You have previously been assigned ONE of the following essay questions. Prepare your response, following the designated INSTRUCTIONS.

1. Define government and illustrate the types of functions that governments perform. Summarize the role of politics in government?

2. Elaborate on the principal choices that governments face when confronting policy problems? Illustrate your answer with an example of a policy that poses tough choices. Why is it that government makes policy even when it chooses to do nothing?

3. Discuss the principle components of the political system? Explain how a political issue travels through the political system by using an example.

4. What is the definition of democracy? List the basic principles of traditional democratic theory? Explain what problems might emerge when the theory is put into practice?

5. Compare, contrast, and critically evaluate the three theories of American democracy: pluralist theory, elite and class theory, and hyperpluralism.

6. Summarize some of the major challenges facing American democracy today Briefly state your opinion as to how serious these challenges are and how they might be met.

7. In what ways might it be said that American government is "big"? How does the scope of the American government compare to other Western democracies? How do liberals and conservatives differ in their opinion of the scope of government?

Chief Justice RichardBarajas
Advanced Placement U.S. Government and Politics
Cathedral High School, El Paso, Texas
Last updated: July 15, 2000