United States Government
Take-home essay 2: Citizen Responsibility and America's Democracy

Due date: Tuesday, Mar. 20, due by 4:00 p.m., in my office. 

Please respond to the prompt listed below with an essay that is no shorter 1,000 words (approximately four complete pages), not including the bibliography and/or footnotes. Your essay should be double-spaced, have numbered pages, use standard page margins and fonts, include complete and properly-formatted citation, and have a title page that lists the total word count of your paper. The paper is due at the time listed in the course schedule; late penalties will apply as listed in your syllabus.

As this is an examination, the essay's analysis should focus closely on the materials covered in this course unit, and should not incorporate outside readings or any independent research. Before beginning to write, you need to review the detailed instructions I have placed on the course website addressing citation requirements and the paper grading criteria that I will use to evaluate your essay. Your paper's citations and bibliography must follow one of the following three style guides: University of Chicago, the APA, or the APSA. For your convenience, my website provides a handout with many formatting examples using the APSA style. Without exception, instances of plagiarism (cases where a student attempts to gain academic credit by submitting an essay in which a significant portion of the writing has been copied or paraphrased from any other author, the internet, or another student) will be reported and punished according to university policy. 

I am happy to read and offer constructive comments on any complete paper draft (one that uses appropriate citation, has a full bibliography, and represents a student's best writing effort) that is submitted at least 72 hours prior to the paper's deadline. If you would like me to review your draft, you are welcome to send it to me as an e-mail attachment in MS Word pr *.rtf.

Take-home Essay Topic:

Does it really matter if most Americans don't follow politics all that closely, if many citizens choose not to vote, and if social capital is on the decline in the United States?