Explain a policy of any recent Presidential Administration (that is , in the last 15 years) in terms of the elements of US Government. You must discuss in your paper the roles of Congress, the Executive Branch and the Judiciary, as well as include at least 5 of the possible topics below in the paper: Constitutional history Federalism Civil Rights Civil Liberties Political parties and elections Interest groups News media Public Opinion How you weave these topics together is up to you. Please talk to me in person in a Zoom office hour or by email about the policy you choose BEFORE you start writing. If you need help writing your essay take advantage of the Online Writing Center and/or the Reading and Writing Lab. Make an appointment there to get help and/or a Zoom session with an English instructor.
The paper should be submitted online and about 5 pages in length, double spaced, and must (of course!), be an original work. You must not use any quotes but if you cite some controversial piece of information (like, for instance, that “the Republican Party engaged in election fraud”) then you must provide adequate citations. An adequate citation is the exact name of the writer or speaker and where I can find that information, including dates, page numbers, and (if online) the EXACT URL (), not just the URL of the main page of that site. I expect you to use at least 5 separate sources for your work, not counting Wikipedia or other online encyclopedias, the textbook or the class lectures. One of those 5 sources must be from a book or academic journal which you can find in the library databases.
You can cite one single source more than once but only one citation from any page of that source will count towards the 5 separate sources required. Remember to do the CRAAP test on at least three of your sources. Be aware that plagiarizing work will lead to getting an F in this paper. If you have any questions about plagiarism – what it is and how to avoid it – please talk to me as soon as possible. Many students are confused by it. The final paper is DUE by midnight Friday May 21st. You should submit it in PDF format, including the CRAAP test on at least one of your sources. Note: For every day the paper is late you will lose 1 point from your final grade, no exceptions.
Grading guidelines (the paper is worth 20% of your final grade): Critical Thinking (8 points) requires: clearly identifying a POLICY; establishing a perspective and/or identifying other possible perspectives on that POLICY; questioning or confirming assumptions about the POLICY; providing clear conclusion(s); Written Communication (7 points) requires: writing a clear introduction and thesis about the POLICY; making a clear connection between your evidence and the POLICY you are explaining; providing clear sources, cited properly, and a bibliography; Information Literacy (5 points) requires: accessing a variety of sources and demonstrating research skills; some evaluation of information and sources, identifying reliability of sources and their biases (using the CRAAP test).
