federalism.
In last week’s classes, we discussed the Katrina disaster. It was a certainly a natural disaster: a Category 5 hurricane slamming into a large US city, which happens to be positioned about two-feet below sea level. And, of course, the government response to Katrina was disastrous, leaving scores of people dead and thousands more permanently displaced. The response, obviously, was not coordinated, in part, because of our divided government; the need for supreme authority was desperately needed, but impossible find.
Here’s the link to Nightline video: https://youtu.be/S-pqaTO7ofw
Similarly, federalism creates dilemmas in the area of law enforcement. With education, the decentralized nature of authority and the disparity of funding has created different expectations, standards and results (to say the least). In law enforcement, with control administered on a local level has led to severe problems from inadequate training and funding to divisive policies concerning use of force. For example: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/06/23/small-police-departments-standards-training/28823849/
watch the following video: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/investigation/policing-the-police/
Discuss the idea of federalism and how it played out with Katrina and continues to play out in law enforcement and education.
Analyze the PBS Frontline documentary. What are the main points of the film? What issue or part of the film affected you the most, or caused the greatest concern? What are the main problems of “policing the police” in this country?
Please explore solutions to the various law enforcement dilemmas. What is a specific problem that can be legally addressed.
Please use sources. Please cite those sources. Opinions are great. But supporting evidence is crucial.
So, essentially, your exploring the effect of federalism in the modern (and changing) world of policing, education and other crucial institutions–comparing them and developing workable solutions.
If you’d like to cite international examples, from which the US could learn. Please do.