Politics presidency paper assignment
3-4 pages, double-spaced, 12-point font. (No more, and no less.) Make sure you have a paper title and that you attend to the basics of good composition, including attention to organization and grammar. (If you have any questions about this, let’s talk.) Be sure to have a title for your essay, and number your pages. Use Chicago style footnotes for citations
basically the paper will be about
12/22/2010: “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
Obama repeals the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which allows people to openly be gay, lesbian, and bisexual while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces..
Your assignment is to evaluate a case of presidential decision-making. In the case study you are examining, is the president a facilitator of change, or a director of change in this specific case? Was he successful in this case, or did he fail?
There are a few things to do here:
1. Pick your case from the Miller Center list I have complied of Presidential actions/decisions from Carter to Obama.
2. Read pages 3 – 5 in the Edwards textbook handout that covers the leadership models.
3. In this paper you want to do the following things: Get the facts about what happened. What is the story here? What where the different points of view about the decision? Was there a lot of public controversy surrounding the decision? Was the decision a compromise? Did the President get his way on the question? Did anyone advise the President? How much does the decision reflect the President’s personality, ideology, political party commitments, or pressure from interest groups? Was the decision popular, or controversial?
4. Sources for the assignment: Use your free access to New York Times as a first step, and the Wall Street Journal too, their archives are very good. If you have not done it yet, sign up for the free subscription, here are the instructions: http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/fda/faculty-matters/free-ny-times-digital-subscription. You will find information using the search engine on the Times site.
5. You can also access a broader range of excellent newspapers through the College’s databases at the Library: https://library.csi.cuny.edu/c.php?g=452328&p=3089291
6. There are many books written about Presidential administrations, you are likely to find a few pages devoted to the Presidential action/decision you are looking at. (This one might require a trip to the library, or the use of interlibrary loan.) Be sure to check out the book’s footnotes, which will lead you to additional information about your case.
7. Other useful digital databases include:
CQ Researcher: http://proxy.library.csi.cuny.edu/login?url=http://library2.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/
Academic OneFile: http://proxy.library.csi.cuny.edu/login?url=http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/cuny_statenisle?db=AONE
Academic Search Complete: http://proxy.library.csi.cuny.edu/login?url=http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/cuny_statenisle?db=AONE
Congress and the Nation: http://proxy.library.csi.cuny.edu/login?url=http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/cuny_statenisle?db=AONE
Presidential Studies Quarterly: http://ux7xn7gd4e.search.serialssolutions.com/?V=1.0&L=UX7XN7GD4E&S=JCs&C=PRESSTUQUA&T=marc
Political Science Quarterly:
http://ux7xn7gd4e.search.serialssolutions.com/?V=1.0&N=100&L=UX7XN7GD4E&S=T_W_A&C=political+science+quarterly
8. Be creative in your hunt for information, and I will be impressed if you gather an impressive array of perspectives.
