Brief Assignment Instructions
Your essay must include a title page containing your name, POLS 2301, Written Assignment (with an essay title), semester, and the date of your submission of the assignment through Safe Assign. (The title page is not included as a numbered page and your essay should meet the page number requirement exclusive of the cover page.) Failure to include a title/cover page will result in an automatic score of a zero on the written assignment.
Instructions
Write a three-to-five-page essay containing the following:
- An introductory paragraph containing a brief description of three subject areas this semester that you found most interesting and/or informative, and a statement about a contemporary political problem or issue related to the course that will be discussed in greater details later in the paper.
- Discussion of the three subject areas identified in your introduction. Citations and specific academic information gained from the course MUST be provided in both the body of the text and in the bibliography. The three subject areas you discuss MUST be from POLS 2301 and cannot be topics studied in the POLS 2302 (i.e. congress, presidency, governorship, state legislature). Subject areas should focus on topics listed in the syllabus.
- Identify, discuss and describe a specific contemporary political problem on one of the three subject areas you identified.
- Construct and communicate a solution to the problem you identified (above). Make sure to develop and express your solution in the form of an argument that is supported by well-documented and properly cited facts and data. A good paper will have at least 3-5 scholarly sources in addition to the course textbook(s) and course videos.
Note: The topics studied in Module 4, including the Texas Constitution and Texas government, may not be one of the three topics you select for written assignment discussion. Discussion of a Module 4 topic will result in an automatic 20-point deduction in your written assignment grade.
Correct grammar, capitalization, punctuation, complete sentences, and CITATION of your sources is required. Textbook readings with page numbers (or chapter headings and subheadings for digital textbooks without page numbers) and textbook citation; lectures or video instruction (title and presenter/author of the video); and outside scholarly research must be included in your assignment.
Wikipedia/Encyclopedia/Dictionary/Spark Notes and other similar sources are NOT allowed and will result in an assignment score of zero.
Any citation of Wikipedia, Dictionary.com (or any Dictionary related website), E-Encyclopedia (or any Encyclopedia website), american-historama.org, Ask.com, bensguide.gpo.gov, biography.com, Cliff Notes, Collegeamericangovernment.org, ConstitutionalCenter.org, Constitutionfacts.com, Constitutionlaws.com, Constitutionus.com, Constitutionweekusa.com, gunlaws.com, history.com, judiciallearningcenter.org, infoplease.com, legaldictionary.net, legallanguage.com, nationalparalegal.edu, presidentialsystem.org, procon.org, Quimbee.com, quotationspage.com, Reference.com, scholastic.com, Shmoop.com, Socialstudieshelp.com, Softschools.com, Spark Notes, Study.com, thepoliticalguide.com, thoughtco.com, totallyhistory.com, USA.gov, USconstitution.net, UShistory.org, UShistoryscene.com, USlegal.com, The Bible, Vocabulary.com, youtube.com, Major Motion Pictures/Netflix Shows or TV series, Book Reviews, or anything similar in a term paper or other assignment in this course will result in an automatic score of 0 (zero) on the assignment.
Scholarly resources would include journal articles, books, and objective news organization websites. Scholarly sources are REQUIRED for this paper, you need 3-5 sources BEYOND your textbook, lectures, etc. Remember, your sources should support the points in your paper.
Carefully read the Course Management Policies, “Academic Honesty Statement” for additional guidelines for your written assignments. Any cut and paste, plagiarized, or Wiki cited posts or 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! Students have ONLY one chance to upload papers to Safe Assign and the version that is uploaded is the version that will be graded.
Assignment Details
Pick out a topic that interests you to effectively write a letter to your elected official. Select a topic that is on the national or state level that concerns you.
To get ideas about these topics, I recommend looking at newspapers, magazines, online news sites, your Congressman’s website, or watch the national news on TV. If you find that there is a current bill about your topic, please include the name and number in your letter (i.e. House Bill 292).
Sample topics of national concern include:
- The environment
- Health insurance
- National security
- Foreign relationships (i.e. trade agreement with China, investigations with Ukraine, etc.)
- The military/war
- Federal income taxes/tax reform
- Immigration
- Social Security
- Sexual equality and harassment
- Religious equality and harassment
- Opioid/drug addiction
- Legtializaon of drugs – overall banning, overall legalizing
- National minimum wage
- Welfare areas (i.e. housing, food stamps, etc.) – can be national or TX
Sample topics of state concern include:
- Education
- Specific gun laws – Open Carry, Banning AK-47s, etc.
- Abortion – specific laws, such as banning in the 3rd trimester, heartbeat bills, etc.
- Welfare areas (i.e. housing, food stamps, etc.) – can be national or TX
- Marriage/divorce
- Mental health
- Election laws
- State economy
- Prison/criminal reform
- Licensing for professionals
- Coronavirus handling
Sample topics of county concern include:
- County records (i.e. County Clerk, County Treasurer, etc.)
- Emergency management services (i.e. after hurricane)
- Collecting property taxes
- Vehicle registration
- Registering voters
- Maintaining main county roads
- County law enforcement
Sample topics of municipal concern include:
- Local law enforcement
- Local ordinances/laws
- Residential roads
- Water and sewer
- Community development
If you want to write about an issue not listed, please contact me so that I can work with you on the details.
Once you have picked out your topic, you will need to determine who/where you will need to send your letter.
- If you are writing on a topic that is a concern for the national government, you can choose to write to a U.S. Senator or a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. You are also welcome to write to President Trump. Please choose the elected official that represents you:
- Representatives: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
- If you are writing on a topic that is a concern for your state government, you can choose to write to a Texas Senator, Representative, or the governor (These people are located in Austin):
- Use the following website and it will give you both your Senator and Representative: https://wrm.capitol.texas.gov/home . DO NOT choose a State Board of Education official or any other as several may be listed with your Senator and Representative.
- If you are from another state, you are welcome to write to someone who represents you at the national or state-level. If you are an international student, please write to an elected official who represents your current address or someone in your country.
- Look on your county and city’s websites if you are writing to one of them
- NO DISRESPECT!!! You will receive a zero for this assignment if you show any signs of disrespect.
Additional Topic Assignment Details
You will need to turn in a Word document with the following.
Assignment is due Monday, November 9th.
The assignment will count as your Exam 3 extra credit.
Your form must be extensively filled out.
No late submissions will be accepted!
Your name: _______________________________
Who you will be writing to: _________________________
Area that they represent (i.e. Beaumont, Houston, etc.): ______________________
Your address: _____________________________________________________________
The issue/topic that I will address in my letter is:
______________________________________________________________________________
My position/argument on this issue is:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
You must use at least one news article, statistical research, or personal story in your letter to support your position. Facts/Stories that I can use to back up my position/argument (please EXTENSIVELY explain):
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Solution
The essay analyzes issues from the course POLS 2301, the interesting three subjects include:-
1.Competitive federalism;
2. Interpretation of the Second Amendment;
3. Civil rights on equal protection of minority groups, persons with disabilities, and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community.
Our expert writers can also assist in other POLS 2301/POLS 2302 Written Assignments, including American Government II term papers, essays, and related assignments on other topics, such as:
- Judicial review
- Republic oligarchy
- The monarchy
- Representative democracy
- Majority rule
- Minority rights
- Totalitarianism
- Elite theory
- Direct democracy
- Pluralist theory
- C.Wright Mills
- Social capital
- Robert Putman
- John Locke
- Magna Carta
- Social contract
- Declaration of Independence
- Thomas Jefferson
- Confederation
- Virginia plan
- Great compromise
- Three-fifths compromise
- Separation of powers
- New Jersey Plan
- Checks and balances
- Federalism
- Gibbons v. Ogden
- U.S v. Lopez
- Mapp v. Ohio
- Printz v. U.S
- Lemon v. Kurtzman
- McCulloch v. Maryland
- Wolf v. Colorado
- Classic legislative process
- Politico Model
- Pork barrel politics
- Right to privacy
- Probable cause
- Miller test
- Eminent domain
- Doctrine of “implied”
- Powers
- Apportionment
- Prior restraint (or no prior restraint)