Comparative Government Research Paper
In this course, students will write a research paper comparing and contrasting aspects of the government and politics of Russia with aspects of the government and politics of China. The Executive Branch******. In writing the paper, students will incorporate appropriate terms and theories in the discipline of political science. Students will also demonstrate an understanding of gathering and evaluating sources for research in the field of political science. Finally, in writing the paper, students will demonstrate an ability to create a thesis statement or research question for a research project in political science.
Each research paper should have several parts. The paper’s introduction will broach the topic under consideration and present the research question that will be addressed by the paper. For instance, a student might decide to produce a paper comparing the judicial systems of the two nations. She might then include in her paper’s introduction discussion of a judicial system generally before stating a research question that would inquire about how the judiciaries of Russia and China are similar and different.
The body of the research paper will contain, respectively, detailed discussions about the governmental aspect in question as it stands in the one of the two nations followed by discussion about the governmental aspect in the other country. Multiple facets of each aspect should be compared and contrasted. So, for instance, the student writing about the judicial systems of China and Russia would cover such things as the basis of law in the two countries, the structure of the court systems, how judges are selected, the power of the courts, checks on the judiciary, etc.
The final narrative part of the paper would be its conclusion. In this, a student should answer the research question posed in the introduction. It would also be appropriate in the conclusion to suggest avenues of future research that scholars might undertake pertaining to comparative analysis of the governmental aspect in question.
In writing the research paper, students will make use of a minimum of 10 political science journal articles, governmental sources, law review articles, academic book chapters from edited volumes, and/or books. While one may use sources such as newspapers or magazine articles from popular publications (i.e., Time, Newsweek, etc.), do so sparingly. Most of your sources should be academic ones you find on GALILEO library databases. (If you are a bit rusty in using GALILEO, visit the following URL and make use of the several tutorials and learning aids that the USG has housed there: All sources should be included in a bibliography, which must be turned in along with the final research paper.
You may use only reputable sources to develop anything you produce for this class. Examples of such sources might include the Oxford Dictionary of Politics, the Encyclopedia of U.S. National Security, Europa World Online, West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, and the Oxford Guide to the United States Government, to name but a few representative examples. Generally speaking, steer toward online materials housed at academic or government websites when utilizing electronic sources.
Overall, students should probably anticipate writing around 15-20 pages of narrative material, excluding a cover page, bibliography, etc. This assumes you employ (which you should) something standard like Times New Roman 12-point font, 1’’ margins, and double spacing. Please use endnotes and APA citation.
As you might expect from a major writing assignment, things like clarity, originality, grammar & mechanics, topic coverage depth and thoroughness, and proper use of sources and citations will be evaluated to arrive at your grade on the paper. Unsurprisingly, higher marks will go to papers that are well-organized, clearly written, original, error-free, detailed in scope and depth of coverage, thoroughly and properly cited, etc. Incidentally, it goes without saying that committing plagiarism in a Senior Seminar would be a really, really bad idea for both your research paper grade and your academic career, so do guard against doing this.
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