The following are guidelines for completing the term paper.

The following are guidelines for completing the term paper. Additional information will be
given in class throughout the remainder of the semester. Also, please feel free to come see me
about your paper at any stage of development.
Style
No less than 3000 words (not including tables, footnotes, or references)
12 pt font (nothing crazy)
Double-spaced
Use at least eight citations
Four must come from peer-reviewed academic research
Do not rely solely on law reviews
No large block quotes
Conceptual Organization
BE CLEAR. Clearly organized papers get better grades.
Define your focus What are you studying? Pose a question to be answered in the paper.
Present evidence This is the guts of your paper and should speak directly to the research
question posed. Be sure to delve into why? sorts of considerations. Why did things happen
the way they did?
Analysis Summarize and weigh in with your expert analysis given what you have learned in
gathering information on the topic.
Use the following layout as a guideyou are free to organize your paper in whatever way
makes the most sense to you.
Introduction (tell me what youre going to tell me)
Body (tell me itsuggest using sub-headings for clarity)
Conclusion (tell me what you told me)
Layout of Your Paper
Introduction – Tell me (very briefly) about the policy issue you are writing about. Lay out your
central argument about how and why the policy change (or non-change) takes place within the
issue area. Provide a roadmap for the rest of your paper. Essentially, you are telling me what
the entire paper is about.
Body The body of your paper contains several parts. It is perfectly acceptable to break the
body down into several sub-sections (label them appropriately). One section should contain
your literature review. The literature should provide a concise summary of the analytical
concepts youre using. Based on this literature, you can clarify the expectations for your own
analysis. Therefore, the citations may not relate directly to your policy issue or the legislative
processthe focus is about other analyses using similar concepts/environmental factors.
Essentially, youre setting up the expectations for your research. This is your opportunity to
point out important factors based on political science literature. The body also includes the
analysis of your policy issue in Congressthe causal story you want to tell. The analysis should
be objective and clearly depict the causal mechanism that led to the policy change. It is possible
the body contains more than two sub-sections. Organize the paper in a way that makes the
most sense to you.
Conclusion Your conclusion should give a brief summary of the paper. Restate your main
argument and the subject you covered. You should also restate the answer to your central
argument.