Subject:
Sociology
Material Type:
Module
Level:
Community College / Lower Division
Provider:
Ohio Open Ed Collaborative
Tags:
  • Access to Resources
  • Government
  • Oss0212
  • Power Structure
  • Sociology
  • License:
    Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial
    Language:
    English
    Media Formats:
    Text/HTML

    Education Standards

    Describe the role of government in framing the power structure and access to resources.

    Overview

    OER Text material

    Politics in the United States

    Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World. 14.4.2, 14.4.3 The influence of felony disenfranchisement law and the existence of PACs and lobbying on political policy and economy are briefly reviewed.

    Supplementary Material (Videos and Reading)

    Disenfranchised in Florida (Video)

    Summary “Roderick Kemp is a 60-year-old Florida resident who recently had his voting rights revoked—despite having worked as a field organizer and voted for years. Kemp was arrested in the 1980s for cocaine possession and served a few months, but when the State of Florida re-discovered this they sent him a notice that he was not permitted to vote. Kemp is one of the 6.1 million Americans who can’t vote due to a felony charge. “I don’t have a voice. I’m like an anonymous person,” he says in this short film, Unforgiven. It was produced by Surya Productions for the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting.”

    “Democracy Imprisoned: The Prevalence and Impact of Felony Disenfranchisement Laws in the United States”

    The Sentencing Project, September 30, 2013. This report identifies and describes state felony disenfranchisement laws, discusses the legal challenges to these laws and the racialized impact of these laws on the voting populace.

    Citizens United v. FEC (Video)

    Homework Help from the Bill of Rights Institute. This video covers the Acts and court cases that led to unlimited indirect funds to assist candidate’s campaigns.