Written Assignment Final: Intro to American Government

1. Cover/Title page (title, name, date, course, etc.). This information should not appear anywhere else besides the cover page. No text from the paper should appear on the cover page.

2. Introductory Paragraph This should contain a brief description of three subject areas studied this semester that the student found most interesting and/or informative and why the student found these areas to be interesting and important. This should also include a statement about ONE contemporary political problem related to the course that will be discussed in greater detail later in the paper. Students can write in first person.

3. Body Paragraphs for each subject area Each paragraph should focus on the discussion of the three subject areas identified in the introduction. Citations and specific academic information gained from the course MUST be provided in both the paragraphs and in the works cited. The three subject areas discussed MUST be from POLS 2301 and cannot be topics studied in POLS 2302 (i.e., NONE OF THESE TOPICS ARE ALLOWED Congress, Presidency, Supreme Court/Judiciary (nothing on a branch of government at the federal or state levels), Governors, State Legislatures, Civil Rights, Economic/Foreign/Domestic Policy, Public Policies – including abortion, gun rights, education, immigration, Medicaid/Medicare, Bill of Rights, Supreme Court Cases, history concepts, etc.). Students should NOT write a history paper. Subject areas should focus on topics directly covered in the course. Please note, they SHOULD NOT BE ONE OF THE THREE BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT, Public Policies OR ANYTHING LISTED ABOVE. Please note, subject areas must pertain to POLS 2301. In other words, students cannot write on 3 articles in the US/TX Constitution, or three rights listed in the Bill of Rights. Rather, one topic could be the US Constitution, and the various articles of the US Constitution could be addressed and may be used to communicate knowledge of the one topic. Topics MUST be from different chapters of the textbook. Please be certain that topics are distinct so that knowledge can be demonstrated on three separate subjects. Topics should not be the name of a chapter in the textbook, instead, select something from a chapter to use as a topic (Think things like dual federalism, categorical grants, political knowledge, political socialization, political ideology, types of media, mobilization, general elections, primary elections, party identification, party conventions, electoral systems, IG strategies, etc., just to name a few). One of the topics must be from the TX chapters (Governing TX Ch 1, 2, 5, 6, 7 Topic must be TX specific so TX one party state, La Raza Unida, TX party conventions, Shivercrat, Special elections in TX, early voting in TX, turnout for a TX election, TX IG strategies, etc.). Topics should NOT all be from the TX chapters or all from ONE of the US Chapters.

4. Political Problem Paragraph(s)- Identify, discuss, and describe a specific contemporary political problem examined/studied in POLS 2301. The problem and solution should not be covered in the textbook (no party polarization, voter suppression, monuments, voter turnout, lobbying, education funding, trust, knowledge, efficacy etc.). The problem must be something that can be solved by the government, and the paper should state how the problem can be solved using research think things like immigration reform, drugs, guns, medical costs/coverage, etc.

5. Political Problem Solution Paragraph(s) Construct/communicate a solution to the problem identified and explain how the government can solve/address the problem. It would be helpful if the problem is related to one of the topics covered this semester, but it does not have to be. Make sure to develop/express the solution in the form of an argument that is supported by well-documented and properly cited facts/data.

6. Concluding paragraph to summarize the paper.

7. Include a Works Cited A good paper must have at least 3-5 scholarly sources in addition to the course textbook(s) that must be cited within the paper. Please note, course lectures/videos, etc. cannot be used as citations in the paper. The textbooks should be used to demonstrate knowledge of the subjects. Other textbooks cannot be used for this assignment, this includes online, printed, open resource (OER) or other textbooks. Sources should be listed in alphabetical order by the authors last name. Full citation information must be given, this includes author, title, publication date, publication source, page numbers, access date and FULL URL beginning with https:// (for online sources). For journal articles, please include a stable link to the full article. Sources CANNOT be behind a paywall.

8. Include In Text Citations All sources listed in the works cited MUST be directly cited in the paper with a DIRECT quote with page numbers. An example of a proper in-text citation is: (Carlin, et al 77). An example of a proper citation for the Works Cited page is Carlin, Diana B, Anita B. McBride, and Nancy Kegan Smith. 2024. Remember the First Ladies. Cognella Press. For in text citations, use the authors last name, if there is not an author, use a shortened version of the title. If there are any questions, email the instructor.

Citations must be provided in both the body of the paper and in a Works Cited section at the end of the paper. The Works Cited section should be detailed and the citations should appear in alphabetical order by the authors last name. Use authors last names, first names (and middle initials, if available); for sources, use et al to credit fourth through last authors. The full article title should not be in the text of the paper, ONLY use the authors last name in text and page number.

In text citations MUST include direct quotes and page numbers of where the quotes were taken from. Failure to include page numbers will result in an automatic 5-point deduction on the paper (5 of the 15 points the paper is worth). Citations using journal articles must also include the stable link to access the journal article. This is NOT optional. Sources that are behind paywalls should not be used, if the instructor cannot fully access the source, the source should not be used.

Failure to include any sources is an automatic zero. Failure to include in text citations is an automatic 50% deduction. Only using the textbook is an automatic 50% deduction. Internet citations MUST include the FULL URL, title, author, publication date, page numbers – (if listed), and access date.

AI of any sort is not allowed, nor is Wikipedia/Encyclopedia/Dictionary/Spark Notes and other similar sources (listed below) are NOT allowed and will result in an assignment score of zero. Please see the full list of sources that cannot be used below, students who have questions about whether a source is appropriate should email the link to the instructor for guidance.

Students must cite sources. Textbook readings with page numbers (or chapter headings and subheadings for digital textbooks without page numbers) and citation; and outside scholarly research must be included in the assignment. Excellent scholarly sources include journals, newspapers, NPR, magazines like The Atlantic, other articles, etc.

Political Science as a field has adopted the ; this is required for citations; this most closely follows the Chicago manual of style. All sources must be properly, thoroughly, and consistently cited. Sources Careful attention to grammar, spelling, and the mechanics of presentation is expected.

Using any of these websites will result in an automatic zero on the paper:

Wikipedia and other similar sources are not reliable sources of information. Any citation of Wikipedia, Dictionary.com (or any Dictionary related website whether it is listed below or not), E-Encyclopedia (or any Encyclopedia website even if they appear in library databases NO ENCYCLOPEDIA source whatsoever may be used), NO articles off of lawyers or law offices homepages, no law review articles or medical journals should be used either – academia.edu, academy4sc.org, airtract.com, akademie.dw.com, American Battlefield Trust, american-historama.org, Americanhistory2, americanhistorycentral.com, aplustopper, Ask.com, AZCentral.com, AZquotes.com, befriendtheconstitution.org, bensguide.gpo.gov, billofrightsinstitute.org, biography.com, Blackboard/class videos, Brainyquotes.com, britannica.com, BuzzFeed, Cambridge Core (cite the actual articles from here and the respective journals), Chartercollege.edu, ChatGPT (and similar sources), Chegg, Civicsforlife.org, Cliff Notes, Collegeamericangovernment.org, Constitutingamerica.org, Constitution.org, ConstitutionCenter.org, ConstitutionalCenter.org, Constitutionfacts.com, Constitutionlaws.com, Constitution.laws.com, Constitutionus.com, Constitutionweekusa.com, Courses.lumenlearning.com, Definitions.uslegal.com, diffen.com, differencebetween.net, dk.usembassy.gov, Easy Sociology, Economicshelp.org, Elsevier.blog, exploros.com, facinghistory.org,federalism.org/encyclopedia/, findlaw.com, freedomworks.org, gale.com, globalcitizen.org, globalissues.org, graduateway.com, greatergood.com, gunlaws.com, Hein online (please cite the actual articles and their sources instead), historians.org, historycentral.com, history.com, history.net,historytools.org, honestproscons.com, howstuffworks.com, idea.int, infoplease.com, infowars.com, Investopedia, judiciallearningcenter.org, Khan Academy, law.cornell.edu/wex, lawexplores.com, Law review articles, legaldictionary.net and legallanguage.com (or any legal vocabulary website), liberties.eu, library.fiveable,me, library guides/libguides.ala.org (cite sources from them), livescience.com, lumen learning, mirandawarning.org, missourilawyershelp.org, National Geographic Education, nationalparalegal.edu, nationalhumanitiescenter.org, nature.com (cite journals from here),ndstudies.gov, nowcomment.com, OER sources of any sort, OERTX repository, open.lib.umn.edu/americangovernment, OpenStax, opportunityhome.org, Oxford Bibliographies (use sources from it not the source itself); Oxford Handbooks, people.com, plato.stanford.edu, Poets, politicalsphere.com, preservearticles.com, presidentialsystem.org, pressbooks.online.ucf.edu, principlesofdemocracy.org, procon.org, Quimbee.com, quotationspage.com, Reference.com, Researchgates.net (cite the actual articles from here from the journals and NOT from research gate), Salem Press Encyclopedia, scholastic.com, sciencedirect.com (cite articles from journals and not from this source), Self.com, Shmoop.com, shortform.com, slideserve.com, Socialsci.libretexts.org, Socialstudieshelp.com, Softschools.com, Spark Notes, spn.org, Study.com, studysmarter.co.uk, tandfonline.com (cite the articles and journals from here not just the website), teachingamericanhistory.com, techtarget.com, teachthrive.com, texaspoliticalscience.com, thebalance.com, theepochtimes.com, thefulcrum.us, thelawdictionary.org, theoryofknowledge.net, The Odyssey, thepoliticalguide.com, thestoryoftexas.com, thetrace.org, thoughtco.com, totallyhistory.com, transparencyusa.org, U4 Expert Answer, Universalclass.com. USA.gov, usgovtpoli.commons.gc.cuny.edu, usa.usembassy.de/government, USconstitution.net, USConstitution.org, USCourts.gov, UShistory.org, UShistoryscene.com, uloop, USlegal.com, Uspresidentialelectionnews.com, The Bible, theodysseytonline.com, tshaonline.org., theusaonline.com, vitana.org, Vocabulary.com, Webinars, Wisegeek.com, womenshistory.org, worldatlas.com, World Fact Book, youtube.com, any Almanac, Atlas, Blogs, Major Motion Pictures/Netflix Shows or TV series, Policies from Members of Congress, Opinion Pieces, Works published specifically for other countries so for example a piece published about US parties in other countries is not going to be good to use, Book Reviews Law Review articles, Medical Journals, Textbooks except the two for our class, or anything similar in the research paper or other assignment in this course will result in an automatic score of 0 (zero).

Scholarly sources are REQUIRED, students need 3-5 sources BEYOND the textbook. Remember, sources should support points in the paper and current sources must be used for the problem/solution. Scholarly sources include journal articles, books, government websites, and SOME news organization websites (op-eds/opinion type articles cannot be used). Students may NOT cite textbooks in the paper besides the book(s) for this course, which should be used sparingly for citations, students should find outside information to cite. The textbook does NOT count as one of the three required sources. The LU Librarys website and Google Scholar are great resources for journal articles, books and other research but please be good stewards of information, opinion pieces, op-eds, letters to the editor, factbooks, quote generators/sources, law reviews, book/article reviews and encyclopedia references are NOT scholarly. Students using books must have full access and provide a link to the full text of the book being used.

Carefully read the Course Management Policies, Academic Honesty Statement for additional guidelines for the written assignment. Any cut and paste, plagiarized, or Wiki cited posts/sources (or anything listed above) in the papers will result in an automatic grade of zero for the overall assignment and possible expulsion from the course and Lamar University. NO late papers will be accepted at all. Students have ONLY one chance to upload papers to Blackboard and the version that is uploaded is the version that will be graded.