This assignment will require you to use your critical thinking skills to evaluate how the concept of federalism interacts with various current constitutional debates. In the prompt for the Final Research Paper (located in Week Five of this online course or the Components of Course Evaluation section of the Course Guide), you have been provided a list of current constitutional debate topics. Select one of these topics for this assignment and create a hypothetical personal opinion article (op-ed) for your local newspaper. In this op-ed, you must take a position supporting or opposing the issue you select. Even though you will be choosing a side, you must discuss both sides of the argument and then provide a logical argument why your position is valid, credible, and should be supported.

Your paper should be organized into the following sections and should:

• Introduce the position.
• Discuss the argument in support of the position.
• Discuss the counter argument to the position.
• Evaluate the merits of the argument and explain why it is valid.
• Conclude and summarize the main findings.

The paper must be two to three pages in length (not including title and reference pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. You must utilize at least three scholarly sources, one of which may be your course text. Cite your sources within the text of your paper and on the reference page. For information regarding APA, including samples and tutorials, visit the Ashford Writing Center, which is located within the Learning Resources tab on the left navigation toolbar.