If Aaron is very sensitive to and aware of the communication…
Questions
If Aаrоn is very sensitive tо аnd аware оf the communication context and the appropriateness of his communication, he is
Sectiоn 3 – Specific Tоpics 1. Sоme scholаrs аrgue thаt the media has "minimal effects," while others see a larger role for the media in shaping political attitudes. Which side of this debate are you most convinced by and why? Discuss the relevant evidence for each side. 2. How does the relationship between the racial/ethnic group and the state influence public opinion and political participation? Further, under what conditions can parties exploit this? Finally, what finding in the comparative literature can be applied to explaining a question in American politics? 3. Is policymaking best studied through the lenses of complex systems theory? In your essay, define what we mean by a complex system, and argue whether or not policymaking is such a system. In your essay, illustrate from the policy process literature such key concepts as feedback cycles (negative and positive), nonlinear effects, interaction effects, and punctuations. Discuss the dangers and benefits of analytical thinking (breaking a problem down and analyzing it part by part) versus the dangers and benefits of holistic systems level thinking. 4. The field of Latino politics emerged in the 1970s, shaped by political mobilization and protest during a period when Latinos, primarily of Mexican origin, were a relatively small but rapidly growing ethnic group in the United States. Early scholarship often framed Latinos as a distinct political constituency with unique patterns of political behavior, attitudes, and incorporation, especially given the group’s ties to immigration and pan-ethnic identity formation. However, in 2025, Latinos constitute the largest ethnic group in the United States, and the U.S.-born children of immigrants, rather than immigrants themselves, now make up the largest share of the Latino population. Do you think it is still theoretically and empirically justified to study Latinos as a distinct political group in contemporary American politics? Your answer should engage with both foundational and contemporary literature in the field, and may also consider critiques of the field itself, including arguments that Latino politics should never have been treated as analytically distinct.