Third Essay Assignment

Pick one of the following:

1. Read the flu vaccine case study (which I am distributing). Evaluate the Bush administration’s response to the shortage. Did it do the right thing? What could it have plausibly done differently? In your answer, give careful thought to economic and political constraints, as well as limits on the information available to the administration at the time.

2. Evaluate one of Kamarck’s examples of government by market (pp. 135-141). Explain the advantages and disadvantages of the approach. Should the federal government continue (or adopt) this policy?

3. Analyze any proposed reform of the fiscal policymaking process, such as a balanced-budget amendment, a line-item veto amendment, a change in the budget cycle from one to two years. (There are other proposals as well.) Explain why Congress should or should not adopt this reform.

4. Write a postscript to any of the chapters in Part 3 of the Peters book. You may either discuss aspects of the issue that Peters overlooks or update the analysis to take account of developments in the past two years. How does the new material reinforce (or contradict) the points that Peters makes?

Whichever essay you choose, do research to document your claims. Do not write from the top of your head. And whatever your position, seriously consider obstacles and counter-arguments.

• Essays should be typed, stapled, double-spaced, and no more than four pages long. I will not read past the fourth page.
• Put your name on a cover sheet. Do not identify yourself on the text pages.
• Cite your sources with endnotes, which should be in a standard style (e.g., Turabian or Chicago Manual of Style). Endnote pages do not count against the page limit.
• Watch your spelling, grammar, diction, and punctuation. Errors will count against you.
• Return essays to my office by noon on Friday, November 18. (Yes, you have two extra days.) I reserve the right to dock late assignments by up to a letter grade. I will grant no extensions except for illness or emergency.