Second Guided Paper and Research Paper

Topic:

This assignment has two parts which you can turn in in any order as long as one part is handed in by December 4 and the other by December 19 (factoring in for grace days, of course).  For both assignments you will begin from a single premise: you are an ordinary citizen and want to see some change in the way that power is used in the United States.  Toward that end, you will need to formulate a specific policy proposal.  You may use suggestions that have already been made by advocacy groups or policy makers but not policies that are currently in use.  You may make proposals along the same lines as those in your previous papers (though with more detail) or you may find a new set of policy proposals.  In either case, try to choose a policy area that is rich enough to sustain both of the following lines of inquiry:

• Process. In as great a depth as you consider necessary, detail the process that your proposal would need to go through from initial proposal to final implementation.  Who would need to do what and when?  You may need to look at legislative, executive or judicial branches, state or federal levels, and elements of bureaucracy/administration.  Focus in particular on those pivotal elements that could facilitate or block your proposal
• Policy.  Again with as much detail as necessary, define your proposed policy change and make a nuanced argument in favor of its adoption.  Be sure to acknowledge plausible counter-arguments and show how these are invalid or insufficient to overcome the potential advantages of your proposal.

Expect that these two steps will involve considerable outside research.  Your textbook provides some guidance on political process but you will need to learn the process in greater detail.  It is also likely that your textbook will not provide sufficient guidance on pro- and con- arguments regarding your specific proposal and so you will have to look elsewhere in that case as well.  I am at your service in the attempt to locate likely sources.  Please let me know how I can help.

Format:

• the two papers together should total 8 to 12 pages.
• normal 1 inch margins
• 10 or 12 point type
• double-spaced
• spell-checked
• labeled with your name

Examples:

• For examples of papers with nearly-perfect thesis statements, see: well-written student essays
• For more specific information on thesis statements and outlines, you can see a variety of on-line resources.  The best I have found is:
  The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing" which is a companion to Michael Harvey's book of the same name.

Submission procedure:

• Log on to blackboard (http://blackboard.wayne.edu)
• Click on the listing for this course
• Click on the digital drop box link in blue (clicking on the green button will just take you to the same page over and over again)
• Click on the button that says "Send file" (not the one that says Add File)
• Press the Browse button to search for the file that you have written and want to send.
• Click "open" once you've found the right file.
• Assign it a name that corresponds to the assignment
• If the option is available, add some text in the comment section.
• Press "Submit".
• You will receive a receipt for your security.

Lateness:

The paper is due at 4:30 p.m. on the due date.  If you do not hand it in on the deadline, any additional time that you use will count against your 72 hour total limit.  When you exceed that limit I will assess a penalty of one full grade per 24-hour period of lateness.  (If your combined total for this paper and previous papers exceeds 72:01 hours of lateness, your grade will drop, for example, from an A- to a B-; if your combined total exceeds 96:01, it would drop to a C- and so on.  Once you have exceeded the 72 hour limit, lateness on subsequent future paper will automatically incur a full grade penalty).

Contact:

If you have any questions or difficulties with either of these questions please

• call me at 248-336-2538,
• visit me at 2053 FAB
• or email me at:

Good luck, and enjoy.