Be specific about the strategies and bodies that have been used to block or delay the building of the wall,

Prompt:

People vote for politicians in the hope that they will enact the policies that they promised during the election campaign. As you have learned this semester, US politics and policymaking is complicated, cumbersome, and slow. Even when a party wins control of both houses of Congress, the executive branch, and has majority support on the Supreme Court, it is not always possible to deliver the policies that were promised. 

In this exam essay, you should explain why after four years in office a major campaign promise of the 2016 general election, to build a wall along the Mexican border, was not delivered.

      Be specific about the strategies and bodies that have been used to block or delay the building of the wall, which might include the relevance of Federalism, the Constitution, Courts, political parties, interest groups, public opinion, the power of the executive branch, factions within political parties, etc.

      Remember, we are absolutely not interested in your subjective views on the relative merits of the Wall or the former president. We are only interested in how well you demonstrate your understanding of the US political system and how it can limit the power of the president in passing and implementing bills even when the party of the President commands a Congressional majority.

Assignment Details:

Draw on the material from the textbook and additional reliable sources to formulate your arguments. 

• Your assignment is to write an original, multi-paragraph 1,000 word (+/-10%), double-spaced, well-cited, and proofread essay that addresses the prompt directly, clearly, and compellingly.
• You must use APA or MLA citation style to document your sources, including the textbook, and include a Works Cited/References page with all references (full bibliographic information) for all sources used in your paper.
• Do not include the Works Cited/References page[s] in your overall word count.
• Do not use quotations, please paraphrase and use in-text citations. We want to hear you explain your position in your own voice.
• Your essay should include an introduction, a body with logical, well-supported examples, and an argument. It should end with a conclusion that is drawn from the evidence you present in the body of the essay.
• Late papers will be penalized 30 points per day late (or part thereof)