RESEARCH PAPER ASSIGNMENT
Your paper should involve an analysis and critical examination of a contemporary political reform proposal of some aspect of the American political and/or governmental system. The following is a partial list of suitable topics.
Line item veto Campaign finance reform Balanced budget amendment Federalism reforms Welfare reform Healthcare reform Term limits Flat tax Immigration policy Public funding for public broadcasting Public funding for the arts
This is an incomplete list. There may be other topics of interest to you that are suitable for the assignment, but they must be cleared by the instructor.
Students are to write a paper that analyzes some current reform proposal of the American governmental and/or political system and make an argument for a specific solution to the problem. Your paper is not just descriptive, but analytical. For example, if one chose the topic of welfare reform he or she would provide a historical background on the welfare system, describe the problems with the current system, and make a case for a specific reform proposal.
Students need to evaluate the pro and con arguments for reform and make a case for a specific side of the argument with researched evidence, historical examples, statistics, etc.
Remember that this is a research paper, not a personal opinion paper. Your arguments must be backed up with evidence.
ORGANIZATION
Your paper should be organized into distinct sections, which roughly correspond to the following breakdown.
1. A brief INTRODUCTION in which you identify your subject and its components, indicate its importance and specify how you will proceed in your evaluation.
2. A THEORETICAL BACKGROUND section in which you describe the theoretical questions and/or constitutional provisions at issue and what the Framers of the Constitution may have intended regarding those questions or provisions.
3. An ISSUE ANALYSIS section in which you describe the specific policy issues associated with your topic and how those issues have been addressed by Supreme Court decisions, Congressional legislation, presidential action, State actions, etc.
4. An EVALUATION section in which you critically evaluate ways of resolving the problems you identify. Students need to provide specific recommendations in addressing the reform proposal.
5. A DOCUMENTATION section with an ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY identifying sources used in your paper. Endnotes or footnotes are acceptable. Department Uniform Citation Style : Chicago has been adopted as the uniform citation style for our department.Students may not use Wikipedia or other on-line encyclopedias for their papers. Sources must be from scholarly published books and articles and government, academic and respected news sources.Endnotes or footnotes are acceptable. (For information on how to use endnotes or footnotes see Kate Turabian, A MANUAL FOR WRITERS or Joseph Gilbaldi and Walter Achtert, THE MLA HANDBOOK, or Diana Hacker, A POCKET STYLE MANUAL.)
** IMPORTANT NOTE: A MINIMUM OF FIVE SOURCES MUST BE NON-INTERNET. THEY SHOULD INCLUDE PUBLISHED BOOKS AND PROFESSIONAL JOURNAL ARTICLES FOUND IN THE LIBRARY. Students must also have at least three (3) footnoted sources published after September 25, 2017 (generally newspaper and/or journal articles).
FORMAT
All papers must be typewritten, double‑spaced, on one side of 8 1/2 x 11 papers. Paper length should generally be between10-12 pages. Students must carefully proofread their papers. Spelling and grammatical errors will be taken into consideration in the grading. Do not put papers in folders.
DUE DATES
By Monday, October 16 all students are to turn in an outline of their paper. This should include a clear description of your thesis and an explanation on how you will argue your position. Each section of the paper should be outlined with main points identified. In addition, this outline should include a list of at least three sources (books, articles, etc.) that will be used in your research. The instructor must approve this topic outline.
