GOVT 385–
Essay Option B: Policy Analysis and Recommendation
All governments have to manage a wide array of public issues in order to create public policy. Our three countries each have specific ways of managing public policy issues that reflect the political systems and cultural context within which all political decisions take place.
In order to complete this assignment, you must identify a public policy issue which you have learned about from the textbook, in class lectures or videos, or the internet or other public media outlet. Once you have identified an issue that interests you, summarize the nature of the problem and explain alternative solutions being discussed on the issue of your choosing.
What kinds of solutions are politicians or citizen groups arguing for? Once you are clear about the different alternatives being considered, rank the solutions based upon a logical rationale that you create. Why might some solutions be better than others? Are there reasons why citizens (or a particular group) might favor one solution or another?
Explain your rationale clearly with evidence to support your position from the reading or other source. Which policy recommendation do you feel is most appropriate, why?
Your essay should draw on material from the text and in class discussions as well as an outside source from a newspaper, book or online news source.
Be prepared to discuss your paper in class.
Guidelines: Your paper should be 5-6 pages long, NO LONGER THAN SIX PAGES, typed and double spaced in Times New Roman font with margins no larger than 1 inch all around on 8 X 11 ½ inch paper. Use in text citations with a bibliography at the end of the paper. DO NOT USE FOOTNOTES. Use Chicago style author/date citations.
Bibliographies and Citations – Please refer to the online materials in Blackboard which contain information on correct Chicago author/date style citations.
Note that the fundamental purpose of bibliographies and citations is to permit others to track and verify your research. Therefore, it is important to be accurate.
1. Each paper should include a list of references or bibliography, which includes all sources consulted.
2. Alphabetize references by the author’s last name, if no author is shown, by the first word of the title (omitting a, and, and the). Your papers should draw on a variety of sources, including sources that are Asia-based and written by Asian scholars.
3. Footnotes, in-text citations, or endnotes are all acceptable for citing specific references, including direct quotes, borrowed interpretations, unusual or little known facts, etc. Just be consistent. If you use an in-text citation, use the author’s last name and page number i.e. (Charlton 1997, 3).
4. Sources from the internet MUST include the complete author, title, publication, etc., of the document used AND the complete web site address. Include the date accessed at the end of the citation. Be sure to save your sources.
