Research Paper:

Local and State Government College Course

This written assignment is designed as a research/opinion paper. You should

1. find a "state" law, initiative, or bill that you find interesting. Keep in mind that you cannot chose a "national" law or US Congressional law.

2. In your paper explain your state law/initiative/bill in a summary. What is the topic?

3. Describe how the law/initiative/bill was passed or where it is in the legislative process.

4. Explain what political actors are/were in support or opposition to the law. For example, are there interest groups, political parties, political leaders, etc., that either support or oppose the law/legislation.

5. Were there any "special" circumstances surrounding this law/legislation?

6. Finally, feel free to give your personal opinion of the law. Do you think it is good/bad? Why?

The 6 things listed should give you a "rough" guideline for your paper. Feel free to add any additional information that you find interesting or important about your law/initiative/bill.

Some possible topics: Florida Stand Your Ground Law, Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Florida Guns in School Bill HB4005, Washington State I-502 Recreational Marijuana Initiative, New York No Texting and Driving law. These are just a very few possible topics.

The written assignment should be at least 2000 words and you should have some references (There is no "limit" or special number, just don't cite wikipedia!!) Also you can use any citation format you like.

1. Written Assignment Rough Draft/Outline is due april 3. This can be in the form of a complete rough draft or an outline. Keep in mind that an outline should indicate each paragraph and contain at least two sentences explaining what will be included in such paragraph. This should be sent to me via the Blackboard message system.

2. Written Assignment Paper Consultation is due April 6. That means that you should go to a Valencia campus writing center to meet with someone in the writing center for a consultation. If you cannot go to a writing center you can contact them to find out about online assistance (you can also use smarthinking). At this time you will need to have a FULL ROUGH DRAFT. They will give you a write up sheet and you should take a picture of the sheet and send it to me in a Blackboard message as an attachment.