Final Project Written Paper Instructions

One important aspect of learning business law is becoming familiar with how laws are made due to the tremendous impact laws have on businesses and the opportunity business people have to influence the laws that are made. The final project will introduce you to these topics. It meets the following course competencies:

1. Trace the historical development of law, the U.S. Constitution, the U.S. court system, legal terminology, and legal procedures. 2. Explain the role of a business as a citizen and its social responsibility to its various stakeholders.

3. Apply critical and analytical skill in the preparation of oral and written discourse on legal and ethical issues that affect business.

Please copy the Final Project template onto a blank Word Document and enter your comments, answers and observations in the appropriate places. This is very important. You will be marked down if your paper is not submitted using the proper template. While I do not grade on your writing style in a class like this, I do expect college-level writing. This means your spelling and grammar should be relatively mistake free. Your content should be organized into paragraphs (usually 3-5 sentences long) and focused on a single topic. The following instructions will help you know what I expect in each section of the paper. This is not a question/answer worksheet so places do not add the questions asked in the following instructions to your template.

Section I Civic Engagement through Contact with Representatives. Part A

In this section of the paper, you will be asked to identify those people who represent you on a national, state and local level. For the national representatives, you can find the Congressperson that represents you by entering your zip code after clicking this link U.S. House of Representatives. The U.S. Senators and Governor are the same for the entire state. If you live in a different state than Arizona, you will need to research this information yourself. You can find the names of your state representatives by clicking on this link Find My Legislator and entering your address and zip code. Again, if you live in a different state, you will have to find this information through your own states website. Your local officials can be identified through the website of the city where you live. Each city has a different way of identifying council members and the mayor so you will need to complete this yourself.

Part B

Once you have identified the representatives, select one of them and write a letter to them about an issue you think is important. In your letter I will be looking for the following.

1. A greeting to the representative and explanation of who you are.

2. A description of the issue you would like the representative to address.

3.nAn explanation of why this issue is important to the citizens represented by the person you have chosen to write to

4. An explanation of what you would do to resolve this issue.

5. An expression of gratitude (thanks) to the representative for taking the time to read your letter.

Insert a copy of this letter into your paper. Following the letter, write a brief explanation of why you chose to write to this representative with this issue and discuss whether or not you think the representative will actually read it and respond. Be sure you discuss each of the following

1. Explain if the letter was sent as an email or through the postal service.

2. Discuss whether or not you think the representative will read the letter and/or do something about it

3. Explain whether or not you think your letter will receive a response.

Section 2 Meeting of the State Legislature.

For this section of the paper, you need to find a meeting of the Arizona State Legislature to watch and comment on. To do this go to the Arizona State Legislature website and under the logo hover over either Senate or House. A drop-down menu will appear and click on Archived Meetings. On this page select a topic under Categories that interests you then the year 2020 from the blue bar and then Submit. From the list of meetings that appear, choose one that is at least 1 hour long and watch it. You are only required to watch 45 minutes to an hour of the meeting regardless of how long it lasts. After you have watched the meeting, answer the questions or summarize the information you are asked for on the proper place in the template

1. Name, Date, Time of the Meeting - The name of the group holding the meeting (Joint Legislative Budget Committee, Senate Judiciary Committee etc.), the date and length of the meeting.

2. Summary of Meeting - A detailed summary of the meeting (first 45 minutes) including the identification of any bills that were discussed. In this part I am not looking for just the name and number of the bill but how it changes current law or situation in AZ, why it is important to our state and whether or not you think it is a good idea and why.

3. Evaluation of Issues - Your evaluation of how this bill/issue affects Arizona businesses. Will it increase their costs? Will it help them do business better? Does it affect the owners or employees of businesses? How will it affect the taxes they pay? Will they have additional expenses due to increased government regulation? (You may discuss these issues in any order that you wish.) This is an important part of the paper and you should spend a significant amount of time responding to these questions.

4. Business Influence - Finally, explain how businesses can influence the laws that are passed. What opportunities exist for businesses to express their opinions or ideas? Do businesses take advantage of these opportunities? Do you think they had any influence over the meeting you watched? Were businesses or other outside representatives given an opportunity to talk about how these issues affect them at this particular meeting? What are the dangers of allowing businesses to have too much influence?

Section 3 Understanding Local Government

Go to You Tube and type in Phoenix City Council Meeting or "Phoenix City Council Study Session in the search bar, they come up very easily. After you have watched each meeting, answer the questions or summarize the information you are asked for on the proper place in the template

Part A City Council Study Session.

1. Name, Date, Time of the Meeting - The name of the city, date and length of the study session meeting

2. Meeting Summary - A detailed summary of the meeting including all major issues discussed. Explain why these things are important to the residents of the city.

3. Evaluation of Issues - Your evaluation of how the issues discussed in the study session affects Arizona businesses. Will it increase their costs? Will it help them do business better? Does it affect the owners or employees of businesses? How will it affect the taxes they pay? Will they have additional expenses due to increased government regulation? (You may discuss these issues in any order that you wish.) This is an important part of the paper and you should spend a significant amount of time responding to these questions.

4. Business Influence - Finally, explain how businesses can influence what happens in a city council study session. What opportunities exist for businesses to express their opinions or ideas? Do businesses take advantage of these opportunities? Do you think they had any influence over the meeting you watched? Were businesses or other outside representatives given an opportunity to talk about how these issues affect them at this particular meeting? What are the dangers of allowing businesses to have too much influence?

Part B City Council Meeting

1. Name, Date and Time of the Meeting - The name of the city, date and length of the council meeting

2. Summary of Meeting - A detailed summary of the meeting including awards presented, licenses granted, regulations passed and issues discussed. Explain why these things are important to the residents of the city.

3. Evaluation of Issues - Your evaluation of how the issues discussed in the council meeting affects Arizona businesses. Will it increase their costs? Will it help them do business better? Does it affect the owners or employees of businesses? How will it affect the taxes they pay? Will they have additional expenses due to increased government regulation? (You may discuss these issues in any order that you wish.)

4. Business Influence -Finally, explain how businesses can influence what happens in a city council meeting. What opportunities exist for businesses to express their opinions or ideas? Do businesses take advantage of these opportunities? Do you think they had any influence over the meeting you watched? Were businesses or other outside representatives given an opportunity to talk about how these issues affect them at this particular meeting? What are the dangers of allowing businesses to have too much influence?