Category: Political science : Political Science

Meets 800 word minimum Takes a position and supports it with objective evidence that includes data, facts and statistics Does not include your opinion or “I” statements Is proofread with proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling Is well-organized with similar topics together Includes relevant vocabulary from your readings Includes transitions to assist with flow and readability APA Format Includes an APA (7th edition) formatted reference page with two scholarly sources as well as in-text citations

Students will submit an original research essay that examines the causes of both prosperity
and poverty in world order. The essay must provide case studies on 3-4 low to middle
income countries, or countries that were previously low to middle income during the
twentieth century. The paper must be uploaded as a Word doc or pdf to Canvas. The essay
should engage with approximately 12 academic sources (journal articles and books) and 5
primary sources (political memoirs; government or intergovernmental documents; essays,
interviews, or speeches by public figures).
Appendix I
Research Essay Grading Rubric (100 marks total)
1. Introduction 10 marks
-Frame your essay by getting the reader’s attention and communicating the
importance of your topic.
-Include a brief overview of your essay structure.
-Provide a clear, concise thesis statement that anchors your essay with a unique
insight informed by your research.
-Your thesis should be framed as a perspective rooted in a debate, not an obvious
statement where prevailing consensus exists.
2. Research of Existing Literature 15 marks
-Either throughout your essay, or in a distinct section called “Literature Review,”
you must discuss scholarly research
-Reference at least 5 primary sources, such as government documents, political
memoirs, essays by public figures, interviews with public figures, speeches,
historical newspaper articles, etc, where appropriate.
-Discuss at least 12 major scholarly works (articles and academic books) that are
relevant to your topic.
-Properly cite your sources throughout the essay in APA.
3. Theoretical Insights 10 marks
-Provide a commentary on developmental theoretical insights from your research.
-Do your cases align with principles from a major theory on development or
challenge one?
4. Commentary on Prosperity and Poverty 25 marks
-Explain the political issues of poverty and prosperity in 3-4 country case studies.
-Detail the strategies used by these governments and comment on their
effectiveness and limitations.
-You must have a commentary on the international context of development
strategies, such as either on trade relations, investment, foreign aid, or the
international financial institutions (IMF, World Bank).
-You must provide a commentary on the role of a few notable NGOs in your
country case studies, either to demonstrate contributions towards prosperity or to
highlight persistent poverty.
5. Coherence 10 marks
-Ensure the essay flows logically from one sentence or paragraph to the next.
-The thesis statement should be present throughout the essay to provide focus.
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6. Persuasiveness 10 marks
-Does the essay succeed in persuading a skeptical reader?
-The essay must engage and respond to perspectives that are not shared by the
author.
7. Descriptive Statistics 5 marks
-Claims should be supported by reference to descriptive statistics from reputable
sources.
-Examples include economic statistics from the World Bank Open Data
(https://data.worldbank.org) or The Observatory of Economic Complexity
(https://oec.world). Political statistics are available online as well, such as the
Varieties of Democracy dataset (https://www.v-dem.net).
8. Writing Style 10 marks
-The essay should be free from spelling and grammatical errors.
-Aim to balance sophisticated insights with accessible writing that is enjoyable for
anyone interested in the topic to read.
9. Conclusions 5 marks
-Offer to the reader thoughtful reflections on the significance of your research.

Your response to the final exam question should range between 6-8 pages. Your citation
practice should follow the midterm exam of parenthetical references (and no bibliography
required). Your introduction should contain a clear thesis statement, draw directly upon the
works to illustrate and emphasize your own interpretation, and contain a conclusion. Please
proof-read your essay carefully and seek help from the writing center where appropriate. Your
final essays are due
Kwame Nkurmah’s text, Neocolonialism, argued that political independence for newly
independent nation-states was not sufficient in securing sovereignty. He named this condition
as “neo-colonialism”. Elaborate and discuss this argument in relation to his own work and the
readings on the New International Economic order and Chile, as discussed in class (Ogle,
Grandin).

Questions
1. Core Arguments
Engage with the resources for this week beyond the textbook chapter. Please answer each question in about half of a page (one long paragraph.)
Summarize one of the arguments discussed in the World Migration Report.
Explain one of the misperceptions about migration that Professor de Haas discusses.
Reflect on the experiences of the migrants highlighted in the documentary.
2. What I Have Learned: Simulation Analysis (Read Directions Carefully)
Pick three concepts, key terms, or arguments, from your textbook and the resources you watched or listened to.
Since you just concluded your last simulation scenario, please write an analysis of aspects of what happened during the simulation. Use the three terms you have chosen and show how they apply in your simulation analysis – how they help explain what occurred or understand the outcome of the scenario.
As always, please define and explain each key concept and relate them to each other, explain their importance to you, and how they connect with your other studies. Be creative in how you show me what you have learned. Please write one to two pages (double-spaced).
3. How I Have Learned
One challenge and how to overcome it in the future, one accomplishment, and any additional questions or things you’d like to share with the instructor.

Continue the research:
1, Finding 2 more additional resources.
2. Modify the paper according to the uploaded instruction.
ASA Format.

What were the flaws in the Indian system prior to the rise of Modi?  Was it appropriate to consider pre-Modi India a democracy?
 
Why, and to what extent, were religious conflicts contained during the decades preceding the rise of Modi and the BJP?  
What was the role of the Congress party?
What was the effect of the evolution of multi-party politics in the 1990s?
 
 
Why did religious conflicts become more violent in the 2010s?
Discuss the role of the BJP. 
What other factors contributed to the escalation of communal violence?
 
   Do you think India has become a competitive authoritarian regime since the rise of Modi?  What criteria do you use to make this judgment?
Students will be required to prepare a paper of approximately 10-15 pages on the challenges of building democracy in one of the following countries: Brazil, India,or Hungary. Each of these reflects general themes discussed in the course:
 
Brazil has a democratic regime currently attempting to recover from a backsliding episode during the term of Jair Bolsonaro.  Your paper should focus on the causes of backsliding in Brazil, the reasons it was relatively limited, and the capacity of the Lula government to restore democratic stability.
 
Hungary is an example of a once-robust democracy that has devolved into a competitive authoritarian regime.  Your paper should focus generally on how and why this backsliding occurred, and on future prospects: remaining competitive authoritarian, returning to democracy, or reverting to full dictatorship.
 
India is also an example of backsliding, although that it hasn’t yet gone as far as in Hungary.  Your paper should focus on how and why this backsliding occurred and whether the regime has reverted to competitive authoritarianism or remained a fragile democracy. 
 
 
In your papers, you should build on assigned readings, both general and specific to your country, but you will be expected to supplement these readings with additional research drawn from books, periodicals, and news sources. 
 
These should be appropriately cited.  As long as they are done consistently, you can use either of the following citation styles:
 
Footnotes or endnotes.  These would be numbered and appear either at the bottom of each page or at the end of the paper.  They should include the author, the title of the publication, the publisher, date of publication, and page number. 
Eg., 1. John Smith, Hungary and Orbán, Princeton University Press, 2012, p. 12. 
Alternatively you can insert the author, date, and page number in parentheses in the text (Smith 2012: 12) and follow this with a full bibliography at the end of the paper in the following form:
Smith, John 2012.  Hungary and Orbán, Princeton University Press. 
 
For the remaining part of the semester, we will spend approximately two weeks for each of the countries in the assignment.  During each two-week period, I will reserve some class time to meet separately with groups working on each country.