Political Science 101: Huezo

You will pick a community problem that affects our community and research a political solution. You should choose a level of government to investigate, it can be a local, state or federal issue.

Two assignments:

1. You will turn in a short 3-to-4-page research paper (not counting works cited page).
2. You will do a 4-to-5-minute presentation on your research 

 

Identify the Problem:

You will identify a problem in your local community and do some basic research on it. This should generally be a question you are posing and seek to answer. (I do not expect you to solve world peace but if you chose this topic how would you research it).

Level of Analysis:

Here you will present what level of government you will investigate. It should explain what level of government you are investigating. For example, you could look into the response to issues such as homelessness in the Los Angeles/Glendale area. Your research could be local to the area, such as Glendale/Burbank, or your scope can be wider, as in city of LA or LA County. You could also work with non-profits associated with food insecurity or take on the problems of healthcare or livable wages in our community. The sky is the limit. (Remember the page limit is 3 to 4 and presentation is 4 to 5 minutes). 

Research

Your research should help us understand why you’re passionate about this problem. Identify the problem and present it to us.

State your problem in the form of a question. For example: 

• Problem-There are homeless people in my community.
• Rephrase as a question:
  • How has the pandemic increased homelessness in my community?
  • What are the contributing factors to homelessness in LA?
  • How do policies affect the homeless community?

You should ask yourself: What are your WH questions- who, what, where, when, why and how.

 

Paper: Argument/thesis (to be stated in your introductory paragraph)

Your argument/thesis should help us understand what are the proposed solutions to your community problem (the things you researched). After reading this, we should have an idea of what you are going to talk about in your paper and presentation. 

Paper: Body (write 3 to 4 pages) [plus worked cited page]

Cite your sources using MLA format with at least 2 sources. 

If you need help with MLA formatting go to our class Campus Guide. Click on the bottom left Tab titled MLA.

MLA formatting

Using your research, tell the reader about your problem and solution using the WH's, while clearly supporting your argument/thesis. 

Paper: Conclusion (1 paragraph)

Restate your argument and summarize the evidence 

Presentations

The presentation is an oral and visual presentation of your community problem and solution. 

The presentation will be 4 to 5 minutes

The presentation should have

-introduction to your thesis/topic 

-summarize your research (educate us about your topic)

In the presentation, you may present your problem and solution using any format, such as PowerPoint slides, googles slides, Prezi, Posters, A play/acting out/puppets, anything your comfortable with, be creative! (Make sure to check with me, so I may prepare any tools/material necessary).