University of the
Department of Government
GT34A Contemporary
Lecturer: Dr. D. Thorburn
Summer 2004 Paper Assignment
Some hints for your paper…
If necessary, considering framing your essay as responses to questions like:
* What are the salient aspects of the context [the domestic arena? the global arena?]
* What are the stakes in the case?
* What level(s) of analysis best explain the case?
* What specific elements of that (those) level(s) are important for understanding the foreign policy?
* Who are the key actors and how do they define the situation?
* What policy options can be or were considered? Which might have been, but were not? Why not?
* What are the key decisions to be made?
* What factor(s) dominate the decision(s)?
* Are the processes by which decisions are reached appropriate in your view?
* How would you rate the substance of the decisions(s)?
* What lessons are to be learned from the case, if any?
Your paper will be evaluated not on the basis of whether I agree with the conclusions you draw, but on the basis of how carefully you construct your arguments.
All ideas, phrases and sentences which come from another source must be footnoted, whether they are paraphrased or quoted.
Include a complete bibliography with your paper.
Students are expected to turn in original work, written in grammatically correct English, with proper spelling.