Current Event Paper: Texas

Pick an article from the New York Times, Houston Chronicle, or other “Major Daily U.S. Newspaper” about Texas that was published during the time this class was in session (1/10/2026 – 4/29/2026 ). If you are unsure about what constitutes a “Major Daily U.S. Newspaper,” feel free to ask. Provide a full bibliographic citation (APA) and summarize it.

After you summarize it, devote at least an additional paragraph to answer the following: How does the article portray Texas? How does the article agree or disagree with what you have learned in this class?

Then you must devote at least an additional 3 paragraphs to analyze the article in the context of 3 class concepts.

The keyword in this assignment is analysis.

You need to analyze the article and tie it back to specific concepts that you learned in the class.

Concepts such as federalism, separation of powers, branches of government, different public policies, and literally dozens more may be relevant to any article you read.

The paper should be at least 2 full pages long and include the full bibliographic citation of the article. You must discuss at least 3 concepts from the class and put those concepts in Bold.

Please define the concept and spend at least 1 paragraph discussing each concept in relation to the article. Remember, one sentence is not a paragraph just because it is indented. A good paragraph is 5-7 sentences.

Please make sure the article is about the government or economy of Texas, not something that simply happened in Texas. Federal Border Detention Facilities and the mistreatment of refugees is not a Texas story just because they are talking about a facility in Texas.

In addition, make sure the concepts are “Texas Government” concepts. For example, talking about an executive order Biden signed is not a Texas concept, nor is “Congress,” or a U.S. Representative, or the U.S. Supreme Court.

Finally, do not just randomly pick an article or simply pick the first 3 concepts that come to mind. If your article is about a court case around prison reform, don’t talk about the governor unless the governor is in some way part of the case. Think about the article you are selecting and apply concepts that are clearly relevant to the article.

I have attached lecture notes from the course for references on concepts discussed in the class