American Government Assignment

Exercise- Public Comment

Topic: The federal bureaucracy makes rules specifying how legislation will be executed. As your textbook chapter suggests, the public have opportunities to comment on these rules. One way to do so is through the web.

Directions: Find current bureaucratic rules at www.regulations.gov. (A link is also posted on Blackboard.) Under "Comments Due Soon," you can explore a number of proposed rules that are open for comments. Click on one of the options ("Today," "Next 3 Days," "Next 7 Days," etc.), and then select and click on a proposed rule to examine it more closely.

Read the description of the rule and answer the following questions. Type your responses in a new document and submit it on Blackboard via the assignment link posted in the "Exercise 3" folder (make sure your NAME appears on it).

1. What is the name of the proposed rule? What would the rule do/require? (It is okay not to be 100 percent sure, but try to describe what the rule would do in your own words.)

2. Has the public had sufficient time, given the level of technical information involved, to be able to comment before the deadline has elapsed?

3. Would your average American have the understanding or expertise to understand the proposed regulations in order to comment on what the regulations should say? (In other words, do you think the public has enough knowledge to actually propose rules themselves rather than expert bureaucrats?)

4. What could the government do differently to make this website more user friendly to Americans? What ways (if any) could the entire process be improved?

Your responses need not be elaborate or very long (try to keep each answer to no longer than a paragraph).