This assignment will be used to evaluate student competency in the areas of Critical Thinking, Communication,
Personal Responsibility, and Social Responsibility. It will also gauge your understanding of
key concepts in the discipline.
1. The assignment should be three to five pages in length (at least 1500 words), type-written, and submitted through Canvas.
2. You must analyze and explain at least one primary source and secondary source document (this is to meet the minimum requirements). You may also use additional primary sources and secondary sources.
3. You need to choose one issue that has federalism implications. You will explain and analyze this issue and/or policy.
4. Toward the end of your paper, you will place the information within the context of social responsibility (what can we DO about your issue?) AND how does this issue personally affect you. In other words, by the end of the paper you will need to offer up an action plan on who to get involved to address the issue you wrote about.
5. Use normal writing protocols… Chicago, APA, or MLA protocols.
6. 12 font, Times New Roman, double spaced, etc.
7. Please look over the rubric to see additional information needed in the paper.
Assignment Perspective
Your assignment is to write an opinion piece centered around our understanding of federalism. You are to write on a local topic that has national implications or, vice versa, a national topic that has local implications. Within your piece, you need to mention how your topic relates to some government or constitutional idea we have covered this semester (eg. Checks and balances, powers of each branch, elections, amendments, Supreme Court cases, rights, etc.). The connection between the two needs to be spelled out (obvious) in the editorial.
Explain why the issue is important.
If you are motivated enough to write an editorial, the importance of your topic may seem clear to you. Remember, though, that the general public probably doesn’t share your background or the interest. Explain the issue and its importance thoroughly but accessibly.
Give evidence for any praise or criticism.
If you are writing a letter discussing a past or pending action, be clear in showing why this will have good or bad results. If you say this “is good” or that “is bad”, give evidence (and cite).
State your opinion about what should be done.
You can write a letter to support or criticize a certain action or policy, but you may also have suggestions about what could be done to improve the situation. If so, be sure to add these as well. Be specific. And the more good reasons you can give to back up your suggestions, the better.
Check your letter to make sure it’s clear, to the point, and factual.
In this sense, an editorial would not normally necessarily cite information (or they might). Make sure this editorial is well researched as you mix personal opinion and researched facts.
