Write a three-to-five page essay containing the following:
1. An introductory paragraph containing a brief description of three subject areas studied this semester that you found most interesting and/or informative, and a statement about a contemporary political problem or issue related to the course that will be discussed in greater detail later in the paper.
2. Discussion of the three subject areas identified in your introduction. Citations and specific academic information gained from the course MUST be provided in both the body of the text and in the bibliography. The three subject areas you discuss MUST be from POLS 2302 and cannot be topics studied in POLS 2301 (i.e., parties, the media, interest groups, elections). Subject areas should focus on topics listed in the syllabus. In POLS 2302, one of your topic areas should be one of the three branches of American government. Note that your three subject areas must be distinct. In other words, you cannot write on three cases studied in civil rights. Rather, one topic may be civil rights and various cases examined in the subject area may be used to communicate your knowledge of the topic.
An example of a proper in-text citation is: (Davis, p. 18, 2018). An example of a proper citation in your Works Cited page is: Davis, Terri and James P. Nelson, The Texas Constitution: The People, History, and Government of the Lone Star State, Lamar Literary Press, 2017. An example of in-text citation of the instructors video lecture is: (Davis, “The Federal Judiciary”) with citation also provided in the Works Cited section. Failure to provide in-text citations will result in a score of zero on the assignment.
3. Identify, discuss and describe a specific contemporary political problem related to one or more of the subjects examined in POLS 2302.
4. Construct and communicate a solution to the problem you identified (above). Make sure to develop and express your solution in the form of an argument that is supported by well-documented and properly cited facts and data. A good paper will have at least 3-5 scholarly sources in addition to the course textbook(s) and course videos.
Correct grammar, capitalization, punctuation, complete sentences, and CITATION of your sources is required. Textbook readings with page numbers (or chapter headings and subheadings for digital textbooks without page numbers) and textbook citation; lectures or video instruction (title and presenter/author of the video); and outside scholarly research must be included in your assignment.
