Posted: July 19th, 2015

The topic should be ONE current and controversial issue of political importance facing the federal, state or local government.

The topic should be ONE current and controversial issue of political importance facing the federal, state or local government.

At least four articles from current, fact-checked news sources (on-line or hard copy) and/or journals that cover national political news.  The articles must be published on or after June 1, 2015.  The information in the articles should cover opposing points of view on the one issue topic selected for analysis.

CONTENT:        The paper should contain 2,500 words and the following:
•    An introduction and discussion of the current and controversial political topic.
•    An analysis of the political issue(s) discussed in the articles in terms of the current controversies and opposing viewpoints that affect the people of the United States and their government today.  Use information learned in class to analyze the politics of the issue.
•    An analysis of the positions, motivations and/or objectives of the authors of the articles.  For example, was there a particular political viewpoint being emphasized? If so, in what ways?  If not, how did you determine that the article was unbiased?
•    A discussion of how these articles affected you as the reader.  Did the articles have a direct impact on your perceptions of the American political process?  Did the authors change or reinforce your political views?