Paper 1: Health Care Reform
Write a five-page essay in which you make and defend an argument about why Obama’s health care reform bill was successfully passed when earlier reform efforts had failed, and what certain interest groups should do now to further their goals.
Paper 2: Gun Control Reform
Write a five-page essay in which you make and defend an argument about why gun control reforms have proven more difficult to pass in the United States than in other countries.
Paper 3: Strategic Choices in Policy Change
Write a 5-page essay in which you compare and contrast the strategic choices made by proponents of immigration and same-sex marriage over the past 10–15 years.
Paper 4: Climate Change Reform
Write a five-page essay in which you discuss both the causes and effects of the fact that so much of the action on climate policy has been at the state level.
Final Project: Oral “Exam”
The final project will take place over the final two class sessions. Students, split up by their recitation groups, will answer questions written by other recitation groups. The group that wrote the question will then critique and evaluate the answer given. Questions will cover material from the entire class, so the entire process will serve as a comprehensive review and wrap-up of the course material.
