For this course, you will conduct research and write a 12-page comparative essay

For this course, you will conduct research and write a 12-page comparative essay that examines, compares, and contrasts the political systems, institutions, policies, political culture, interest groups, and citizen participation of France and New Zealand.
Guidelines
Include a clear introductory paragraph with a succinct thesis statement.
The body of the research paper must include separate sections analyzing both countries and a section that compares and contrasts these two states. Headings and subheadings are required.
Include a well-developed conclusion that incorporates a restatement of the thesis and hypotheses about the future of each state and its respective political system.
Include a minimum of 8 scholarly sources. You may provide additional data sources provided they meet the Writing Criteria on the following page. Additional sources are strongly recommended.
Use APA style with appropriate in-text citations in each paragraph, provide a cover page and a properly formatted reference page or pages at the end of the paper.
Provide a brief political history of each state. No more than two pages for each state.
Specify the political-economic system and regime type of each state.
Explain whether the country is a developed democracy, communist, post-communist, or developing state. This should be at least one complete paragraph with substantiated evidence.
Describe the importance of ethnic makeup, culture, ideology, religion, and national identity for each of your states.
Clarify the role, if any, that individual and group participation play in policy formation.
Explain how public policy crafted and “who gets what, when, [and] how” (Lasswell, 1936).
Describe the capacity and autonomy of the state and how it impacts the citizens of each state and relations with other states.
Non-scholarly sources are not acceptable. Only utilize well-vetted scholarly works, primary sources, and valid data sources. Scholarly sources are written by recognized experts in a particular field of inquiry and include articles in peer-reviewed publications and textbooks. Primary resources include original documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Magna Carta. Valid data sources include such things as expert polling data, census information, and professional databases. Do not use non-scholarly sources like Wikipedia, general websites, blogs, online dictionaries, encyclopedias, popular magazines, social media, movies, novels, or anonymous publications.
This research paper should not utilize any direct quotes. All information that is acquired while conducting your research must be paraphrased.