Posted: February 9th, 2015
Paper, Order, or Assignment Requirements
American Politics: Response Paper Guidelines.
Due Thursday, December 11th at the start of class.
Public Trust, Empathy and Civic Engagement Option.
In Politics in the Trenches: Citizens, Politicians, and the Fate of Democracy, Thomas Volgy
argues that American democracy is increasingly challenged by both a decline in public trust in
government and a decline in empathy for elected officials. He further argues that the problem is
compounded by decreasing levels of civic engagement among citizens in the United States.
In a short (3-4 page double spaced) essay, explain why trust, empathy and civic engagement are
on the decline in the United States. Explain why this trend challenges American democracy, and
evaluate and/or propose some solutions to address declining empathy, trust and civic engagement.
As you develop your argument, you will want to identify some evidence (taken from Volgy or
elsewhere) that public trust, empathy, and civic engagement are on the decline. You will also
need to research the causes and implications of these alarming trends. Finally, you should
consider including a discussion of potential solutions to this crisis as put forward by Volgy or
other authors,
In developing your argument, you will want to rely heavily on the analysis developed by Volgy in
Politics in the Trenches. However, you should also gather additional information through
independent research, looking at newspapers, academic journals, periodicals, public opinion
polls, and other academic and popular texts to support your research. Please note that although
you are welcome to use online sources in your research, you must be very careful in evaluating
the credibility and reliability of this information. Wikipedia (as with other encyclopedias) should
be viewed as a starting point for your research, but is an insufficient as a primary resource for
your research.
The paper should be around 3-4 pages (double spaced) in length, with proper citations (APSR,
MLA or other approved style.) Writing style and clarity of presentation are important. The paper
must be thematic in development, and must incorporate some of the ideas developed in Volgy and
section. The paper must include an introductory section, introducing the theme of the paper, a
body, developing the evidence, and a concluding statement, drawing the linkages between the
theme of the paper and the evidence developed. You should have an easily identifiable thesis
sentence in the first paragraph of your paper, outlining exactly what you will argue in your essay.
I strongly encourage you to develop an outline of the entire paper before writing.
The paper is due Thursday, December 11th, however you may turn it in earlier if you wish.
The paper is worth 20% of your grade. Late papers will be penalized one half grade (.5) for each
day they are late.
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