u.s politics

Instructions

The purpose of this assignment is for you to apply these topics to understand the politics of a policy issue, the environment, and more specifically, public opinion as it relates to climate change.As with the previous WL paper assignments, one purpose of this paper is to evaluate a topic based on evidence, and to explore how Core Beliefs can influence a persons opinions.  With the first assignment (Budget Simulation), you were required to consider the actual federal budget, rather than common impressions of that budget.  With the second WL paper, you were required to use evidence to compare the health care system in the United States to another economically advanced country, all of which (1) provide for superior health care outcomes than the US, such as life expectancy, and (2) do so at far less cost per person.  As with the first WP assignment, you did your own independent research, basing your conclusions on actual evidence.  In the third WP paper, you were required to consult evidence by Fact Checking various political claims.This fourth WL paper assignment requires you to consider evidence regarding the issue of climate change, AND relate this to public opinion.  To begin, materials from the readings and tonights video lay out the basic scientific consensus of evidence concerning climate change.  There are three basic conclusions in this research: (1) climate change is real, and (2) it is primarily the result of human activities, and (3) it is likely to have costly and deadly consequences, potentially catastrophic if measures are not taken to reverse recent trends.In contrast to this scientific consensus, a significant minority of Americans are skeptical even of the first of these three scientific findings.  For example, despite the evidence, only 60% of Americans believe that the effects of global warming have already begun according to a Gallup Poll, meaning that about two in five Americans do not believe that evidence.  Various questions in this particular poll will be important for you to contemplate and explain in your paper.  The url for this poll (which you will also find in the syllabus) is:https://news.gallup.com/poll/231530/global-warming-concern-steady-despite-partisan-shifts.aspxWhile the readings and lectures present material indicating that climate change is real, man-made, and potentially catastrophic, I dont want you to accept this without doing your own independent research.  While I encourage your independence, you should also consider the international and national sources that are most often cited and respected.  These include (internationally) the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and in the United States, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States government.  Also part of the United States government is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  You are also encouraged to consult peer-review science journals, and the fact-checking websites I indicated in the previous paper assignment.  This should be more than a superficial examination, and PLEASE avoid partisan sources.  For example, in your papers about health care, including Obamacare, more than half of you did not mention the number of people who gained health insurance as a result of Obamacare, which was the primary objective of that legislation.  To help you get started on the topic of Climate Change, we will watch a video tonight, and two readings from Business Week are required (by Carey and Barrett, both in Canvas), as well as a documentary (see below). After exploring the evidence, you must attempt to explain public opinion based on (as indicated above) our discussion of (1) opinion development, which we explored early in the semester (the reading from Yeric and Flanigan may be especially helpful to your analysis), and (2) interest groups and/or political groups, including think tanks.  Your account of such groups should include their use of the media, including Social Media, such as Facebook.  I suggest that you seriously consider the perspective laid out in the After Truth video we watched in class.  In case you need a refresher, I encourage you to watch it again.  A link is:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZKKah4vNhc&ab_channel=eugenedebsGiven this perspective, one might suggest three possibilities for the levels of misinformation among citizens.  First, the traditional media are biased in the sense that news organizations knowingly present two perspectives of an issue, despite the fact that the vast bulk of evidence favors one perspective.  Second, certain political and interest groups have the power to promote their perspective in the mass media and social media more effectively than others.  This is a major consideration of a video you are required to watch for the paper.  It is a documentary, Merchants of Doubt, which was listed in the syllabus under Required Reading and other Material and can be found for free at:http://www.documentarymania.com/playerf.php?title=Merchants%20of%20DoubtSometime free copies dont remain free for very long.  If that link is no longer working, the video can be found for $3.99 at YouTube, iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon Prime.Regarding the role of interest groups and political groups, this documentary discusses front groups, such as Americans for Prosperity, which was also featured in the Park Avenue video.  If you are interested in the role of such groups in the climate change debate, you may want to consult a  California Governors Office of Planning and Research website:http://opr.ca.gov/facts/the-deniers.htmlThird, some groups are more effective than others in creating doubt about Climate Change because they make appeals to Core Beliefs we have discussed in class, such as limited government, including arguments against government regulation, and/or arguments favoring laissez-faire capitalism.  This possibility must be related to the context of the ideology lectures and the readings in Yeric and Flanigan.  How might our discussion of A Model of Perceptual Screening help to explain misunderstandings of climate change evidence?I expect that you can use all three possibilities to help explain misinformation among citizens.  As you consider each possibility, always keep in mind the perspectives of opinion development from the readings in Yeric and Flanigan, and my discussion thereof in lecture.  If you would like to consult that reading again, you will find it as the first reading in Reader 1" on Canvas.There are five basic requirements of this assignment.  First, set out the basic scientific consensus concerning evidence about Climate Change.  Second, third and fourth, consider and evaluate the three possibilities for misunderstandings a sizable minority of citizens have.  Finally, summarize your findings.While your paper will be graded on the quality of your work, there is a five-page minimum (double-spaced, typed in a reasonable font) of TEXT (meaning beyond your title page and bibliography).  You must provide citations (footnotes and bibliography), and your grade will be reduced if you do not.  This paper is due and is to be submitted on Canvas (or by email if you are unable to submit through Canvas) at the start of class for the Final Exam: 6:30 on December 9.

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