04 Jul AMERICAN POLITICS
Do you agree with Legislative Law?
General Instructions:
You are tasked with choosing a recent federal congressional law that has been proposed or passed and write a
paper stating why you agree or disagree with that specific law (your thesis). In this paper you will need to explain the
law, give arguments for and against the law, and provide evidence you gather from your individual research to back up
these arguments, and in turn, your thesis.
Due dates May 16th, 2015
o A hard copy is due in class on the date above.
o An electronic copy will also be due via Turnitin.com by the due date.
Go to turnitin.com and register an account.
Here is the information to add this course:
• Class ID: 9233226
• Enrollment Password: politics
o Late papers will be docked 1/3 of a letter grade per day. To not be considered late, I must receive both the
hard copy and electronic copy prior to the turn in date.
If you are to turn in the paper late, turn an electronic copy in to turnitin.com and send me an emailed copy of
the paper so that will count as your time stamp.
Specific Instructions:
Please follow these specific instructions when writing your paper.
Choose a federal law that has been passed or proposed in the 112th Congress (2011-2012) , or the 113th Congress
(2013-2014).
o Current Examples of 112th Congress include but are not limited to:
Fair Tax Act
Repeal of the Healthcare Law
No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act
Birthright Citizenship Act
Free Industry Act
o Current Examples of the 113th Congress include but are not limited to:
Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act
Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act
Freedom to Fish Act
Student Loan Certainty Act
Missing Childrens Assistance Reauthorization Act
Outline of Paper In addressing your topic, your paper should be organized into 5 primary sections.
o Introduction (1 page)
1. Introduce the legislation that the paper will address.
2. Establish the importance and relevance of the legislation. Why should the reader be interested in reading
about this legislation?
3. Thesis statement State your opinion about whether you agree or disagree with this piece of legislation and
provide 2 arguments as to why you hold the viewpoint that you do.
4. Overview of paper Provide a brief summary of what the paper will address. For example, an outline would
say something like, “first this paper will …, second this paper will…, and finally this paper will…”
o Brief Explanation of Law (1 page)
1. Explain the purpose or intent of the legislation. What does the legislation do or what does it attempt to
accomplish? In this section consider using quotes from the bill/law to help highlight what it does.
2. Explain what stage/step it is at currently in the legislative process? For example, has the bill been signed
into law by the President, or is it currently being debated in a House subcommittee?
3. Identify the active institutional participants who support and reject the law. This section should be no more
than 10 groups/individuals for those that support and oppose the legislation.
o Argument Section (2 pages)
1. Thesis statement restate the thesis that you provided in your introduction to remind the reader where you
stand on this legislation.
2. Reasons/arguments Substantiate this thesis with supporting arguments (at least two). Your aim is to
convince the reader that your stance on the law is correct. Thus, it is not enough to simply make an argument; you must
also provide concrete evidence to support that argument.
• The types of arguments that you use will depend on your topic. However, some general categories that you can use
include: economic arguments, constitutional argument, ethical/moral arguments, etc.
• The types of evidence that you will use to prove your arguments correct can include quantitative data
(statistics, scientific studies, etc.), and qualitative data (descriptive analysis, statements from trusted sources,
documented eye witness accounts, etc.).
o Counter-argument Section (1 ½ page)
1. Counter-argument State the opposing viewpoint to your own.
2. Reason/argument Explain and discuss the argument for this opposing view. What evidence do opponents use to
support why they think their opinion is correct?
3. Rebuttal Explain why you think that the counter-argument is incorrect. In order to successfully do this,
evidence must be provided to show the counter-arguments position is flawed.
o Conclusion ( ½ page)
1. Briefly summarize what you have done in your paper, restating your thesis and why you think your position is
most convincing.
2. Provide final thoughts and implications about this legislation making the paper feel complete.
o Bibliography
1. Provide a full source citation for any source that you use in the paper. I expect at least 5 scholarly
sources listed in alphabetical order.
• For more information on how to cite sources in the paper and in the bibliography, please see below.
Paper Specs
o Font
12 point, Times New Roman only.
o Spacing
Double spaced, 1 inch margins.
o Grammar
Points will be deducted for poor grammar and spelling.
o Citing Sources
You must cite at least 6 scholarly sources; this can include the text book, journal articles, newspaper articles,
scholarly text books, books, government documents, court cases, government official websites, interest groups websites,
congressperson websites).
• Good Sources
o Database on 111th Congress https://www.opencongress.org/
o Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/
o House of Representatives website https://www.house.gov/
o The White House website https://www.whitehouse.gov/
• Bad Sources DO NOT USE
o Wikipedia, Answers.com, etc.
Please use MLA formatting in your paper.
• In paper
o “Obama argues that the healthcare law provides millions of indigent individuals health insurance.” (citation
name, page #).
• In bibliography for internet source
o Name of author. “Article Title.” Source Name. Date published. Date accessed. <intent URL>
• For more information, see https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/02/
o Ask for Help
If you arent sure about something, be sure to ask me! Additionally, if you have any rough drafts or outlines
you would like me to read, please have no hesitation in sending them to me. Finally, be sure to read through the
“writing tips” and “sample paper” I have provided to you to help with your writing.
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