POLITICAL SCIENCE - RESEARCH PAPER ASSIGNEMNT

Topic:

Examine the presidential contest of 2000 between George W. Bush and Albert Gore Jr. Examine that contested election in light of history and inter-branch politics including the Supreme Court case Bush v. Gore.

Technical details

In approximately 4,500 words (roughly 15 double-spaced pages) in Times New Roman 12 pt. font with 1-inch margins, write a cogent research paper on your chosen topic.

Unlike the analytical essay, you should make significant use of secondary sources (i.e. books and scholarly journal articles) and cite them either as footnotes or endnotes. (Endnotes are replacing footnotes as the standard citation method; however, you may employ either.)

Any journals cited must be peer-reviewed. You may cite journals accessed on-line through the library's various databases, because these are simply peer-reviewed print journal articles that have been scanned into "pdf" format and are accessible via the computer.

You may find it necessary to cite government reports such as Congressional Research Service Reports or other official sources (bills, hearings, or the Congressional record) available through the Government Publishing Office, the Library of Congress or the U.S. Supreme Court.

Depending upon the topic, it may be appropriate to cite from certain non-academic journals, such as Foreign Affairs; however, in general avoid non-academic sources. Check with me if you are in doubt. You may also, of course, cite reputable books.

The preferred citation method is found in Kate L. Turabian et al., A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers, 7th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007) or prior editions. You may, however, use any widely-recognized citation method such as MLA or APA, or even legal "blue book" so long as the paper is consistent and full documentation is provided (i.e. the source of the information, including author, title, publisher, date of publication, and page numbers). Include a cover page, page numbers, etc., and otherwise format the paper according to the citation rules for a research paper (not thesis or dissertation). (I.e., no table of contents, etc.) Do not include graphics (including on the cover page), other than relevant data or charts, in the paper.