Getting
from Research Question & Bibliography to
Policy Proposal & Contentions
Your policy proposal:
Your policy proposal answers your research question, and it is the thesis of your paper. A thesis is necessarily
a complete thought; grammatically it is a sentence.
A public policy proposal is one kind of thesis. It
involves prescription or advocacy with regard to some aspect of public
policy. Logically every public policy proposal must be a complete sentence
communicating that something ought to be done by some agent of government.
Read your policy proposal carefully. Is it a complete sentence?
Does the sentence state that something ought to be done? Is the individual
or institution that must act a governmental actor or body? If you can
answer all three questions "yes," you have a public policy proposal.
If the answer to any question is "no," then you need to write a public
policy proposal before going on to the next step.
Having a policy proposal is not the same thing as
having a good policy proposal. Good policy proposals are distinguished
primarily by specificity. Read your policy proposal again. Make
sure that what you are proposing is not something vague to the point of
meaninglessness, like "reform." If what you are proposing is specific
and unambiguous, then you probably have a good policy proposal.
Your outline of contentions:
The key terms here are "outline" and "contention." An outline
is a series of items written or printed together and arranged in a hierarchy.
Your outline will be composed of contentions. In the sense it is used
here, contention means a statement of fact for or against a proposal.
Here the proposal in question is your policy proposal. Each contention,
therefore, is a statement of fact for (on behalf of) your policy proposal.
Since a sentence is the smallest grammatical unit that is capable of making
a statement, it follows that your contentions must be sentences.
Read the first of your contentions. Is it a complete sentence?
Is it a statement of fact? Does it assert that something is true? Does
the truth asserted strengthen the case for your policy recommendation?
You should be able to answer "yes" to each of these questions. All statements
of fact have approximately the same form. They don't ask questions. They
don't merely identify topics to be covered. They assert a truth. Examples:
- "The plan (the policy / the proposal / it) would reduce the rate of illegitimate
births."
- "The policy would be easily enforced."
- "The benefits would outweigh
the costs."
- "My policy proposal is consistent with the First Amendment
to the Constitution."
- "The polar bears will all die anyway."
- "There is
no record of wolves eating children in the United States."
- "Those already
rich will receive 85 percent of the benefits."
- "Opponents are wrong to
argue that the benefits of Head Start can't be measured past second grade."
Repeat this analysis for each contention on your list.
Edit your contentions until each of them meets the test. Give this your
best shot, then come see me if you're having difficulty.
Once you have a complete list of contentions on behalf of
your policy proposal, you need to organize them hierarchically. Please
consult A Good Argument
Is a Hierarchy of Contentions.
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