SAMPLE PAPER FOR REFERENCE
America’s Democracy
Your Name
POL 201 – American National Government
Ashford University
Instructor’s Name
Month Day, Year
America’s Democracy
This is where the introduction for your paper should begin. You should indent the first paragraph and include a hook to draw your reader in and make the topic interesting. Your introduction should also include an overview of the main points you will discuss in your paper and conclude with a clear and concise thesis statement of 25 words or less that clearly summarizes what your paper is about. Please be sure to not refer to the paper in your paper. For example, “In this paper, I will discuss…” is not appropriate for formal writing. Also, your paper should not use words such as I, we, or you. Start the first paragraph here. It should introduce your reader to the subject you are writing about, as well as your particular position or claim. Be sure that your thesis reflects on all four of the topics you will discuss in a concise manner of 25 words or less. For more suggestions, please read about thesis statements on our Ashford Writing Center website: Thesis Statements. Other helpful tools on our website are the Thesis Generator and Moving from Prompt to Thesis. Your introduction should be at least ½ a page in length.
US Constitution
Your paper should include the four main headings, as outlined in this template. It is vital, in order to fully meet the expectations for this paper that you support your arguments utilizing scholarly sources. You must is properly cited with in-text APA formatted citations and an APA reference list in order to avoid plagiarism. No more than 10% of your paper should be direct quotations. Be sure to summarize, paraphrase, and include in-text citations. Each heading should focus on the topics you discussed in your Week 1, 2, 3, and 4 Learning Activities. Each heading/topic should be a a minimum of 1 to 1.5 pages in length. Please do not just cut and paste the paragraphs from your Learning Activities. It is important to include transitions and to more deeply reflect and expand on the material from each week. Be sure to review the WayPoint feedback provided by your instructor each week and integrate the feedback into your revisions as you expand your analysis of each topic for your final paper.
Federalism
Your section heading should focus on Federalism. Utilize your Learning Activities as a guide to construct each section of your paper or create an outline or list to help you organize the evidence you plan to present. Be sure to include the appropriate transitions, review your instructors comments from your Week Two Learning Activity, and expand on the material regarding Federalism.
Branches of Government
The third section of your final paper should focus on one of the branches of government, as you discussed in your Learning Activity. Be sure to include the appropriate transitions, review your instructors comments from your Week Three Learning Activity, and expand on the material regarding the branch of government you have selected. Each paragraph of your assignment should be clear and easy to follow. Ashford has several good resources to help you write a strong paragraph, such as How to Write a Good Paragraph and the P.I.E. Paragraph Structure.
Political Parties, Interest Groups, or Elections
The 4th section of your paper should focus on Political Parties, Interest Groups, or Elections as researched in your Week 4 Learning Activity. Once again, Be sure to include the appropriate transitions, review your instructors comments from your Week Three Learning Activity, and expand on the material regarding the topic you have selected. In addition to being well-written, each paragraph throughout your paper should include an in-text citation to all ideas, references, or quotations that are from outside sources and research. The Ashford Writing Center provides many resources to help you follow correct citation style (primarily APA) and gives lessons and examples of how to paraphrase and cite sources. The APA Key Elements page is a good place to start.
Conclusion
Your paper should conclude with a review of your main points and a review of your thesis.
Remember to start your references on a new page. Space down until References is as the top of the final page of your paper.
References
Your paper must utilize at least eight scholarly resources (in addition to the textbook). A minimum of six of the resources must be from the peer-reviewed scholarly sources from the Ashford University Library. The following are commonly used references. Please fill in the required information, and if you need more help, see the AWC References page. References are listed in alphabetical order. Please be sure to format your references correctly according to APA 6th edition guidelines and utilize hanging indents.
Ashford Textbook (Online edition): *
Author, A. (Year published). Title of book: Subtitle of book (edition, if other than the first) [Electronic version]. Retrieved from from URL
Example:
Witt, G. A., & Mossler, R. A. (2010). Adult development and life assessment [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/books/4
Online Journal Article (such as from the Ashford Library):**
Author, A. (Year Published). Article title. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), page range. doi:# or Retrieved from journal’s homepage URL
**When including a URL for an online journal, you must search for the journal’s home page and include this in your reference entry. You may not include the URL found through your university library, as readers will not have access to this library.
Examples:
Churchill, S. D., & Mruk, C. J. (2014). Practicing what we preach in humanistic and positive psychology. American Psychologist, 69(1), 90-92. doi:10.1037/a0034868
Santovec, M. (2008). Easing the transition improves grad retention at Trinity U. Women in Higher Education, 17(10), 32. Retrieved from http://www.trinitydc.edu/education/files/2010/09/Women_in_higher_
Ed_Trinity_Transistions_10_08.pdf
Online Magazine:*
Author, A. (Year, Month Date Published). Article title. Magazine Title. Retrieved from URL
Example:
Walk, V. (2013, April 29). Can this woman fix Europe? Time. Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,213969.html
YouTube Video:*
Author, A. [Screen name]. (Year, Month, Day). Title of video [Video file]. Retrieved from URL
Example:
Apsolon, M. [markapsolon]. (2011, September 9). Real ghost girl caught on video tape 14
[Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nyGCbxD848
Web Page:*
Author, A. (Year, Month, Date Published). Article title. Retrieved from URL
Example—Corporate web page:
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2008). Police and detectives. Retrieved from http://bls.gov/oco/pdf/ocos160.pdf
Example—Article or section within web page with no author:
Presentation tools. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://web2014.discoveryeducation.com/web20tools-presentation.cfm
*Please delete the notes in this document before submitting your assignment.
