Reference no: EM132273137 , Length: 6
What is the most interesting, important, complex, or challenging policy issue in U.S. politics today? Apply key concepts and ideas from the course to explain and analyze the struggles for power involved and use specific examples from assigned readings and your own outside research as evidence.
A LITTLE GUIDANCE:
The first four points below are important differences between this paper and the previous two:
Choose to focus on any policy issue you'd like, as long as we have not already discussed and written about it on the Discussion Board this semester.
o Take some time to think through possible ideas by checking out TimesTopics and/or the CQ Researcher site.
o Make sure that the policy topic is one that you can apply course concepts to without trouble. If you are finding it difficult to locate relevant concepts, you might want to change your topic.
To discuss the issues and struggles for power involved in a new policy topic, you will need to inform yourself about this policy and use this information as evidence and examples in your paper. Therefore, you will need to do some outside research and use sources beyond those assigned.
o Possible sources include CQ Researchers, reports from think tanks, data sources, news articles, videos, radio stories, and other library materials
o On the Blackboard menu you will find "Library and Research Links," which will lead you to all sorts of possibilities.
o You are also welcome to ask me if you need recommendations on where to find outside research.
Your paper should make an argument about how to best understand the struggles for power involved with your policy issue. To do so, it will be helpful to consider both the problems the issue poses to us as a nation and the difficulties surrounding the politics of the issue. To do so...
o Discuss the details of the policy issue itself (for example, how many people don't have health insurance, how expensive it is, etc.)
o And analyze the political difficulties that are associated with it (competing interest groups, no willingness to raise taxes in light of elections, disagreements between Congress and the President, etc.)
You can use course concepts and assigned readings from any and all parts of the semester.
In your introduction, clearly state what policy issue you will be addressing and which specific concepts from the course you will be using to analyze it. "Preview" the concepts you will be using as the tools of you analysis. This will serve as your thesis and help structure the rest of your paper.
Remember, the paper is not a summary of the policy issue. It is essential that you use critical thinking to make connections between your topic and key course concepts. This is what makes it an analysis, rather than a summary. Don't forget, front and center, most important is that you demonstrate that you understand the course concepts, can discuss why they are significant, and can use specific examples to highlight why they matter.
Don't try to do too much. Stay focused on one issue, approach it systematically, and be selective about what material you use to support it.
You are encouraged to put things in your own words when you can. If you do quote, don't rely on it too much, and always be sure to follow the quote with your own explanation of what it means and why it's significant. A quote cannot make the argument for you.
Rules of the Game:
· Your paper should be between 6-7 pages, double-spaced.