Final Essay Examination

Instructions:  This take home essay final is worth 25% of your grade. Answer one of the following questions in 3-4 double-spaced printed pages. Give your essay a title, and if the title does not make it obvious, be sure to indicate which question you are answering. Essays are due in class at the beginning of the final exam on Monday, December 7^th at 1:00pm.

1. In 1992 Oregonians approved a law limiting the number of terms state legislators can spend in Salem. The Ninth Federal Circuit Court has since upheld the law for state officeholders while ruling it unconstitutional for federal officeholders. Would you favor a Constitutional amendment placing limits on the terms of members of Congress?
   
   
2. Do we need a third political party or a new electoral system such as proportional representation? Would either help to democratize politics by increasing voter turnout, revitalizing parties, or decreasing the power of special interests? If so, is either a third party or a change in the electoral system possible?
   
   
3. Is the Presidency today an imperial institution, based on the extraordinary global military power of the United States, the President's leading role in negotiating global economic and environmental treaties, and other factors? Or is the President more the prisoner of the military establishment, the expectations of the corporate economy, and other forces largely beyond his control?
   
   
4. Bureaucracy is not going away. What can be done to make it more accountable to the public? More efficient? Can bureaucracy be democratic, efficient, and scientific at the same time, or must difficult tradeoffs be made? [You don't have to answer all these questions in one essay. Choose one question, but keep the other questions in mind as you answer it.]