The purpose of the task is to write a blog post that applies knowledge from class to current political events. The idea is to write, in an accessible way, about American politics as if you were writing for a broad audience whom has never taken a political science class. The “Task” tab contains some links to examples, which you should read to get a sense of the tone and content. The final piece of writing should be arond 1000 words.
Learning this style of writing is important for your academic and professional career. You must learn to write in a sophisticated way that is accessible to broad audiences. That is the focus of this assignment.
For this assignment, you’ll write a blog post for a popular audience (think: people who don’t know anything about political science, but are generally knowledgeable — i.e., other college students from different majors/classes). Some examples of these pieces can be found from Washington Post’s Monkey Cage Blog, FiveThirtyEight’s blog, and Mischiefs of Faction.
Your write must take into account something from class, either the textbook or lectures. It can be about any relatively current event in politics — elections, policy debates, etc. It should not be an ideological position piece. It should analyze in a non-partisan lens a topic in current politics, related to something you’ve learned in class.
Examples:
Note, some of these examples are syntheses of drafted research — obviously you are not asked to do that. But note how they still apply the research (in a non-ideological way) to something in current events.
- https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/are-democrats-dysfunctional-or-just-disagreeing/ (Links to an external site.)
- https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-does-it-mean-if-republicans-wont-debate/ (Links to an external site.)
- https://www.mischiefsoffaction.com/post/future-presidents-learning-afghanistan (Links to an external site.)
- https://www.vox.com/mischiefs-of-faction/2019/1/18/18187161/government-shutdown-freedom-caucus (Links to an external site.)
- https://www.vox.com/mischiefs-of-faction/2019/6/26/18758478/technology-and-transparency-modern-congress (Links to an external site.)
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/08/20/congress-is-bumping-up-its-top-staffers-salaries-its-real-problem-is-how-it-underpays-junior-staff/?utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=wp_monkeycage&utm_medium=social (Links to an external site.)
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/04/10/yes-sinclair-broadcast-group-does-cut-local-news-increase-national-news-and-tilt-its-stations-rightward/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.96453e7682c2 (Links to an external site.)
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/11/14/what-does-donald-trump-need-for-a-successful-residency-bureaucrats/?utm_term=.64dde51577cc
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Appropriateness of content
How well the chosen topic/content ties into the class — and avoids making ideological points. The blog post should be analytical in nature, applying concepts in class to something topical in current American politics.
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Length
It’s important to stay within the assigned length. It can be surprisingly difficult to stay short enough in your analytical writing; alternatively, you might not have enough to say.
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Grammar / clarity of writing / citations
Your writing should avoid colloquialisms and should reflect the style posted in the examples under “Task”. It should be formal and professional, using good grammar and proper citations.
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Total Points: 40
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