Fluent Essays

attaached is the instructions for the essay due, its pretty similar to what you have always helped me with. americanpresidencyhowel_ch_4_5.pdf homework_1_polysci.docx brown__nomination_process_.pdf fortelny_et_al.__campaign_finance_.pdf Unformatted Attachment Preview Homework Assignment 1 PSCI 312: The American Presidency and Executive Branch 100 Points General Instructions • Deadline: Due on May 27 by 11:59 p.m. There is a 4 percent penalty per day the assignment is late. • Manner of Submission. Please upload your completed work on D2L under the “Assignments” link rather than sending it to my regular email box. This will allow me to send you feedback while also protecting your privacy. • Length: Your assignment should be about 4 to 5 double-spaced pages in length, not counting its bibliography. There is no penalty for exceeding the page length, but you should stop short of sending me a treatise. Shorter papers will be accepted, but their brevity suggests that the author has not properly developed their ideas or confronted the literature. • Allowed and Forbidden Sources. This is a “closed universe” assignment. You are only allowed to use sources that I have listed below along with my narrated slides that correspond with this topic. You may not search for answers on the Internet, and you may not receive assistance from your peers. Brown, Lara M. 2013. “A High Speed Chase: Presidential Aspirants and the Nomination Process.” In Understanding the Presidency, eds. James P. Pfiffner and Roger H. Davidson. Boston: Pearson, 84-107. Fortelny, Gregory, Peter L. Francia, and Clyde Wilcox. 2013. “The Changing Dynamics of Presidential Fundraising: From 2008 to an Early Look at the 2012 Election.” In Understanding the Presidency, eds. James P. Pfiffner and Roger H. Davidson. Boston: Pearson, 108-127. Howell, William G. An American Presidency: Institutional Foundations of Executive Politics. Boston: Pearson. (Chapters 4 and 5) • Please arrange your assignment like you would a standard term paper. Although a cover page is not necessary, it should have an introduction, body, conclusion, and a works cited page. Please do not re-print (inside of your essay) the assignment’s instructions or the paragraph where I discuss the nature of the assignment. The Assignment’s Substance / Nature of the Assignment Political scientists use theoretical perspectives to help them generalize about the empirical world. One theoretical perspective is that laws, policies, and rules have a profound impact on political outcomes by making certain outcomes more likely or less likely. Electoral rules are no different. According to the APSA’s Task Force on Electoral Rules and Democratic Governance (2013), electoral rules play an important role in making democracy work, and small variations can shape the type of democracy that emerges. In this assignment, your mission is to explore how the electoral rules governing presidential contests in the United States influence the health of democracy. Please address the following prompts in your essay. 1. Consider the connection between the McGovern-Fraser Reforms and the quality of democracy. What were these reforms, and how did they improve the quality of democracy as Republican and Democratic candidates race to become their respective party’s presidential nominee? Although the McGovern-Fraser Reforms improved democracy in some ways, the “new” process that emerged has not been immune from criticism. At a minimum, you should consider the problems with the 1 frontloaded election calendar that works in conjunction with momentum. Here, you might also want to discuss some of the advantages that are enjoyed by frontrunners. There are additional concerns that relate to superdelegates and “open” primary elections, but these require less analysis on your part. 2. The campaign finance rules raise concerns about the integrity of our elections. Explore the nuances of this issue. In your essay, you should consider the reforms that have been attempted (along with their purpose), and why these reforms have not accomplished their aspirational objectives. What are the implications for the quality of democracy? Suggestions for How to “Attack” the Assignment 1. Base your essay on a strong, scholarly foundation. To do this, read the materials that correspond with the assignment (listed above) and use them as the basis for your essay. Don’t succumb to the temptation to go to the Internet for help. For purposes of this assignment, the Internet is evil!!! Stay away from it! Likewise, do not try to complete the assignment based on your personal opinion. The assignment is meant to connect you with very specific information found in the closed universe of scholarly sources that I have identified. 2. Remember to “unpack” your essays. Use the terminology of the political science discipline and define all concepts and specialized terms, even if I do not specifically ask you to do so in the call of the question. Assume the person who reads your work doesn’t know much about the topic such that you must walk them through your thought process in a step-by-step fashion. It is a good practice to offer an example (or examples) to illustrate your key points. Rather than just mentioning your example, explain exactly how your example demonstrates the point you are making. Evidence is important too. If there is evidence to support your contentions, mention it and specify how it supports your point. Approach arguments in a similar manner. If you are asked to address an argument, state the nature of the argument and its reasoning, try to identify its unstated assumptions, mention evidence that supports the argument, and acknowledge any reasoning or evidence that undermines or contradicts the argument. 3. Try to be contextually sensitive. Try to put problems and electoral rules into their appropriate context. To do this, mention the time period, place, and circumstances under which they emerged. In other words, a bit of background is appreciated when you unpack your essay. 4. Don’t rely too heavily on quotations. I want you to paraphrase the ideas of others rather than quote them directly. I want to hear your voice in your paper demonstrating your mastery and command of the scholarly literature. Therefore, give attribution when you borrow ideas, but avoid direct quotes unless the language you are quoting is special. “Special” would include the words of a statute you are addressing or a famous statement of a scholar or thinker of great importance. 5. Organize your ideas. A strong introduction and conclusion help in this regard. Section headings are also your friend. Always discuss similar ideas together. The first sentence in a paragraph should alert the reader what follows in that paragraph. • More About Introductions: In your introduction, your central objective is to frame your topic and to alert the reader as to what follows in the body of your paper. To do this, you should articulate a “thesis statement” that identifies the central purpose of your paper. Next, you should include a “roadmap” that specifies (in greater detail than your thesis statement) what exactly will follow in your paper. Here, you should identify the sub-topics that your paper will explore by building your roadmap around the various sections of your paper described below. Good introductions contain some background and contextual information 2 • that helps orient the reader. Make it clear where introduction ends and where the body of your paper begins. Your introduction should be no longer than one medium sized paragraph. More About Conclusions: The main purpose of a conclusion is to tell the reader what was told to them in the body of the paper. Thus, make sure you summarize the main points of your analysis. New information is never presented in the conclusion, but scholars do use conclusions to discuss the implications of their work. Hence, tell me what logically follows from your analysis. Additionally, scholars use conclusions to advise others who might want to conduct future research on the topic. 6. What about attribution? You should use APSA-style “in-text citations” to give attribution in the body of your paper. Here are some common ways to give in-text attribution. Note that you need to give attribution for paraphrased ideas, not just direct quotations. Format for Direct Quotations • According to Bae (2007, 52), “Throughout the apartheid years, violence was strategically used to maintain and fortify the privileged position of whites.” • “Throughout the apartheid years, violence was strategically used to maintain and fortify the privileged position of whites” (Bae 2007, 52). Format for Paraphrased Ideas In the early 1990s, for example, former Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) used the media as a vehicle for interjecting the AIDS issue into the Senate’s legislative agenda (Kedrowski 1996). If the idea is attributable to multiple sources/authors, give attribution as follows: Journalists tend to depict women serving in Congress as being interested only in “women’s” issues (child care, education, health, and reproductive rights) even as they emphasize their concern for a diverse range of topics, and even as they are as likely as men to assert their influence in Washington (Dolan and Kropf 2004; Niven and Zilber 2001). Bibliography or “Works Cited” Page: You also need to create an APSA-style bibliography or “Works Cited” page for the sources that you use. Please use the one that I have provided for you below. Bibliography Brown, Lara M. 2013. “A High Speed Chase: Presidential Aspirants and the Nomination Process.” In Understanding the Presidency, eds. James P. Pfiffner and Roger H. Davidson. Boston: Pearson, 84107. Fortelny, Gregory, Peter L. Francia, and Clyde Wilcox. 2013. “The Changing Dynamics of Presidential Fundraising: From 2008 to an Early Look at the 2012 Election.” In Understanding the Presidency, eds. James P. Pfiffner and Roger H. Davidson. Boston: Pearson, 108-127. Howell, William G. An American Presidency: Institutional Foundations of Executive Politics. Boston: Pearson. 3 ... Purchase answer to see full attachment