For DR.CLOVER: Government Essay Final Paper - Civil Rights Act 1964
CollegestudentM
FinalPaper_ProfessorAdviseandTips.rtf
I wanted to give you some advice on your writing assignments, specifically your assignments in Weeks 2, 3, and 5 of the course. Here are some tips I can offer:
1. Pick a specific law about which to write, not a general area of policy.
Some of you were wondering if writing about immigration policy or drug policy or gun control would work for your final paper. The problem with that approach is that you cannot adhere to the four prompts of the final paper if you write about a policy area generally and not about a specific policy.
So, for those that want to write about immigration policy, pick a specific federal law on immigration (e.g. the Immigration and Nationality Act).
For those that want to write about drug policy, pick a specific federal drug law (e.g. the Controlled Substances Act).
For those that want to write about gun policy, pick a specific federal gun law (e.g. the Gun Control Act of 1968).
And so on...and so on...
2. You must choose an actual federal law and not a proposed law (bill) or a state law.
The law about which you want to write should be a law that has been enacted, not a proposed law that is not/has not ever been formally entered into law. If you have questions, please email me.
Also, don't write about state laws. This is a course on America's national government, so I encourage you to focus on a specific federal law. Again, if you have questions, email me.
3. Stick to the paper prompts.
Keep in mind that you MUST address the four main prompts in the writing assignments.
To remind, these are:
a) To describe the historical and Constitutional basis of American government’s structure (e.g. federalism) and how this relates to your policy.
For this prompt, you should consider the following:
--- How does the specific law relate to America's history in this area?
--- Has the federal government always been responsible for this area?
--- Does the law change the federal government's responsibilities in this area and, if so, how?
--- What are the resulting responsibilities of state governments as a result of the law?
--- Finally, has any federal court(s) upheld/reversed any provisions of the law?
b) To explain how the policy is involved within the process of checks and balances
--- How do the president, Congress, and federal courts work to implement the law? Also, how do the other branches limit the powers of each other in relation to the law?
---This is NOT a section to write about federal and state relations (that's better suited to Section 1). Again, checks and balances talks about how the Congress, the administration, and the federal courts work to implement and enforce the law.
c) To describe how the policy relates to public policy and elections and how the policy is portrayed by the media
--- Have Democrats or Republicans made any specific claims about the law as to how they would enforce the law or change the law; if so, what were they (look at the parties' platforms for more information)?
--- Were the parties successful?
--- Also, what are the general perceptions of the law in the media? On social media?
d) To explain how the policy impacts voting and the election process
--- Some laws will have greater impact in this area than others, but you could address if the law has been referenced in any presidential, congressional, or other election campaign?
--- Did President Trump or Secretary Clinton, for example, specifically address the law in their campaigns?
--- Was the law referenced in any polls leading up to this year's midterm election? If so, what was the public's view of the law before and after the election? Do the numbers differ from 2016 at all?
4. Research help
While you are compiling sources for your Week 2 annotated bibliography (and the other written assignments), you may find that the Ashford library can, at times, be limited in its specific options.
To this end, I would like to recommend this website:
This website allows for a more targeted search of sources (which you can then check against the Ashford library).
So, for example, you could search "Affordable Care Act" AND "Checks and Balances" and find a number of sources that might be more directly relevant in a common search tool (like Ashford's library).
I hope this information is helpful to you. Please reach out if you have any questions.
Best always,
Kevin
