OBAMA HEALTH CARE PLAN

Issue Analysis Paper and Presentation

Due Date: November 5th, 2014

Rationale: The acquisition of a variety of communications skills is one of the most important goals of any higher education institution.  Regardless of your post-graduate plans, the ability to write clearly and concisely is crucial to communicating well.

Task: You will choose and research a specific and important state government issue. You will thoroughly analyze the issue, evaluating at least two points of view as well as your own position on the issue. You should define the problem or issue, describe its background and provide a well-documented and well-written assessment of the subject. Recommend a policy action based on your insight into a set of alternatives.

Topic Approval: You have great latitude in choosing your topic, however, you must clear your topic with me before you start.

Rules Governing Submission of Papers: All papers must be typed and turned in by 11:59PM on the due date specified by the instructor. All papers must be properly cited and include a bibliography of works consulted. Failure to include a works cited page will result in a grade of zero. You may use MLA or APA as a formatting style for your paper, but the formatting style must remain consistent throughout the entire length of your paper. Papers should be 5-7 pages in length.

Grading:

A=       An excellent grasp of the history, current policies, actors and policy solutions regarding

your topic.  Students must fully apply the policy analysis techniques learned in class to their paper. The policy implementation section will be well-developed and demonstrate independent thought. The student’s references will rely on academic, professional, and governmental sources rather than Webpages or the popular press.  In an ?A? paper, there will be no citation or grammatical errors.

B=       A strong grasp of the topic in which the student exceeds the minimal requirements for the paper. The reference sections will include some peer-reviewed sources, but

a greater reliance on webpages.  The paper will have no citation errors and very few grammatical errors.

C=       The student meets the minimal requirements of the paper. The paper has an over-

reliance on webpages, and sections of the paper are lacking depth and breadth. The paper will have few grammatical and citation errors.

D=       An incomplete paper in scope or content. The paper is missing sections or is incomplete in its discussion and analysis. It is grammatically poor or borders on academic dishonesty.

F=        A failure to complete the assignment or one that is plagiarized.

Presentation Guidelines:

• Must be 15-20 minutes in length
• Must present on assigned date and time

• May use any means to present your issue to the class (i.e. PPT)