs. Your presentations will be available on-line here.

Division of Responsibility Fall 2010

Region	States	Students
Deep South	AL, GA, MS, SC	Alex Bland, Rasheed Rankine
Midwest	OH, IL, IN, PA	Alex Mell-Taylor, Patrick Wildes
Northeast	NJ, CT, NY, MA	Harris Brett, Korvin Vicente
Pacific	CA, OR, WA, HI	Jon Bubier, Ron Solis
Mountain	CO, WY, UT, NV	Charlie Glassberg, Tim Lueders-Dumont
"Clean/Good Govt"	MN, WI, MI, IA	Lauren Lange, Heather Miki
Border States	TN, VA, KY, NC

Here are my Oral Presentation Guidelines for how to give a good presentation.

Class Assignment #1 Socio-Economic and Demographic Analysis

Class Assignment #2 The Causes and Consequences of Interparty Competition

Class Assignment #3 Who is powerful and why? Who are the 600 pound gorillas in your states?

Class Assignment #4 Understanding Your State Legislatures

Class Assignment #5 Understanding Your State Governors

Class Assignment #6 Understanding Your State Judiciaries