Political Science Question

Overview

3) Research Essay (Due Wed. Nov. 6 by 11:55pm) 25%

Students are to write one 2500-word (8-10 pages maximum) research essay on any

contemporary Canadian politics issue or problem. The pedagogical purpose of this

assignment is for you to demonstrate that you can identify an important Canadian

problem, draw upon relevant theories and concepts learned in the course to analyze

that problem and generate a solution, and synthesize and critically deploy secondary

research from peer-reviewed research to support your research claims. This paper is to

be submitted online as an MS-Word file or PDF to the appropriate assignment folder

in OWL. No paper or email submissions will be accepted.

For this research essay, your objectives are to:

identify one contemporary political problem or issue relating to Canadian

politics;

uncover and analyze the forces that have generated the problem or issue by

using at least one theoretical or conceptual approach discussed in the course

lectures or readings;

propose a solution to the problem or issue that logically flows out of your

analysis.

Your paper MUST be structured and organized as follows (please use headings 2-6 in

your actual paper):

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1. Title Page: Title of paper, name, student number, and date of submission (Does

not count towards page limit)

2. Introduction (1 page)

Introduce the problem or issue (what is it?);

Specify why it is important (for practitioners, citizens and/or academics);

State your research question and your main argument;

Describe the organization of the rest of the paper (e.g. this paper begins by

identifying a problem or issue, presents an analytical framework, analyzes

the problem and poses solutions using that framework; ends with a

conclusion about implications);

3. Analytical Framework (2 pages)

Discuss your chosen theoretical approach (e.g. historical institutionalism or

something else) and/or related concepts (e.g. political ambition or

institutions) by defining the approach and concepts;

Indicate how they are useful for structuring your analysis of the issue or

problem at hand.

4. Analyzing the Causes (2-3 pages)

Present background information on the problem or issue;

Specify the causes using the approach, concepts and supporting evidence

(see below);

Assess how convincing this approach and/or concepts are for accurately

identifying the causes of the issue or problem;

5. Proposing Solutions (2-3 pages)

Given the causes, what solution(s) is likely solve the issue or problem? Why?

Provide evidence to support your argument.

6. Conclusion (1 page)

Summarize your findings;

Discuss the implications of your findings for policymakers or other interested

actors. How might they apply your research to the real world?

7. Bibliography (Does not count towards page limit)

A list of all sources used organized alphabetically by last name. See below

under “formatting” for instructions.

Types of Evidence:

Real world examples (from reports, newspapers, secondary sources, etc).

Empirical data (interviews; published opinion polls; etc.).

Reputable published studies/literature (e.g. books, articles, reports) that

make an argument persuasively or use empirical data to produce a social

scientific finding.

o What is reputable? Academic literature; government reports; think

tank reports; check out the research guide on OWL for more

information!

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o Keep in mind potential biases! (which is why it’s good to find multiple

evidence to support your key points).

Finding literature: check the references of your sources for more suggestions;

search for academic articles through the library search engine and google

scholar. Find books in the library and look at the other books on the shelf

where the books are located.

Formatting:

Please use the formatting (double spaced, headings, 12 Pt font; times new

roman; 1 inch or 2.5 cm margins etc) and referencing style (Harvard, in-text) of

the Canadian Journal of Political Science.

All in-text citations MUST INCLUDE PAGE NUMBERS for all materials quoted,

paraphrased, or summarized.

These guidelines are available online at https://www.cpsa-

acsp.ca/documents/pdfs/Editorial%20Style%20Guidelines%202008.pdf or in a

hard copy of the journal post-2005. Make sure you get a hardcopy published

after 2005 when Cambridge University Press took over the journal.

Sources:

You must use at least FIVE academic sources in your research paper beyond the

course readings. You are free to use the course readings, including the textbook,

for your paper but you must also find an additional five additional academic

sources (e.g. peer-reviewed journal articles and/or books published by a

university press). Failure to do so will result in a significant penalty applied to the

paper