Your paper will be on a contemporary political issue of your choice in one of the countries that we will be examining in this course. In the paper you should make an argument (develop a thesis). To do this you will need to start thinking about your paper well before the due date. A paper without a well-articulated argument will not earn an A. If you are unsure what to write on, feel free to talk with me about a topic.
Good papers have a thesis or argument, are well organized (introduction, body, and conclusion), are grammatically sound, and are interesting to read. You should summarize your argument in the introduction. In addition, research papers are always written in an accepted academic style. I will expect you to use proper citations and to include a “Works Cited” or “References” section at the end of your paper. The most common style uses parenthetical citations, such as (Smith 2011, 236), and explanatory footnotes if needed. Your paper must be no fewer than 1,700 words and no more than 2,500 words in length. I will count only the text of the paper, and not the footnotes or works cited page, as part of the word total. In your paper, you will need to cite a minimum of eight sources, as well as the textbook and LAWR. Thus, you will have a minimum of ten sources.