Please select one of the following four research questions for your final essay:
1. Is it legitimate and practical for Canadian courts to judicially review medical assistance
in dying (MAID)?
2. Can courts bring about substantive social change? If so, how? If not, why not?
3. Does the concept of constituent power necessitate that all significant questions facing the
polity should be put to a referendum? Discuss.
4. Does the rise of mega corporations pose a challenge to state power and its capacity to
regulate? In other words, is the state’s monopoly over lawmaking and sovereignty
withering in the face of ascending corporate power? Either way, explain how and why.
General expectations
The goal is to write an 8-to-10-page, double-spaced research paper. This involves three main
steps. First, the paper should highlight and review some of the debates on the topic. To this end,
your paper should discuss a few competing perspectives or explanations that scholars have
advanced. Second, the goal should be to evaluate these debates and assess why one of these
perspectives is more compelling in answering the research question. It should be able to provide
an independent assessment of why a certain take, position, or explanation is a better answer.
Finally, the paper should conduct some empirical research and discuss examples/cases/data to
support its major contention.
How to get started
Each question assumes the existence of an underlying debate. Your first task is to research the
major debates that exist on the question/topic. What are some scholarly perspectives on the issue
at hand? What are the major fault lines? Why do they disagree? Is the disagreement merely
empirical or is it also theoretical and/or conceptual? Once you have outlined the contours of
debate, your next goal should be critically evaluating these perspectives and assessing which one
is more compelling. More importantly, why is it a more compelling argument? The word
compelling is key because we assume that all explanations in one way or another try to answer
the question. However, we also compare different takes to see which one is more robust,
convincing, and clear.
The empirical component of your paper can be based on multiple cases/jurisdictions (i.e.
comparative) or a single case, except for the first question, where you should look at Canada.
The examples you use should be able to demonstrate why the position you have taken is
compelling, relatively speaking. They should substantiate your argument and demonstrate how
theoretical insights translate into the real world. One way this can be achieved is to look at new
examples, data, or judgments (since the time of a source’s publication) that either underscore
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your preferred explanation or demonstrate why a competing explanation does not hold/is not as
convincing. This establishes some independent assessment on your part.
Formatting
Please use a 12-point font. The paper should have 1” margins on all sides and should include
page numbers. The 8 to 10 pages limit does not include the bibliography and the title page. You
must use the author-date system (in-text parenthetical citations) based on the Chicago Manual of
Style. Do not use footnotes/endnotes.
Sources
It is expected that a well-rounded paper will consult at least 7 scholarly sources. The majority of
these should be used in a constructive way, i.e., the paper should be able to borrow or engage
with the core theoretical takeaway in those readings, rather than merely citing a table, datapoint,
or a quote from them. The sources must constitute a scholarly study on the subject. If you are
unsure about the scholarly credentials of a source, feel free to email me or consult during office
hours.
Quotations
A direct quote should not be treated or presented as evidence in and of itself. If you incorporate a
quote, contextualize it. Explain the content and how the quote substantiates the point
preceding/following the quote. As a general rule, avoid the use of quotes, as much of the
information that is typically quoted can be paraphrased. If you do use quotes (use them
sparingly), integrate them properly, and format your citations based on the Chicago Style.
Writing
The key to a good research paper is clarity of thought and precision in writing. You should
present a clear thesis that not only outlines your position but also lists the
arguments/factors/reasons that you will be using to support your contention. The argument
should be presented in the introduction. You should not wait until the conclusion to
present/outline your overall argument. If it helps, you can use subheadings to better organize
your paper’s arguments. The paper should not be based on a single paragraph. Each point or subargument that you use can be explained/discussed in multiple paragraphs. At the same time,
please make sure that your paragraphs are not too short (1-2 lines).
It is important to be lucid and coherent in your presentation of ideas. The goal should be to avoid
any misunderstanding with respect to the points you want to argue or convey. Typographical
errors, grammatical mistakes, run-on sentences, as well as poor transitions can distract from your
core argument. Please proofread your papers before submission.
