POL201 Week 4 – Discussion Forum 1

Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

Prepare: 

Prior to beginning work on this discussion, review the Week 4 Instructor Guidance in your online classroom and

• Read Chapter 8: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights
• Read Chapter 9: Political Parties and Interest Groups
• Read Chapter 10: Elections and Public Opinion
• Read about the different party platforms:
  • Democratic National Committee’s Party Platform: 2020 Democratic Platform(Links to an external site.)
  • Republican National Committee’s About Our Party(Links to an external site.)
  • One third party (e.g., the Libertarian Party’s Platform(Links to an external site.), the Green Party Platform (Links to an external site.), the Constitution Party’s Platform (Links to an external site.), etc.)

Completing your Political Parties learning activity would be helpful prior to completing this discussion forum.

Reflect: The U.S. political system is characterized by certain fundamental features to include a system of laws, rights, and liberties. The laws, created and supported by the constitutional framework, are designed to protect and secure the rights and liberties of individuals and groups throughout the United States. However, the government also must provide for the security of its citizens from serious internal and external threats that could cause severe damage to the country. Think about how the need for homeland and national security can create a dilemma where conflicts emerge between these security needs and the demands for civil rights and liberties.

Write:

In your initial post,

• Explain what obligations the U.S. government has towards its citizens and how these obligations impact individual and group rights.
• Provide real-world examples to support your explanation, including one personal example from your own experiences.
• Using your personal example, explain the position of the two major parties and a third party, regarding the example you presented.

Your initial post must be at least 300 words. If you are citing statistics or outside sources for your examples, please reference the source with an APA reference at the end of your post.

This assignment contains a Microsoft Word document.

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