Political Analysis

OVERVIEW: Your final, cumulative writing assignment for POLS 5 is to put forth your own ballot
proposition to address an issue you see within state or local politics. Knowing what you
know now o
ver the course of our time together, you should ha
ve identi
fied an issue
rele
vant to local or statewide politics to be appr
o
ved by the instructor via Canvas by Nov
22nd. Now rather than researching a proposition that has already passed, you ha
ve to
put yourself in the shoes of a campaign manager creating your own proposition Be
creative but be realistic as well! (For example you cannot create an initiative to ban the
electoral college as that is not within the scope of the state legislature).
Some possible ideas:
1. A proposition created to create tuition free higher education
2. A proposition to make local elections partisan.
3. A proposition to make statewide elections nonpartisan
4. An initiative to phase out fossil fuels
5. An initiative to cut taxes (but be especially speci
fic if you go this route! We ha
ve
income taxes, local taxes, “sin” taxes, etc. Keep in mind this is CA or locally relevant as we cannot shape federal taxes through direct democracy)
6. An initiative to create a new regulation on an industr
y
7. An initiative to eliminate a speci
fic regulation on an industr
y
8. An initiative to lower the voting age to 16.
9. An initiative to ban single use plastics statewide.
10. An initiative to increase civics education funding.
11. An initiative that increased the number of elected o
fficials statewide,
12. An initiative that decreases the number of elected o
fficials statewide
13. An initiative to create an elected statewide executive o
ffice (CA insurance
commissioner was created this way!)
14. An initiative to make the Superintendent of Public Instruction and Insurance
Commissioner’s races partisan, rather then nonpartisan.
15. An initiative to restore cross-
filing for candidates.
16. An initiative to increase
fines for littering.
17. An initiative to ban the sale of meat.
18. An initiative to legalize rent control statewide.
19. An initiative that would put forth harsher penalties for drug use.
20. An initiative to decriminalize drug use.
21. An initiative to legalize all
fi
reworks.
22. An initiative to ban all
fi
reworks.
23. Get creative! Almost anything (Reasonable) with respect to the issue that you’ve
chosen is fair game. Howe
ver, remember, your topic MUST be appr
o
ved by the
instructor by Nov 22nd at the latest. For this Final Political Analysis Memo (Looking Across & Looking Back: California 2020,
in 20/20) you should put yourself in the shoes of a political campaign manager
seeking to pass an initiative (or referendum if you are attempting to block a law
that has been recently passed). Just as you did for your midterm memo, you should
consider a variety of factors when considering this proposition:
What does voting “yes” on this initiative mean? What about voting “No?” Who will
support this initiative?
Who will oppose these efforts?
Major newspaper editorial support/opposition.
Where will the major political parties most likely stand on this issue?
Will you ha
ve to rely on fundraising and donors to support your campaign? Or will
you ha
ve to take on a grassroots effort with a more limited budget?
How much money will you need to raise?
What kinds of other strategies can you de
velop?
What political leaders or e
ven public
figures might be willing to support your
campaign?
What interest groups may support your intiative? Do they ha
ve
financial
resources to support you?
What interest groups may oppose your intiative? Do they
finnaical resources to
oppose you?
How will
you frame
your messaging?