A policy analysis is a paper written for decision-makers that provides the most essential information about a relevant policy and problem and presents specific and detailed recommendations to improve a specific policy for the decision-makers to take and act on.
You will write a policy analysis for the county sheriff you have been following this semester, exploring in detail a relevant and specific policy for their office. When choosing your policy of focus, it may be a policy related to any aspect of the sheriff’s office, such as law enforcement duties or the county jail, and the policy area must address an issue specifically facing your county sheriff. This may be a policy you touched on in the last memo on reforms, however it does not have to be – choose something you are interested in. There should be evidence of (at least) another county sheriff implementing your policy recommendations so that you can use evidence that this policy proposal works.
I recommend a format that introduces the issue, describes a problem/challenge the office is facing, evaluates different policy options for solving this challenge, and provides a policy recommendation that charts a path detailing how this may be adopted (and what potential political challenges there may be in the path).
Policy analysis papers will be graded partly on organization and writing style, but mainly on content and analysis. See the rubric below. It should be between 2500 and 3000 words and include well designed graphics presenting relevant data. Your analysis should be informative and persuasive.
The policy analysis should involve significant outside research from class material covering both the policy reform and its relevance to your sheriff’s office that is cited in Chicago Manual of Style format (parenthetical author date format).
My County Sheriff: Sheriff Richard Fuller of Kalamazoo County Michigan
Nearby County Sheriff to compare: Barry County Michigan Sheriff Dar Leaf.
*I will provide graphics I have made during the semester to use in the paper, particularly in the Problem section of the rubric below, be sure to include in the paper*
Assignment 5 Rubric
Criteria and qualities
Points
Provide background on the sheriff’s office, including who the sheriff is, what the capacity is of the office, and any relevant information that might relate to the office’s need or capacity for reform.
/10
The problem, including using data on the sheriff’s office to identify when and how the office is not meeting some specific standard or standards for justice or democracy. This section should be data driven (with well designed graphics presenting relevant data) and draw on work that you have previously done in the class on your sheriff’s office.
/20
The policy solution or solutions, including a detailed discussion of what has been tried in the past, what policy options and alternatives there are, where the chosen policy solution has been tried, and how the chosen policy solution addresses the problem identified in the previous section.
/25
The political feasibility of the solution, including a discussion of the local political environment and whether past attempts at reform have been successful or not (and why). Consider how might this solution be successfully implemented politically.
/15
Clarity of writing and writing technique, flow of ideas, readability, accessibility of language. This includes that the paper is free of spelling and grammar errors.
/15
There is a clear introduction and conclusion, which both set up the sheriff’s office and the reform proposal and provide a synthesis of ideas
/5
Citations/References; including the appropriate use of citations throughout the brief and a complete works cited. The brief should use Chicago Style author date as its citation style.
/10
Length: Papers should be between 2500 and 3000 words. Papers too short will automatically lose at least a minimum of ten points.
