Paper Assignment
Choose ONE of the paper topics below to write your final paper on.
Option 1: Comparing Nation-States
Your assignment is to compare 2 nation-states, both of these must be our case countries (U.K, Germany, China, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Iran). Your paper should be 10-12 pages long and NO LONGER THAN 12 PAGES. A good answer must include materials from class readings and lectures; you are required to include 2 outside sources as well. The outside sources must be peer reviewed sources. You must properly cite this material using Chicago style (this means including parenthetical references and a bibliography). Failure to properly cite your sources is plagiarism, please use a writing guide for citing sources and your bibliography.
Your paper will be graded on the following criteria:
-You must answer all of the questions and provide reasons for your choices;
-You must demonstrate an understanding of the concepts and ideas we have covered throughout the course;
-You must support your arguments with evidence/examples
For each nation-state you should include the following information:
1) Political Culture: What kinds of political cultures do your nation-states have? Briefly explain the reasons behind these facts. Are the citizens participants, subjects or parochials? Do they adhere to any particular ideology more than another?
2) Managing Political Conflict: What kind of party and electoral systems do your countries have? How many, and what kind of parties? How are people able to organize and express their opinions?
3) Political Structures: Is there a presidential or parliamentary system? Is the political structure federal or unitary, how does this impact the citizenry?
4) Legitimacy: What kinds of cleavages and conflict exist in the nation-states? Are there problems with legitimacy as a result of any of these cleavages?
Once you have outlined the basic information about your states you should begin to make some comparisons.
5) Comparison: What kinds of similarities or differences have you noticed by examining these two nation-states? Do these similarities or differences speak to any of the major issues we have outlined in the course, including the relationship between legitimacy and force as well as level of democracy? How is the comparison between these two countries useful or illuminating?
A good answer will include the following:
1. An introduction in which you outline the way in which your paper will proceed.
2. A clear, concise statement of your basic arguments. State this in general terms, using concepts outlined in the question.
3. Examples from your issues and discussion should support your argument. These should be used to support and demonstrate your argument to the reader,
4. A conclusion in which you summarize the main points that you discussed in the body of your paper.
Focus on writing which is clear and concise; assume that you are writing for a reader that is unfamiliar with these concepts, therefore, clearly define the concepts which you use. Use subheadings when possible to break up the material and to assist in organizing your paper.
Your paper must be written in Times New Roman font style and include page numbers and top and bottom of page margins of 1 inch and right/left margins of 1.25 inches.
Option 2: Designing a State
Your assignment is to take what you have learned this semester and use it to design your ideal political system for the nation-state described below these instructions. In your paper, you should answer the following four sets of questions and justify your choices, drawing primarily on class lectures, discussions and readings. You are not expected to do additional research for this assignment. Your justifications may be based on the merits or flaws of an option in the abstract, or on how well or poorly a given option works in our cases. The best way to work on this paper is to work on it as we have covered these sets of issues in class.
Your paper should be 8-12 pages long and NO LONGER THAN 12 PAGES. A good answer must include materials from class readings and lectures.
Your paper will be graded based on the following considerations:
-You must answer all the questions and provide justifications for your choices
- You must show an understanding of the concepts and ideas of the course
- Where you are asked for your opinion, the evaluation will depend on how well your support your opinion and not on the opinion itself;
- Logical coherence, i,e, your selections in one section should be compatible with your choices in others and should help you meet your overall political values.
For each nation-state you should include the following information:
1. Political Culture: What kinds of political cultures do your nation-states have? Briefly explain the reasons behind these facts. Are the citizens participants, subjects or parochials? Do they adhere to any particular ideology more than another?
2. Political Aims: what political values will be central in your ideal political system? What kind of democracy are you trying to achieve?
3. Managing the economy: How large a role will your state play in the economy? Will it seek to distribute economic benefits?
4. Managing political conflict: What kind of party and electoral system do you want? How many, and what kind of parties? How else will people be able to organize and express their opinions?
5. Political Structures: Do you want a presidential or parliamentary system? Will your political structures be federal or unitary?
A good answer will include the following:
1. An introduction in which you outline the way in which your paper will proceed.
2. A clear, concise statement of your basic arguments. State this in general terms, using concepts outlined in the question. Do not use your examples to make arguments for you.
3. Examples from your issues and discussion should support your argument. These should be used to support and demonstrate your argument to the reader,
4. A conclusion in which you summarize the main points that you discussed in the body of your paper.
Focus on writing which is clear and concise; assume that you are writing for a reader that is unfamiliar with these concepts, therefore, clearly define the concepts which you use. Use subheadings when possible to break up the material and to assist in organizing your paper.
Nation-State X
Total area (sq. miles) 756,066
Population 98.5 million
Average population growth 1.8%
Urban population 74%
Ethnic composition 60% Mixed
30% Ethnicity A
10% Ethnicity B
Religious Affiliation 78% Religion A
6% Religion B
Total GNP 348.6 billion
GNP/Capita 3680
Structure of production 67% Services
26% Industry
8% Agriculture
Life expectancy 75.1 Females
69.2 Males
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also Include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.