The Constitution created three branches of government to ensure limited government, separation of powers, and checks and balances. This assignment is designed for you to demonstrate your understanding of how the Constitution was written and how that plays out in the real world today.

Step 1: Explain the separation of powers among the three branches of government.

What powers are granted to each branch under the constitution?
How do the branches check and balance each other?

Step 2: Identify a current event or issue from the past 5 years. You might consider looking for major congressional bills/acts where all three branches were involved for these issue areas:

Campaign financing
National security/defense
Education
Immigration
Health care

Step 3: Explain how each branch of government addresses or governs aspects of your selected event or issue. For example, what role does each branch play in health care reform?

Step 4: Discuss how the separation of powers and checks and balances affect this issue.

Would laws be different right now if the structure of government was not set up as is?
How does each branch’s power affect the issue?

Step 5: Cite 4 peer-reviewed, scholarly, or similar references to support your assignment and have a reference list. Do not use Wikipedia, Quora, Yahoo Questions or other crowdsourced websites as references.

Maximum number of points = 10
– If nothing is turned in by the deadline or the analysis is conducted on a country other than the one selected in the beginning of the semester = 0 points
– If the write-up is turned in by the deadline and the analysis is conducted on the country selected in the beginning of the semester, the 10 points are distributed as follows:
    – 1.2 points for respecting technical specifications (writing in essay format rather than bullet points; meeting the requirement of 3 pages, double-spaced, Times New Roman 12, 1.25 margins; the length of 3 pages is a specific requirement; maximum of 3.5 pages accepted, beyond that there would be a penalty);
    – 2 points for describing the cultural environment of the country using Halls framework (out of which 1 point for correctly identifying if the country is high or low context; and 1 point for explaining which characteristics make the country high or low context)
    – 2.8 points for describing the cultural environment of the country using Trompenaars framework (out of which 0.2 points for correctly identifying the value* the country takes on for each one of the 7 dimensions; and 0.2 points for explaining the choice of value on each one of the 7 dimensions)
    – 1 point for identifying challenges for American investors posed by the cultural environment
    – 1 point for identifying opportunities for American investors posed by the cultural environment
    – 2 points for formulating 2 recommendations (1 point for each recommendation) to an American investor to successfully navigate the countrys cultural environment (the recommendations have to be actionable items and they must take into account identified differences between American culture and the culture of the country, using either Halls or Trompenaars framework for the comparison between the two cultures; to get the full points, each recommendation has to be supported with arguments).

* value = is the country universalist or particularist?/is the country neutral or affective?/etc.

CITE THE SOURCES