Ensure your responses are thoughtful. There is no ‘right or wrong’ analysis to each item. What matters most is your rationale based on the reading and gained knowledge from observing and absorbing the news – based on facts.

1. Do the nature of Congress and the roles of its members make it a truly representative body?
2. Explore how parliamentary systems function and compare them to our congressional system.
3. Based on the reading of how legislatures function, compare the textbook to what you have seen by watching the news. Do legislatures actually function as textbooks suggest they do? Explain.
4. Are interest groups vital to democracy, or do they distort democracy? Explain.

Chapter 8

1. Discuss the nature of executive power and the framers’ intentions for the presidency.
2. From where do other nations’ leaders derive their power? For example, compare the source of power in both the British monarch and Prime Minister to our presidents.
3. Explore the “every-day” meaning of executive power. How does the “every-day” executive power impact citizens? Explain the importance of understanding “every-day” executive power.
4. Perhaps the most famous modern study of the presidency is Richard Neustadt’s Presidential Power. Contrary to earlier views, Neustadt suggested the main power source is not the Constitution (as the best known work at the time–Edward S. Corwin’s The President: Office and Powers–suggested), but rather presidents’ persuasive abilities, as affected by their situation relative to others (“status and authority”).