The Assignment
Create a
genogram
of your party identification. That is, make a diagram which
indicates your partisanship as well as the party identification of as
many of your relatives as you can find out. Write a short paper
discussing your genogram and critically assessing your own party
identification. Some questions you may address include: What
patterns are evident? Why do you think you have your particular
partisanship? How has your family influenced your party
identification? What other factors have influenced your
partisanship? What role do demographic factors related to
partisanship seem to play for you and your family? 5 pages
maximum.
See full guidelines here.
Grading
An "A" paper will use the knowledge that you have
gained from this class (both lecture material and course readings) in
conjunction with your own unique partisan autobiography in order to
address the questions in the assignment in an interesting, accurate,
and analytical manner. Additionally, it should be well-written-- no
typographical errors, no awkward sentences; clear, coherent, and
focused arguments. No outside resources are necessary, but effective
use of class resources is important.
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.
Additional Notes
- Democrat(ic) and Republican should always be capitalized when
referring to political parties.
- Party identification ≠ ideology
- Party identification ≠ party registration
- Though an autobiography, your genogram and the writing of this
paper should be written in a way that does not reveal your name.
- A red/blue/purple color code for the genogram is generally
helpful.
- The genogram diagram does not count against your page
limit.