About the Paper

The Assignment

  • Choose a domestic policy area of national concern that interests you and investigate a proposal for policy reform within this area. You should choose a fairly narrow proposal for reform (e.g., clean air or clean water, not environmental policy; children's health, not health care policy; food stamps, not social welfare policy; school funding or teacher competency, not education policy)
  • This should be a reform proposal-- not policy already in place. What are the basics of the proposed reform? What are the key issues involved? What are the costs and benefits of the proposed reform? What might be some unintended consequences of the reform? What are the prospects for this reform in becoming law?
  • To the extent appropriate, use course material to help address these questions. Make sure you use reasonably objective sources to assess the potential efficacy of reforms and their costs and benefits. 8 pages maximum.
    • Note: you are not expected to craft an original reform policy. You should research existing reform proposals of which you can find good research about costs and benefits, political feasibility, etc. You may choose to take pieces of existing reforms to combine into something semi-original, but the point is for you to do thorough research that involves analysis of existing reform proposals. If you have concerns as to the appropriateness of the overall topic or your specific proposal, please contact me.

    Grading

    Assignments will be graded according the following criteria. Most importantly, you should answer the questions in the assignment thoroughly and accurately based upon your research and what you have learned in this course. An "A" paper should have the following properties: no typographical errors, no awkward sentences, clear, coherent, and focused arguments.You should rely extensively on outside sources to strengthen your argument. You will need to properly cite these sources within the text, using an in-text citation style (not footnotes) and in a works cited page using an appropriate style guide. You should rely on appropriate, relevant, analytical sources that are as objective as possible (e.g., a White House press release is not an objective source). A significant part of your grade will reflect the quality and thoroughness of your research.You are welcome to express opinions on the issue in the paper, but recognize legitimate counter-arguments and try to remain as objective as possible about costs/benefits, political feasibility, etc. I am looking for you to demonstrate a thorough and sophisticated understanding of the reform and key issues involved. Papers will be downgraded to the degree that they fail to meet these standards. A more precise grading rubric is here.

    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.

    • A note on citations

    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. 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 for your citations. Please see the citations guides.

    Helpful Links


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    Last Updated November 8, 2023

    Steven Greene