POLITICAL SCIENCE INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

PLSC 370    Summer 2003

Research Paper

Prepare a paper on a topic related to your internship.  The paper should be on a political or policy issue that is relevant to your experience.  The first part of the paper should review the academic writing that describes the nature of this political or policy area. The second part of the paper should be your assessment of how valid the literature is to your experience in the internship.

 

For example, if you are working on a political campaign, you may focus your paper on voter participation activities.  In the first part of your paper, you would review what books and scholarly articles have said about how campaigns can mobilize voters for an election.  In the second part of the paper, you would assess how well this is being done in the campaign in which you interned.

 

Or if you are working in a government official’s office, you might review the functions of office for a congressman and then compare those to the activities that you observed and in which you participated.  Or you could write about a policy issue that you have researched for the office.  If you are in an organization that provides a service to government agencies or to political refugees, you would compare the literature on the functions of these organizations to your experiences as an intern.

 

The paper is due on August 6.

 

Each paper should follow the format below:

A.        Introduction and Overview of the Internship

B.         Review of the Literature on the Topic

C.        Discussion of the Research and Experience

E.         Personal Assessment of the Internship

F.         References 

 

The length of the paper is based on the number of credits for which you are enrolled:

            3 credit hours: 8-10 pages

            6 credit hours: 16-20 pages

The paper should be double spaced with a one-inch margin and in a readable font.  Please include a title page with your name, the title of your paper, the course name (Political Science 370) and my name.