Be sure to read all of the instructions for the assignment carefully to ensure that you answer all questions and complete the assignment correctly. It is important to select a piece of legislation in the Georgia General Assembly that will allow you to answer all of the questions required of the assignment.
While the assignment consists of three parts, it is okay for all three parts to be submitted as one document – just make sure that you start each new part of the assignment on a new page. Also, please ensure that you follow the instructions for formatting as discussed in the assignment directions.
The course textbook, “Governing States and Localities” (8th Edition) by Kevin B. Smith and Alan Greenblatt, is available for free on Google Books and should be utilized to reinforce ideas and explanations in this assignment.
Parts one and two of the research assignment will ask you to conduct research on current legislation in Georgia and draft a letter to both your representative and senator serving in the Georgia General Assembly. You will want to conduct your research on the 2023-2024 Regular Session. This website should take you to the General Assembly’s legislation search page – https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/all
NOTE: If you are having issues with the website for legislation provided on the assignment instruction sheet, try this as another option but make sure you are looking at 2023-2024 – https://legiscan.com/GA
Please note that you must choose a piece of legislation that will allow you to thoroughly answer all of the questions on the assignment instructions. Stating that there are no answers to those questions is not acceptable and will result in a failing grade. The purpose of this assignment is to not only help you learn how to navigate the Georgia General Assembly’s website to learn about legislation and your representatives, but to also give you experience using data from other state resources (such as bureaucratic agencies), other stakeholders (such as interest groups), and the media to help you learn about issues in state and local government and politics. If you have any questions about identifying legislation, please reach out to the instructor.
Part three of the research assignment will require you to reflect on questions related to assigned course material and civic engagement (especially materials read in Lesson Five).
As you are working through the assignment, you must provide academically appropriate evidence (and supporting citations, both in-text and and the end of the paper) to support your explanations and answers. The papers must be formatted and use both in-text and end citations in APA, APSA, or Chicago format. Failure to provide accurate and appropriate in-text and end citations will result in a zero grade for the assignment. Also, with the exception of part two of the research assignment (the letter), both papers should be written in a narrative format.
In regards to what types of material are academically appropriate to cite, look to peer-reviewed academic journals, government databases or information from government organizations (international, national, state, or local), and reputable, factual news sources. Blogs, Wikipedia, Ballotpedia, or any other type of -pedia or similar websites are not appropriate. You should also look for factual resources, not opinion pieces. Purdue OWL – https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/resources.html
Media resources that you may find helpful because of their coverage of Georgia politics and government include the following”
The Atlanta Journal Constitution – https://www.ajc.com/
The Atlanta Journal Constitution Politically Georgia podcast – https://www.wabe.org/radio/politically-georgia/?gclid=CjwKCAiAibeuBhAAEiwAiXBoJJ7UMKWgE9IANxDAP8Q4Imkd10l7wxu2kViEJ6w5_RKNI8n7oUvCaRoCJJsQAvD_BwE
Georgia Public Broadcasting – https://www.gpb.org/
Georgia Public Broadcasting Lawmakers television program – https://www.gpb.org/television/show/lawmakers
You may also find information in newspaper more local to the proposed legislation. So, for example, if a legislative issue is especially relevant to Macon or introduced by a General Assembly member from Macon, you may wish to consult The Macon Telegraph.
Please refer to the uploaded document for comprehensive assignment guidelines, including detailed requirements and instructions.
