Written Assignment #2 Separating Fact from Fiction DUE DA.docx

Written Assignment #2: Separating Fact from Fiction
DUE DATE: June 7, 2019 before 11:59 PM.
READING
I. Read the Stokes (2017) article, “No, you’re not entitled to
your opinion.”
a. Make sure to understand the distinction the author draws
between the two
different uses of the phrase “my opinion.”
II. Read Brown’s (2016) article, “Actually you’re not entitled to
your opinion.”
a. Again, make sure to understand the difference between the
two different
types of “opinion”
III. Read Rathi’s (2016) article, “A philosophy professor
explains why you’re not
entitled to your opinion.”
a. Make sure you understand why the article concludes that
“everyone is
entitled to have an opinion, but only as long as they are
reasonably able to
argue for it with evidence” (also understand which of the two

common
uses of opinion this argument refers to).
IV. Read former Senator and sociology professor Daniel Patrick
Moniyhan’s quote
V. Read Rouner’s (2015) article, “No, it’s not your opinion.”
VI. Read the excerpt from Braithwaite’s (2005) article, “Seven
Fallacies of Thought
and Reason.”
a. By this point, you should have a pretty good idea about the
difference
between the two most common types of “my opinion”
WRITING ASSIGNMENT
To complete this assignment, you will find three situations on
the internet in which
someone has expressed an opinion. There is no minimum word
count for this
assignment.
Assignment specifications: There should be five parts for each
example you find.
Part 1. For each situation, embed in your document the URL
link to the original source
(embed the link so that the URL doesn’t show up in the text
itself, but rather the text is
hyper-linked.) HOW TO HYPERLINK:
a. Highlight the text to which you want the URL to be hyper-
linked

b. Right-click on the mouse and select “Hyperlink” from the
drop-
down menu (conversely you can go to the menu bar (in word)
and
select “Insert” → “Hyperlink”
c. Paste the link into the box that says “Address”.
Part I. Separating fact from fiction
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mui813sljrm1e1f/Stokes_TheConve
rsation_2017.pdf?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5gskwb4mewi7xft/Brown_CBCRadi
o_2016.pdf?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5os0t7epvg7r271/Rathi_Quartz_201
6.pdf?dl=0
6.pdf?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ib15oeh8lr95tj4/Moynihan_Opinion
-Fact_Quote_NoDate.pdf?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0u34iw8v46kpe85/Rouner_Houston
Press_2015.pdf?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0t888ofcb80f9q0/Braithwaite_Critic
alThinking_2006.pdf?dl=0
https://bbhosted.cuny.edu/webapps/blackboard/execute/modulep
age/view?course_id=_1731833_1&cmp_tab_id=_1922187_1&ed
itMode=true&mode=cpview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGCQ1mXQonU
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mui813sljrm1e1f/Stokes_TheConve
rsation_2017.pdf?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5gskwb4mewi7xft/Brown_CBCRadi
o_2016.pdf?dl=0

6.pdf?dl=0
6.pdf?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ib15oeh8lr95tj4/Moynihan_Opinion
-Fact_Quote_NoDate.pdf?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0u34iw8v46kpe85/Rouner_Houston
Press_2015.pdf?dl=0
https://bbhosted.cuny.edu/webapps/blackboard/execute/modulep
age/view?course_id=_1731833_1&cmp_tab_id=_1922187_1&ed
itMode=true&mode=cpview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGCQ1mXQonU
OR, if you found the opinion on a social media page, making it
difficult or impossible to
hyperlink to it, then take a screenshot and embed it into your
word document (examples
of both approaches are shown at the bottom of this document).
If you’ve never taken a screenshot before, use Google for
instructions on how to do this.
Once your screenshot has been taken, you can drag and drop it
right into your word
document or you can go to the menu bar and select “Insert” →
“Pictures” → “Picture
from File”.
Part 2. Describe the opinion
Part 3. Based on the reading you’ve just done, identify which
type of the two types of

opinions each situation embodies, empirical or non-empirical
(empirical = it’s an opinion
that can be proven either true or false through collecting
evidence, depends upon some
expertise to be a legitimate opinion; non-empirical = based on
tastes or preferences,
subjective, can’t really be true or false)
Part 4. Identify in each situation if the person is rightfully
“entitled to their opinion”
Part 5. Indicate if the person provides a link to a source that
provides information that
supports their opinion. If yes, include the link.
It shouldn't be too hard to find these, as the internet is filled
with lots of people spouting
lots of opinions!
Places to look for opinions:
1. Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
2. Website like reddit, etc..
3. The opinion pages of major newspapers
4. News websites (MSNBC, CNN, FOX, VOX, ABC news,
etc…)
5. Quora.com
See below for some examples of what your assignment should
look like. You needn’t
include the parts in red in your answers (these are just notes to
help you understand
each part).
Your assignment should be in Word format and uploaded to

Blackboard here. (“Course
Materials” → “Writing Assignments” → “Assignment #2:
Separating Fact from Fiction”)
https://bbhosted.cuny.edu/webapps/assignment/uploadAssignme
nt?content_id=_40834895_1&course_id=_1731833_1&group_id
=&mode=cpview
https://bbhosted.cuny.edu/webapps/assignment/uploadAssignme
nt?content_id=_40834895_1&course_id=_1731833_1&group_id
=&mode=cpview
Example #1
Part 1 (the screenshot of the opinion you found)
Part 2 (describe the opinion): This is a twitter post by a
neuroscientist who
specializes in studying social-emotional development in
children and adolescents.
She is expressing concern about migrant children who are being
detained by the
government and implies that they’re suffering psychological
harm while in detention
and need to be reunited with their families.

Part 3 (identify the type of opinion): This is an empirical
opinion. It’s making a truth
claim about the world that can be tested. There are actually two
truth claims here:
(a) the number of migrant children who are currently detained
by the government
(this is testable in theory, assuming the data can be obtained)
and (b) that changes
that occur during adolescence are “vitally important”.
Part 4 (determine if the person is entitled to their opinion): This
person is rightly
entitled to this opinion, especially the second part (b). She is a
trained expert in the
area of child development.
Part 5 (report if a direct link is provided to the source): Does
not provide direct links
to the sources that support the opinion.
Example #2
1. (the screenshot of the opinion you found)
2. (describe the opinion): Women’s careers suffer a greater
negative impact when
they have children then men’s do when they (are caught?)
sexually assaulting
co-workers

3. (identify the type of opinion): This is an empirical opinion
(in theory). Difficult to
test. One obviously couldn’t test this experimentally and would
have to rely on
real-life data.
4. (determine if the person is entitled to their opinion): It’s not
clear if this is a
qualified opinion (meaning we don’t know if it’s based on
actual evidence,
personal experience, anecdotes or intuition). This is not to say
its false. This may
be true. But unless its supported by evidence, we would have to
consider it a
speculative hypothesis.
5. (report if a direct link is provided to the source): The person
does not provide
evidence to support their opinion.
Example #3
1. (the link to the opinion you found ) The Jordan Peterson All-
meat diet
2. (describe the opinion): A woman in Toronto, Canada, the
daughter of a celebrity
psychologist, is gaining publicity as a nutritional consultant,
touting an all-meat

diet (just beef and water). She claims it has cured her of many
physical and
psychological health problems, including skin disease and
depression.
3. (identify the type of opinion): This is an empirical opinion.
4. (determine if the person is entitled to their opinion): This is
not a qualified opinion.
This woman is not a certified nutritionist or dietician.
Mainstream nutrition
scientists say extreme ketogenic diets like this are harmful.
There are a handful
of diet professionals who disagree.
5. (report if a direct link is provided to the source): The only
evidence she provides
is anecdotal. She doesn’t offer up any pointers to legitimate
scientific research
supporting her claims.
https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/567613/?utm_source=t
wb&__twitter_impression=true
https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/567613/?utm_source=t
wb&__twitter_impression=trueWritten Assignment #2:
Separating Fact from Fiction
The California Legislature
Differences from the U.S. Congress

Equal Bicameral
• Lower house is the Assembly
• 80 members elected every 2 years
• Each district has about 450,000 constituents (700,000 for the
U.S. House of
Representatives)
• Upper house is the Senate
• 40 members serve for 4 years
• Half run each 2 years
• Each district has about 900,000 constituent
• Term limits
• Legislators are limited to a total of 12 years in the legislature
• May serve in one or both houses
• Only about 1/3 of bills become laws
Leadership
• Speaker of the Assembly is much more powerful than the
Speaker of
the House:
• Controls committee appointments
• Present Speaker is John Perez (new Speaker will be Toni
Atkins)

• President Pro tem in the Senate not as powerful
• Shares power with rules committee
• Became more influential under old term limits rules because
Senators could
serve for 8 years (as opposed to the 6 for Assembly)
Other features
• Governor may use the line item veto for an appropriations bill
• State legislature is less visible to voters than Congress (media
rarely
covers it)
• State legislature is not involved in judicial appointments
• No filibuster
• Initiative process means that legislature doesn’t have a
monopoly on
legislation (for good or ill)
• Seniority plays a much smaller role
Problems
• Term limits
• Never develop sufficient expertise
• Especially a problem for leadership

• Less willing to compromise because they don’t have a long
working
relationship with other legislators
• Cedes power to bureaucrats & lobbyists
• Has contributed to a rise in minority representation
• E.g., Latino legislators increased from 6% in 1990 to 23%
today
• Gridlock over taxation
• 2/3 vote required for increasing taxes by state legislature
(Prop. 13)
• Staff slashed by 40% in 1990 (first term limits initiative)
The bright side
• Term limits have contributed to a rise in minority
representation
• E.g., Latino legislators increased from 6% in 1990 to 23%
today
• (see NCSL web site for more demographic information)
• No filibuster
• 2/3 requirement for passing state budget removed in 2010
• Districts now drawn by a citizen commission rather than by
the
legislature
• Open primary encourages less extremism

Functions of Congress
to make law (lex, legis: legislature)
to debate & deliberate (parler: parliament)
to represent (re-present)
to act as a watchdog (oversight)
to serve constituents

Who Are They? The 115th Congress - Majorities
House: 240 Republicans, 194 Democrats, 1 vacancy

Majorities
Senate: 46 Democrats, 52 Republicans, 2 independents

Women: 51+%
Black: 12.85%
Latino: 15.1%
Asian: 4.43%
Native American: 0.97%
Pacific Islander: 0.18%
Total Minority: 33.53%

More Demographics from Legistorm

The 115th - part 4
Top occupations
Public Service/Politics 191/44 (H/S)
Business 178/29
Law (0.2% in work force) 156/50
Education 77/20
Education
Advanced degrees: 234/57
Bachelor’s or Associate’s degrees: 184/22 (27% of age 25+ of
Americans with Bachelor’s degrees)
No degree: 13/0

Foreign births: 18 in House, 5 in Senate; (12.4%)

Education (from 114th)
Bachelor’s degree (27% of age 25+)
94% House
100% Senate
Advance degrees:
Senate 74%
House 64%
Doctoral: 24 (#)
Associate’s degree only: 8 (#)
High school diploma only: 20 (#)

Congress – Wealth
(US median net worth per household $80,000 (2013))

Why do they get reelected?
pork, franking privilege, paid staff, travel allowances; media

access for incumbents
Redistricting of House

Are They Representative?
Descriptive representation:
No
But:
Desire for election encourages a ‘delegate’ orientation
Do members of Congress make law in the interests of the
people?
Policy follows opinion 2/3 of time
Benjamin Page article

Congressional Committees
Party Committees: mainly committee assignments
Special/Select: temporary, special purpose
Joint: bicameral membership
Conference: to resolve bicameral conflicts
Standing: by far the most important

Standing Committees
permanent
fixed membership, leadership, staff
specific jurisdiction
not intended to be representative of all possible interests

Filibustering in the 20th Century

Problems
The Problem of Amateurism: vast executive, puny legislative
Congress’s bureaucracy
staff
specialization

Problems
The Problem of Corruption
accepting money, favors for votes
rare compared to other countries
Corruption Perception Index/Transparency International
Congressional responses to corruption

censure: reprimand, reduce seniority, strip chair, fine
expulsion (only 4, all from House)

The Problem of Corruption – cont’d
ethical standards
financial disclosure
honoraria forbidden
1 year limit on lobbying Congress after leaving, etc.
Narrow definition of corruption overlooks the huge flood of
money since Citizens United

Problems - part 4
The Problem of Fragmentation: decentralization puts power
into committee and subcommittee chairs
House Standing Committees
Education & the workforce committee
U.S. Senate: Committees
Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee

Fragmentation – cont’d
central coordination becomes difficult: herding cats
Fragmentaion creates access points for influence

gcc
Federalism
gcc
Confederal Government
government for limited purposes, but
retain ultimate authority and can veto
actions of the central government (53)
gcc
Confederal Government
STATE
GOVERNMENT
STATE
GOVERNMENT
STATE
GOVERNMENT

CENTRAL GOVERNMENT
gcc
Unitary Government
has ultimate
authority and may create (and
eliminate) state governments for its
own purposes (53)
gcc
Unitary Government
CENTRAL
GOVERNMENT STATE
GOVERNMENT
STATE
GOVERNMENT
STATE
GOVERNMENT
STATE
GOVERNMENT

gcc
Federal Government
central government and state
governments, both of which may act
independently in their respective
spheres as well as sharing powers in
other spheres (53)
gcc
Federal Government
CENTRAL GOVERNMENT POWERS
SHARED POWERS
STATE GOVERNMENT POWERS
gcc
Federalism under the
Constitution
INTERstate commerce, wage war, etc.

corporations, borrow money, etc.
regulate INTRAstate commerce, ratify
constitutional amendments, etc.
gcc
Eras of Federalism
-1860): states dominant
-1930s): balance of
power between states & federal government
-1968): federal
government dominant
-present): states
recapture some power but federal
government still dominates
gcc
Advantages of Federalism
tes as laboratories

gcc
Disadvantages of Federalism
akers
Congress

Who Are They? The 112th Congress - Majorities
House: 241 Republicans, 192 Democrats, 2 vacancies

Majorities
Senate: 51 Democrats, 47 Republicans, 2 independents

The 112th Congress - part 2
New Members:
House: 91 21%
Senate:15 15%

Why do they get reelected?
pork, franking privilege, paid staff, travel allowances; media
access for incumbents
Redistricting of House

New Members
Approximately 35% turnover between 2002 and 2008
House: ~65% 1992-2002
Senate: ~60%1991-2004

The 112th - part 3
Demographics: categories overlap!
HouseSenateWomen 16% (51.3%)71 (24R, 47D)17 (5R,
12D)Blacks 8% (12.7)42 (40D 2R)0Latinos 5% (14.5)27 (8R,
19D)2 (1 R, 1D)Asians 2% (5)9 (8D, 1R)2 (2D)Native
Americans 0.2% (1.4)1 (1R)0

The 112th - part 4
Average Age (36.4)
Senate=62.2
House=56.7
Religion: 99% have religious affiliation
Protestant: 57% (54%)
Roman Catholic: 29% (26%)
Jewish: 7% (1.4%)
Muslim: 0.4%
Top occupations
Law (0.2% in work force)
Public Service/Politics
Business
Education
Immigrants: 8 in House, 1 in Senate; (12.4%)

Education
Bachelor’s degree (27% of age 25+)
92% House
99% Senate
Associate’s degree only: 1%
High school diploma only: 5%
Ph.D.: 3%

Congress - Wealth
≥40% of Senate were millionaires in 2003 (<1% of Americans

are millionaires) 10 Senators worth less than $100,000
28% of Representatives were millionaires in 2004
Rank-and-file Representatives & Senators are paid
$174,o00/year
Average net worth of incoming members of 112th: $815,000

Are They Representative?
Delegate theory
representative acts in perfect accord with his/her constituents
Trustee theory
representative who relies on his/her independent judgment

Holds
Senate considers business by the use of ‘universal consent’
i.e., if one member object, business can be slowed or halted
Such an objection is known as a ‘hold’
Until 2011, could be done anonymously; so secrecy limited to 2
day
But ‘tag teams’ (2 or more Senators) can still preserve secrecy

Problems
The Problem of Corruption
accepting money, favors for votes
rare compared to other countries
Corruption Perception Index/Transparency International
Congressional responses to corruption
censure: reprimand, reduce seniority, strip chair, fine
expulsion (only 4, all from House)

The Problem of Corruption – cont’d
ethical standards
financial disclosure
honoraria forbidden
surplus campaign funds may be not be spent for personal use
limit on gifts ($200/H, $300/S)
limits on free travel
1 year limit on lobbying Congress after leaving

Problems - part 4
The Problem of Fragmentation: decentralization puts power
into committee and subcommittee chairs
House Standing Committees
Subcommittees of the Armed Services Committee
U.S. Senate: Committees
Finance Committee Subcommittees

Fragmentation – cont’d
central coordination becomes difficult: herding cats

Written Assignment #2 Separating Fact from Fiction DUE DA.docx

Written Assignment #2 Separating Fact from Fiction DUE DA.docx

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