The Assignment

Propose and defend a reform to the electoral system—e.g., to the Electoral College, the redistricting process, campaign finance, voter registration, primaries, or any other aspect of American campaigns and elections (if you are unsure about your idea, ask me).   Why is this reform needed?  How would it be implemented?  What are the potential benefits as well as negatives of the reform?  How does this reform improve American democracy?  How likely is it that this reform could successfully take place?  You are responsible for the full details of the assignment available at http://faculty.chass.ncsu.edu/shgreene/PS302/paper1.htm. 7 pages maximum.
Metacognitive self-reflection: Answer the following questions in approximately two additional pages. How/why did you choose the sources you did? Which were most valuable and why? How did your understanding of the issue change over the course of working on the assignment? What do you think are the strongest and weakest aspects of your argument? What is something doing this research made you want to learn more about?  Due September 26. 

Grading

It is expected that you will make thorough and appropriate use of outside sources.  Generally speaking, the more effort you put into finding and effectively using good sources, the better your paper will be. The best sources will be objective analysis-- not opinion columns, random news articles that tangentially address the issue, or websites with a strong ideological agenda. You will need to properly cite these sources using an in-text citation style and Works Cited page.  The best papers will remain focused on answering the relevant questions in the assignment. I am looking for you to address these questions thoroughly and analytically.  Most importantly, you will be graded upon how effectively you combine your research with your knowledge of course material to explaining your proposed reform. You are encouraged to express well-founded opinions in the paper, but recognize legitimate counter-arguments and try to remain as objective as possible.  Though the main focus of grading is on the substance of your paper, to receive the highest grade the paper should be well written, well-organized, and have few if any typographical or grammatical errors.  Papers will be downgraded to the degree that they fail to meet these standards.

I am especially interested in you demonstrating strong critical thinking.  This page is a great summary of key standards of critical thinking.

I am also serious about following proper instructions for the paper. Failure to do so will affect your grade. Please see this link.

Small note: We are all democrats and republicans (I hope) in that we believe in the idea of a representative democracy. Members/supporters of the Democratic party are Democrats and members/supporters of the Republican party are Republicans.

Paper Submission Guidelines (and helpful guidance)

Late Policy

It is expected that exams will be taken and assignments turned in when they are scheduled on the syllabus. Assignments will be downgraded a partial letter grade (e.g., B to B-) for each day they are late.

Helpful Links
Guide to APA, MLA, and Chicago style for citations
Congressional Quarterly Researcher
Public Agenda (learn about issues)
Lexis-Nexis (search newspapers and magazines for information about issues)
NCSU Library Research Tools
NCSU Library Research Tutorials (very useful guide for writing a research paper)
NCSU Plagiarism resources
A nice guide to social science writing

About citing your sources
When it comes to citing your sources, the most important thing is that I can find them if I need to. If there is a really long URL that will not actually lead me back to the actual article anyway, please do not use it. If you do include URL's in your sources, please make sure they are permalinks and not temporary links. When it comes to in-text citations, I strongly prefer author-year, e.g., (Greene 2012), even if you are using MLA format. I really have no interest in particular page numbers. If you use APA format, I hate the first initial only for authors on the works cited page. Please use full names.  To be clear, an in-text citation style means you are not using footnotes or endnotes for your citations.  Please see the citations guides.