Discussion 1:

Balance of Power" Please respond to the following:

· From the readings introduced in the e-Activities, explain 3-4 strategies that you would implement to persuade one of the official players (you choose) to go along with you on deficit-reduction measures. Remember that you want to practice bipartisan and bicameral negotiations.
o Majority Leader McConnell
o Speaker Boehner
o Minority Leader Pelosi
o Minority Leader Reid
· From the Affordable Care Act, identify two (2) official actors and then describe how their motives, conflicts, and interrelationships impacts the policy. Support your answer with examples.

Discussion 2:

Partisan Legislation" Based on the lecture, address the following:

· Take a position on whether you believe that partisan legislative politics is good for our form of representative democracy. Support your position with materials from the textbook. Then, suggest what should replace it. If you feel nothing should replace it, state why and support your reason with materials from the textbook.

· Some people argue that intense partisan competition forces each side to be a watchdog for the other, thereby achieving stability and balance. Others argue that this highly partisan environment leads to a paralysis in policymaking and detracts from tackling society's most important issues. Analyze the influence you think partisan politics has had on the sorts of public policies that are enacted, or not enacted, by Congress. Does the partisan balance of Congress matter in terms of the policies it enacts? Why or why not?