Web Syllabus: Portions of this syllabus and of the feedback I will provide on your papers make use of the portable document format (PDF). PDF files generally print better than HTML files, and they offer you the opportunity to print selected pages. PDF is also the dominant file type used for delivering facsimilies of paper documents, like court opinions and legislative reports, over the Internet. To read PDF files on your personal computer you need the Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download without charge from the Internet. This software is already loaded on most college-owned computers. The printer-friendly PDF version of this syllabus is available by clicking on the PDF icon above.

Feedback: Whether or not you are asked to complete a standardized course evaluation, I am interested in your comments and suggestions for improving the course, the readings, the assignments and this course description. Feel free to send comments as you think of them. E-mail: callin@cornellcollege.edu.

Instructor: Craig W. Allin, Room 307, South Hall. Telephone: Office, (895-) 4278; Home, 895-8103. Phone messages may be left with faculty secretary Cheryl Dake (895-) 4283 or in her voice mail box or on the answering machine at my home. I do not regularly check my office voice mail. If I do not answer the phone, I recommend contacting me by e-mail. For quickest response e-mail your questions and comments to my office (callin@cornellcollege.edu ) and my home (allin.craig@worldnet.att.net ).

Office Hours: If I'm not in class with you, you can probably find me in my office. Feel free to make an appointment or just show up. If you prefer specific and up to the minute information about my likely whereabouts, my schedule is available for your electronic inspection over the campus network if you are using Microsoft Outlook.

Assignment: Your job is to write a policy paper of 3500 to 5000 words in length exclusive of illustrations, notes, bibliography, appendices, etc. Your paper must address a significant question of public policy bearing some substantial relationship to the general content of this course and about which you have not previously written a college level paper. If in doubt, consult.

Public Policy & Policy Papers: A "policy" is a regular practice or a clear course of action. (E.g., it is the policy of Cornell College to issue grades once a month.) A "public policy" is any policy adopted by a government. (E.g., it is the policy of the United States to exclude women from certain roles in the armed services.) A "policy paper" is a concise document that recommends a public policy and argues for the adoption of that policy. Your policy paper--and the seminar report, which will be produced from the same materials--will be developed through five stages.

Stage I -- Topic Development: By 9:00 a.m. on the sixth day of the course you must submit an e-mail (or e-mail attachment) describing your research topic and presenting a working bibliography for that topic. Your topic is satisfactory if it describes a reasonably discrete area or issue substantially related to the themes of this course. You bibliography is satisfactory if it contains sufficient scholarly (books and articles with comprehensive annotation) and primary (original records and documents) sources to assure the viability of research and writing on the chosen topic. Get off to a good start by choosing one of the approved style sheets and using it for your bibliography.

Stage II -- Thesis Development: By 9:00 a.m. on the eleventh day you must submit an e-mail (or e-mail attachment) stating your policy recommendation and setting forth a list of the arguments you intend to make for it. Please note that articulating a good thesis will require you to have already completed much of the research on your chosen topic. The policy recommendation is the paper's thesis. The list of arguments will presage the paper's structure. Selecting a topic requires only that you identify an area appropriate for inquiry and susceptible to a policy recommendation. Stating a policy recommendation takes you an important step further: you must determine, with some considerable degree of specificity, what policy ought to be adopted with respect to your topic. For example, "affirmative action" is a topic. "Congress should repeal all minority preferences in federal procurement law" is a thesis. Your thesis must state a policy appropriate to the focus of this course and within the legal power of some officer, agency or institution of local, state, or national government in the United States.

Stage III -- Policy Paper: Your recommendation and supporting argument will be presented in a formal paper with appropriate manuscript format, proper citations, etc. Your paper is to be preceded by an abstract or executive summary not to exceed 200 words. The abstract should be clearly labeled as such and printed on a separate page following the title page and preceding the body of the paper. Please submit your policy paper as an e-mail attachment. A sample policy paper written for Politics 361 is available here for your examination.

Stage IV -- Policy Presentation: Your research and recommendation will also be shared with the class in the form of a seminar report. You will have 15 minutes to make your presentation. You will not have sufficient time to read your paper, nor would it be appropriate to do so. You will want to rework your material, including text and illustrations (if any), for the most effective possible oral presentation. Your instructor and selected classmates will provide you with critiques of your oral presentation. An overhead projector will be available for your presentation. If you need other equipment, make sure that arrangements have been made for it.

Stage V -- Rewrite: After receiving a written critique of your policy paper, you will rewrite and resubmit the paper making as many improvements in substance and presentation as you can manage.

Abstract: The abstract is the paper in microcosm. It should contain the thesis and the best synopsis of the arguments you can manage within the 200 word limit.

Introduction: Every paper needs some sort of introduction to prepare the reader for what follows. A good introduction will state the paper's thesis or the question it is supposed to investigate. Since this is a policy paper, it follows that the thesis will be your policy recommendation. Your introduction should also describe the plan of the paper so as to provide a kind of road map for the reader.

Research: I am looking for clear evidence that you have found and made use of the best available source material. "Best available" means different things in different circumstances. Primary or original sources are excellent. Primary sources are the creations of individuals or groups involved in the policy process. Examples would include the testimony of witnesses at Congressional hearings, the reports of Congressional committees, the speeches of political actors, the press releases and web sites of interest groups. Secondary sources vary widely in quality. Scholarly books and articles in scholarly journals are excellent sources when they are available. Real scholarship is characterized by a serious effort to document sources and methods of investigation. It will have citations or notes and a bibliography. Real scholarship has often been reviewed prior to publication by experts in the employ of the scholarly journal or publishing company. Journalistic sources are of lower quality and should be avoided unless they are literally the "best available." Journalists work on tight deadlines, get most of their information informally, and rarely tell you where they got it. Internet sources deserve a special word of warning. The Internet is exploding with information: there are more than 10,000 new web sites per day. Much of what is becoming available on line qualifies as primary or original sources. Examples include Supreme Court decisions from the Supreme Court and Congressional documents from the Library of Congress. On the other hand, much of what is available is garbage. Consider that scholarly books and articles have been reviewed by experts prior to publication as well as by editors employed by the publisher. Even popular newspapers and magazines contain information that has been subjected to a modicum of checking for accuracy and balance. "Information" appears on the Internet without any guarantee of accuracy beyond the professional reputation of the individual or organization that posted it. This places an enhanced responsibility on you to determine the reliability of your sources. Don't be duped into representing somebody's misinformation or propaganda as fact.

Argument: A really persuasive argument requires at least three things:

Prose: I am looking for effective use of the language. That means, at the least, clear organization, effective use of subheadings and paragraphs to orient the reader, good transitions from one part of the text to the next, a conclusion that is both substantive and relevant, and sound grammar, punctuation, spelling and usage.

Documentation: Documentation as to source is required for all direct quotations and specific facts beyond the realm of common knowledge. Except when your reference is to a book or article generally, that documentation must lead the reader to the specific page on which you found the quotation or facts cited. Documentation is important for both ethical and practical reasons. Ethically, documentation gives credit where credit is due. Practically, documentation enhances the credibility of your work by demonstrating its reliance on and relationship with credible sources of information. I expect you to use parenthetical citations consistent with one of the three styles of documentation approved for this course. See the three approved styles for documentation. See also samples of Internet citations in each of the three approved styles.

Editing and Rewriting: You will have 2 days in which to rework your paper prior to handing it in for a final evaluation. You may make as many or as few changes as you wish, but logic and self-interest should suggest a serious effort to come to grips with all the comments, criticisms, and suggestions attached to your penultimate draft. As a practical matter, doing a good job of making technical corrections will preserve your original grade; making substantial improvements will raise it.

Presentation: Effective oral presentation depends on your knowing your material well. Presentation from notes is preferred to reading from a text, but reading from a text is better than rambling and confusion. Visual aids often support, clarify, or add interest to oral presentations. Clarity of organization is even more important in oral presentation than in prose. A listener can't go back and rehear what you just said the way a reader can go back and reread what you wrote. It's simple-minded and formulaic, but it's often wise to preview your presentation ("tell 'em what you're gonna tell 'em") at the beginning and to review your presentation ("tell 'em what you told 'em") at the end. Oral presentations don't have formal notes or bibliographies, but it is still wise to communicate sources of specialized information to the listener. E.g., "A 1989 study by University of Michigan hydrologist Peter James concluded that. . . ."

IMPORTANT DETAILS: