With the 2012 elections behind us and the 2014 midterms off into the future a bit, this booklet will not be as elections-oriented as past supplements. It will certainly allude to the impact of the 2012 elections and to how Obama and members of Congress are anticipating the 2014 midterm elections, but this supplement will be more issues-focused, tying those issues to key content chapters in the intro American government course:


A look at the immigration debate with analysis of public opinion and changing demographics and the impact of divided party control (tying to intro AG chapters on public opinion and parties)
A look at the gay marriage debate with analysis of federalism, civil rights, and the impact of the Supreme Court's ruling this summer on CA's prop 8 (tying to intro AG chapters on federalism/state & local gov't, civil rights, and the judiciary)
A look at the gun control debate with analysis of interest group involvement/lobbying, the role of the media, explanation of why stuff doesn't get done in Congress (e.g., intense minorities win) (tying to intro AG chapters on interest groups, the media, and Congress)
A look at the problems of 2nd term presidents and how Obama's agenda and performance so far follows a typical model (or not)