Marc David Turetzky
Political Science 1
Fall 2010
Research Paper Guidelines (20%)
The primary goals of this exercise are to help you develop your analytical, critical thinking, essay writing, and research skills.
-This paper is worth 20% of your grade.
Due Dates:
-I do NOT accept late papers so please do NOT ask for extensions. Just plan to complete the paper on time and all will be well.
Model Research Papers
The Assignment Details
(1) Papers should be approximately 10 pages in length, NOT including title page or bibliography.
(2) Please include a title page, which should include your name, class, section, and date. Also include a title—your choice. Be creative or just go with the standard “Analysis of President Obama’s Rise”…no big deal either way.
(3) This is a research paper so when you borrow information from a paper, a book, a website, etc. you MUST cite that source in the body of the paper (use MLA format- http://www.english.uiuc.edu/cws/wworkshop/writer_resources/citation_styles/mla/mla.htm). CITE, CITE, CITE.
a. The rule of thumb is to cite a source RIGHT AFTER you use it in the body of your paper. Don’t be shy about citing. Do it every time you directly quote or paraphrase (write in your own words) from a source.
b. If you directly quote from your source and don’t cite it, how am I supposed to know the origin of this information? The bibliography isn’t helpful in this instance because it will contain multiple sources. See the problem? The remedy is to cite, cite, cite. If you don’t I will have to assume you are either intentionally or inadvertently plagiarizing from your sources. Plagiarism is a serious violation of the student honor code and if it is detected, I will fail you on this assignment.
c. I include citation and bibliography guidelines right HERE.
(4) You can gather articles for your research paper from Ebscohost (among other data bases) through the Gavilan College library—please contact the staff at the library NOW for access to Ebscohost and help in researching your topic. Students are required to complete LIB 736 Develop a Research Topic—failure to do so will result in ONE LETTER GRADE being deducted from the research paper. This won't take you that long, it will aid you in your writing of the paper, and the class is free. Also, there is an excellent online tutorial on Researching Empirical Studies (articles) for Pols 1 on the Gavilan College Library website. **More on this on Monday**
(5) You MUST include a bibliography (use MLA format…see above).
(6) Make sure to edit, edit, edit. Turn in a polished, crafted draft. Don’t
just write, print and submit. That’s a sure recipe for an unsuccessful grade. If
you want to submit an rough draft I will read and provide feedback. Free of
charge…
(7) Make sure to include an introduction and a conclusion.
a. Your introduction should be a few sentences explaining your topic in general terms which leads the reader to your thesis (your main argument). Each sentence should become gradually more specific, until you reach your thesis.
b. The conclusion brings closure to the reader, summing up your points or providing a final perspective on your topic.All the conclusion needs is three or four strong sentences which do not need to follow any set formula. Simply review the main points (being careful not to restate them exactly) or briefly describe your feelings about the topic.
Paper Specifics and Possible Topics
Possibility 1: Assessment of the Bush Presidency Examine and assess the presidency of George W Bush. Your primary duty is to objectively and dispassionately analyze and evaluate the effectiveness and the strengths & weaknesses of the Bush administration. I'm not looking for venomous, angry or over-emotional screeds against the former president. There’s already too many of those essays circulating around. Therefore, let’s try something different. Think of this paper as the first draft of the history of George W. Bush, the former President.
I am looking for a careful, thoughtful, and fair overall assessment of what the president did right and what he did wrong. By the way, I’m not looking for a hagiography or white wash either. I’m just looking for a fair and balanced assessment of what his administration did right and what it did wrong.
If you think he did everything right OR absolutely everything wrong, you aren’t probably up to writing a fair assessment. Organizationally, your paper should probably break down as follows:
Section 1: W’s background and rise. That is, how did he get from Texas to the 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?
Section 2: Strengths/policy successes of his administration
Section 3: Weaknesses/policy failures of his administration
Section 4: Overall assessment of President George W. Bush—was his presidency successful or failed or a little bit of both? Perhaps he is just an average overall POTUS? Remember that there are a lot of ways to judge a POTUS—foreign policy, domestic politics, moral example, vision, how they worked with congress, how they related with people, their management of the economy, and so on.
Possibility 2: Assessment of the First Year of the Obama Presidency Examine and assess the first year of the presidency of Barack H. Obama. Your primary duty is to objectively and dispassionately analyze and evaluate the effectiveness and the policy successes and failures of the Obama administration. I'm not looking for venomous, angry or over-emotional screeds against the current president. As stated above, think of this paper as the first draft of the first year history of Barack H. Obama.
I am looking for a careful, thoughtful, and fair overall assessment of what the president has done right and what he has done wrong in the first year of his presidency. If you think he has done everything right OR absolutely everything wrong to date, you aren’t probably up to writing a fair assessment. Organizationally, your paper should probably break down as follows:
Section 1: Obama’s background and rise. That is, how did he get from Indonesia to the 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?
Section 2: Strengths/policy successes of the first year of his administration
Section 3: Weaknesses/policy failures of the first year of his administration
Section 4: Overall assessment of the first year of President Obama's Presidency—to date, is his presidency successful or failed or a little bit of both? Perhaps he is just an average overall POTUS?
Remember that there are a lot of ways to judge a POTUS—on their foreign policy, domestic politics (economics-employment, inflation, gdp growth, job creation, etc), moral example, policy vision, how they worked with congress, how they relate to average people, and so on. You could also look at whether the promises made in the campaign are in the process of being fulfilled. There are many good websites constructed to try and trace promises made and promises kept. That might be interesting to a few of you?
Possibility 3: Assessment of Some Other POTUS Examine and assess the presidency of some other 20th-21st century POTUS. Your primary duty is to objectively and dispassionately analyze and evaluate the effectiveness and the strengths & weaknesses of some POTUS other than W or Obama. I don't think I need to explain what to do in this paper. The structure is the same as the other two possibilities (ie, background/rise; policy successes; policy failures; overall assessment).
Possibility 4: Choose an issue or crisis of interest to you and write about the background, current situation, and future prospects of resolving/fixing the problem. An easy example right off the top of my head is the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill crisis. You could describe what happened, how BP, the Federal, state, and local governments, private citizens, etc responded to the crisis, where things stand at the moment, and finish with an analysis of the future of this eco-system, region, economy, politics, etc. This is a profound and tragic crisis and it is already having huge financial, environmental, social, and political consequences. You could approach any number of crises or topics in a similar way...
Something to think about: I think everyone in public life, even the folks most people seem to detest and despise, deserve a fair assessment. One of my real laments in life is that people in the public eye get turned into cartoons, into caricatures that don’t really capture the essence of who they are. If the shoe were on the other foot, and you were the one in the spotlight, wouldn’t you want people to get the story of your life, your successes and failures, tragedies and triumphs, right? Wouldn’t you want the public record to be accurate? I think we owe these people an honest attempt to get the story right so that we can judge and assess their respective records accurately and analytically.
Paper Specifics
Possibility 1: Assessment of the Bush Presidency
Examine and assess the presidency of George W Bush. Your primary duty is to objectively and dispassionately analyze and evaluate the effectiveness and the strengths & weaknesses of the Bush administration. I'm not looking for venomous, angry or over-emotional screeds against the former president. There’s already too many of those essays circulating around. Therefore, let’s try something different. Think of this paper as the first draft of the history of George W. Bush, the former President. I am looking for a careful, thoughtful, and fair overall assessment of what the president did right and what he did wrong. By the way, I’m not looking for a hagiography or white wash either. I’m just looking for a fair and balanced assessment of what his administration did right and what it did wrong. If you think he did everything right OR absolutely everything wrong, you aren’t probably up to writing a fair assessment.
Organizationally, your paper should probably break down as follows:
Section 1: W’s background and rise. That is, how did he get from Texas to the 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?
Section 2: Strengths/policy successes of his administration
Section 3: Weaknesses/policy failures of his administration
Section 4: Overall assessment of President George W. Bush—was his presidency successful or failed or a little bit of both? Perhaps he is just an average overall POTUS? Remember that there are a lot of ways to judge a POTUS—foreign policy, domestic politics, moral example, vision, how they worked with congress, how they related with people, their management of the economy, and so on.
Possibility 2: Assessment of the First Year of the Obama Presidency
Examine and assess the first year of the presidency of Barack H. Obama. Your primary duty is to objectively and dispassionately analyze and evaluate the effectiveness and the policy successes and failures of the Obama administration. I'm not looking for venomous, angry or over-emotional screeds against the current president. As stated above, think of this paper as the first draft of the first year history of Barack H. Obama. I am looking for a careful, thoughtful, and fair overall assessment of what the president has done right and what he has done wrong in the first year of his presidency. If you think he has done everything right OR absolutely everything wrong to date, you aren’t probably up to writing a fair assessment.
Organizationally, your paper should probably break down as follows:
Section 1: Obama’s background and rise. That is, how did he get from Indonesia to the 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?
Section 2: Strengths/policy successes of the first year of his administration
Section 3: Weaknesses/policy failures of the first year of his administration
Section 4: Overall assessment of the first year of President Obama's Presidency—to date, is his presidency successful or failed or a little bit of both? Perhaps he is just an average overall POTUS? Remember that there are a lot of ways to judge a POTUS—on their foreign policy, domestic politics (economics-employment, inflation, gdp growth, job creation, etc), moral example, policy vision, how they worked with congress, how they relate to average people, and so on.
Possibility 3: Assessment of Some Other POTUS
Examine and assess the presidency of some other 20th-21st century POTUS. Your primary duty is to objectively and dispassionately analyze and evaluate the effectiveness and the strengths & weaknesses of some POTUS other than W or Obama. I don't think I need to explain what to do in this paper. The structure is the same as the other two possibilities (ie, background/rise; policy successes; policy failures; overall assessment).
Something to think about:
I think everyone in public life, even the folks most people seem to detest and despise, deserve a fair assessment. One of my real laments in life is that people in the public eye get turned into cartoons, into caricatures that don’t really capture the essence of who they are. If the shoe were on the other foot, and you were the one in the spotlight, wouldn’t you want people to get the story of your life, your successes and failures, tragedies and triumphs, right? Wouldn’t you want the public record to be accurate? I think we owe these people an honest attempt to get the story right so that we can judge and assess their respective records accurately and analytically.
There are some excellent websites that will help you to find the information you will need to build your profiles of "your" candidate:
Some Different Ways of Looking at Presidential Leadership
1) Presidential Approval historically
2) C-SPAN Criteria for Judging Presidential Effectiveness
3) How do the Presidents Rank?
5) A pretty good overview of George W. Bush's life
7) University of Virginia Public Papers of President Bush (neutral information)
8) C-SPAN Presidency Video Archive
9) National Geographic-Inside the Presidency
10) Inside the Presidency (Video Interviews)
11) Inside the Presidency (Photo Archives)
12) Scholarly Analysis of Bush Rhetoric
13) Rolling Stone evaluation of the Bush Presidency (negative)
14) The (London) Spectator evaluation of the Bush Presidency (positive)
15) Evaluating the Presidency for Dummies
16) CNN Poll Finds Most See Bush as a Failure
17) Democratic Party View of the Bush Legacy (very partisan/not objective)