Assignment
This assignment has two sections, the part one is 250 words to shape the research paper and part two is when you discusses the same topic with 2000 words. All directions for writing the assignment is attached herewith;
PART ONE:
Assignment Instructions
Instead of a final exam, this course has a policy memo due in Week 8. I want to help shape your work and scope your research. Please submit a short (no more than 250 word) summary of your policy memo topic during Week 4 of class.
For the memo, you should imagine that you are a state or city government policy advisor. Your governor or city mayor needs your boss to brief them on a critical problem facing your community. You need to develop a memo that will help your boss "get smart" on the problem and come up with some potential solutions. It is important to select a topic that is very specific. As an example, selecting "education reform" is too general. However, looking at whether your community should expand charter schools or accept new testing standards is better scoped. This specificity will help with your research too.
The full memo requirements are under the Assignments Tab along with a memo template plus the grading rubric to the assignment.
PART TWO:
Assignment Instructions
Imagine you are a state or city government policy adviser. The governor or city mayor has asked your boss to brief them on a critical problem facing your community (and therefore one of your agency's top policy priorities). You need to develop a comprehensive policy memo that will give your boss:
(1) the critical background information he/she needs on the issue at hand;
(2) analysis of the influence of the state/city legislature, the judicial system, and other state/city government agencies on the formulation and implementation of a specific policy;
(3) an evaluation of the influence that interest groups, political parties and the media have on the policy at hand;
(4) a set of options/solutions for your boss to consider regarding a path forward with all these political players (including pro's and con's for each option); and,
(5) a recommended strategy that you want your boss to present to the governor or mayor to win support for your agency's policy agenda.
To recap, your memo should:
- Clearly and concisely state the problem you are trying to tackle
- Provide a summary of the current policy context / relevant background
- Analyze the influence of the state or city legislature, the judicial system, and other agencies
- Evaluate the influence of interest groups, political parties, and the media
- Present a set of solutions to the problem for your boss to consider, including pro's and con's for each
- Make a realistic recommendation of one of those options and provide further justification for why you are saying that option is the best.
Formatting Guidelines:
- No cover page; put your name, student ID, and the subject line at the top with a date.
- Minimum length of 2000 words, but do not exceed 6 single-spaced pages. (Most senior leaders wouldn't have time to read anything longer than this.)
- Include citations / sources as end notes for your memo since this is an academic exercise (end notes will not count toward the 6 page limit).
- At minimum, your sources should include: one book besides the textbook, two articles from scholarly journals (i.e. Foreign Affairs, Harvard International Review), two news articles from major periodicals (i.e. Washington Post, The New York Times, The Economist), and two primary sources (public opinion polls, legislative records, speeches).
- The tighter the topic focus, the better the product.