Based on what you see in the news, what do you think the country’s trend will be? Will the level of democracy (or non-democracy) remain about the same over the next few years, will the country become more democratic, or will the country become less democratic?
Paper proposal/short concept paper
The week of May 3-9, you are asked to preview the “Democracy Paper Assignment” – which will be the culminating paper of the course. (You can find it under the “assignments” tab of the course. You don’t need to start that full assignment yet! – but it will help you to read that entire assignment and review the rubric that accompanies it).
However, this week you ARE asked to begin the process by developing a “Short Concept Paper” that should get you started thinking about this assignment.
To complete this assignment, go to the Fund For Peace’s Fragile States Index 2020 (click on “download the full report”) (Links to an external site.) and look through the list of states, considering which one you might want to focus your Democracy Paper on. Because your paper is required to be focused on a state that is not “clearly democratic”, it is suggested that you select a state that is ranked anywhere from “stable” to “very high alert”. States that rank above this (in the “more stable” to “very sustainable” are often clearly democratic and don’t make great choices). You may find democracies in this part of the list as well, and you cannot choose a “clear democracy” – please ask me if you are not sure – but read some about the country and it will probably become obvious.
To earn the 25 points for this week’s assignment, you are asked to write a 1-2 page paper proposal. The proposal should contain the following elements:
1. Country Selected. (2 points for selecting an appropriate country between the categories I have explained)
2. Regime type (you can do lots of reading right on the Fund for Peace website). Determine what type of government the country currently has – use your developing knowledge from the readings we have had so far… especially Chapter Three!
Explain to me why it fits this category. (The explanation CANNOT be “because the FFP website says it is”)…. it should explain what the qualities of this type of regime are and what evidence you see that the country fits that description. How long has this regime been in place? How stable does it seem? This should be a full paragraph. (14 points for having specific evidence and a reasonable tie to textbook categories)
3. A second paragraph explaining why you chose this particular country or why it seems interesting. This can be of a more personal nature if you have a specific tie to the country but it should ALSO include at least two facts you find interesting regarding the country. (5 points)
4. Two current event article links regarding contemporary political events in the country from 2019 forward. In addition to the links, provide a “Resources Cited” page citation for the articles. (2 points for each article, 4 points total).
5. ONE link to a scholarly, peer reviewed article regarding the particular regime (this article can be dated pre-2019, but should discuss the CURRENT regime). You don’t have to have read these in depth, but this is the beginning of developing your research. A scholarly article comes from an academic institution or think tank, it is a peer reviewed publication – NOT a newspaper or magazine. You will do best working through the library website to find the scholarly articles. (2 points this article). Please note that if you use an academic library other than Foothill College, I will not be able to access the link. In that case, download and attach pdf of the article along to your paper. In addition to the link, provide a “Resources Cited” page citation for the articles.
***This website (Links to an external site.) has some helpful information on evaluating sources and how to find a “peer reviewed” article.
Democracy Paper
Directions: Using class lectures and discussion, the course textbook, and outside resources as appropriate, please complete the following assignment. The total response length (i.e., the text itself) is estimated to be about 3-4 double-spaced pages (with 11- or 12-point font).
Choose a country; try to avoid countries that are clearly democratic and countries that are discussed at great length in the course textbook.
Based on one or more definitions/measures of democracy provided in class, does your country qualify as a democracy? Briefly analyze the definitions/measures of democracy as applied to your country. If your answer is “yes,” explain why this is the case. In other words, what conditions have been met or what evidence exists that the country is a democracy? If your answer is “no,” explain what would need to happen for the country to be considered a democracy. In other words, what is the evidence of a lack of democracy or what are the obstacles to democracy? The evidence may be mixed for your particular country; placing your country clearly in the “democratic” or “non-democratic” category may be difficult. If so, please discuss this difficulty. Make sure that your evidence is based on academic, reliable sources. It is suggested that the bulk of your evidence comes from peer reviewed academic journals (Links to an external site.). You will need to use the library website to find these. (40 points)
Then, take a look at recent news from this country. Do recent events give you any cause to question the stability of your assessment? Based on what you see in the news, what do you think the country’s trend will be? Will the level of democracy (or non-democracy) remain about the same over the next few years, will the country become more democratic, or will the country become less democratic? Please explain and provide supportive evidence for your argument. (20 points)
5 points of the paper are allocated to proper grammar, spelling and citations.
10 points of the paper are allocated to structure, having a strong introduction with a clear thesis and preview statement, body paragraphs with topic sentences and a clear conclusion paragraph
Your responses must be submitted in electronic form here no later than Friday, March 18th. All quotations, graphics, material, and ideas drawn from resources must be linked with in-text citations to a references portion of the completed assignment. An example of an acceptable referencing system appears below. Please be concise and direct in your response.
The total potential value for the assignment is 75 points. Your responses will be evaluated based on evidence of critical thinking, completeness, and your ability to reflect upon and integrate different sources of information. You must complete the assignment individually. Evidence of plagiarism (i.e., claiming somebody else’s work and ideas as your own) will result in consequences in line with Foothill’s Academic Integrity policies .
Potential Resources (aside from news articles and reliable summaries):
Freedom House (https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2020/leaderless-struggle-democracy)
Polity IV Project (https://www.systemicpeace.org/polityproject.html)
CIA World Factbook (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html (Links to an external site.))
Polyarchy Dataset (http://www.prio.no/Data/Governance/Vanhanens-index-of-democracy/ (Links to an external site.))
Formatting References
Students are required to use in-line references in the author-date manner, which is common in the social sciences. The Chicago Manual of Style serves as a useful resource for this type of referencing (see the author-date examples at http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html). In the author- date system, a summary reference is followed by parentheses that contain the author(s) and date of the publication, while a direct quotation contains that information plus a page number. For example:
This is a summary of the author’s argument (Jones 2001).
“This is a direct quotation” (Smith and Jones 2002, 130).
The following are examples of how references may appear in the references section of a paper:
Book Example
Smith, John, and Mike R. Jones. 2003. Book Name. Publisher’s City: Publisher’s Name.
Book Chapter in Edited Volume
Jones, Mike R. 2001. “Chapter Name.” In Book Name, edited by. Mike R. Jones and John Smith,
88-103. Publisher’s City: Publisher’s Name.
Conference Paper
Jones, Mike R. “Paper Name.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Organization Name, City, State/Country, Date(s).
Internet Source
Johnson, Bill. 2008. “Article or Webpage Name.” Accessed http://www.websitename.com/location/.
Journal Article
Smith, John, and Mike R. Jones. 2002. “Article Name.” Journal Name 32: 127-44.
Magazine Article
Smith, John. 2000. “Article Name.” Magazine Name, Date.
Newspaper Article
Johnson, Bill. 2005. “Article Name.” Newspaper Name, Date.
