Assignment

The project begins with the choice of a public policy topic. By the end of the second week of the course, you should choose the public policy that will become the focus of your research during the semester. The public policy may be in the form of an existing law or part of a law; it may be in the form of proposed legislation; it may even be an issue in need of a policy or law, but still in the planning stages. An example of this might be an idea for reforming Medicare to make it more cost efficient.

Here are some additional guidelines and criteria that you should follow in selecting your topic:

• First, the topic should be one that you are interested in and feel enthusiastic about. This does not necessarily mean that you will agree with the position taken in the law, legislation or program. You may even oppose it or have reservations about it, but still decide to focus on this area because it is of interest to you. In most cases, however, you will probably find it easier and more enjoyable to research a topic that you feel positive about.

• The issue, policy, law or legislation must be federal, that is, acted on by Congress and overseen by an agency of the executive branch of the national government, although it certainly can have implications and impacts at the state and local levels. But you should not choose a policy that is just at the state level.

• The issue should be of current interest; if you choose a public law, it should be a law that was enacted within the past 25 years and is active in the sense that there have been or currently are attempts to modify or amend it, court decisions affecting it, etc.

• You should choose a domestic policy. The reason for this is that much of the course material and policy examples concern domestic rather than foreign policy issues. So, for instance, don't choose a topic like "U.S. policy in Afghanistan."

The Topic Proposal will be a one proposal in which you should: a) identify the public policy that you have chosen to write about; b) explain the reasons why you chose this particular policy ; c) state what kind of public policy it is. Is it a bill introduced in the House or Senate? Is it an existing public law? d) discuss how you plan to research the policy.

Be thorough and clear in discussing your topic. Don't just write the name of the topic and say that it is of interest to you. Explain why it interests you and how you came up with this choice.