U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS Spring 2009 - News Summary Assignment information

Back to US Gov home page ♦ Schedule page ♦ Cigler presentation schedule page ♦ Writing style guide

U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS, SPRING 2009

NEWS SUMMARY ASSIGNMENT INFORMATION PAGE

CURRENT NEWS SUMMARY: #5 President Obama’s first 100 days

due in class Wednesday, May 20 (note NEW due date)

For this final news summary assignment your task is to find 3 articles that discuss President Obama’s first 100 days as president. Day 100 was April 29, 2009 and many articles have already been published covering the events that have transpired so far. We are interested ONLY in articles that cover this initial time period, not in any article that covers some specific event or aspect of the Obama presidency to date.

Due to the nature of this assignment, all of your articles should have been published between April 20, 2009 and May 19, 2009.

All other assignment parameters are the same – summarize each article, discuss at least one of the articles at more length.

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THESE ASSIGNMENTS

(from pp. 2-3 of class syllabus, with some additional tips for finding appropriate articles)

NEWS SUMMARIES: This course covers contemporary U.S. politics, and therefore it is important for you to become familiar with current political events by regularly reading a good major national newspaper, such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, or the Christian Science Monitor. These national newspapers offer more information and news analysis than regional papers (like the Star Tribune); some major news networks, cable news sources, and independent or partisan organizations also have websites with a great deal of political content. The leading national newspapers are available on campus, in the Gustavus library, and/or online (with most content being free if you register).

To encourage you to foster the habit of reading a daily newspaper or some other source that presents political news, and to make connections between our class material and today's political world, five times during the semester you will write summaries of news articles on some designated topic. For each topic, I will provide you with some guidelines on what to look for in selecting articles; for some topics I will provide one of the articles as well. Informational guidelines/initial articles will be posted on the class webpage.

Your task for each news summary paper is to find two additional articles in addition to the one I give you, or to find three articles if you are not given an initial article. In a short paper (one single-spaced page maximum), summarize all three articles and discuss one of them at more length – explain the issue or problem at stake, describe how political actors and institutions are responding, and offer some of your own thoughts on the issue in question.

News summary paper topic due date discussion format

#1 federalism, federal-state relations Friday, February 27 online

#2 presidential-congressional relations Friday, March 13 in class

#3 recent Supreme Court decisions Wednesday, April 8 in class

#4 public opinion and/or media coverage Friday, May 1 online

#5 the first 100 days of the Obama presidency Wednesday, May 20 in class

Papers 1 and 4 are due in the box outside Chris’s office door by 10 am on the due date (both sections will be due at 10 am); online discussion instructions will be posted.

Papers 2, 3, and 5 are due in person, in class on the designated due dates.

Students who give advanced notice of an excused absence on paper due dates should turn in papers prior to (not after) the due date.

Late papers will lose 20 points (out of 100) and could lose more if not turned in within 24 hours.

Plan on turning in a complete paper – your one-page summary AND the articles you found, which must be attached to your paper when submitting it. Any paper that is not complete when submitted is considered late.

To assist in writing these papers, a style guide appears on the last page of this syllabus. Please consult it when writing your papers!!

HELPFUL HINTS for ALL NEWS SUMMARY ASSIGNMENTS:

A daily newspaper or a good news website should be your first choice for finding articles! Here are some major national newspapers that give access to today’s news and which often allow you to sign up for free subscriptions to grant even more access to their content:

New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/

Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/

Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/public/us

Los Angeles Times: http://www.latimes.com/

Christian Science Monitor: http://www.csmonitor.com/

A large amount of political content is also available at the websites of CNN and Fox News, and the TV networks CBS, ABC and NBC
Libraries subscribe to most of these newspapers, and many more; go to the library, read the sections on national news and/or politics!
OR at the Gustavus library home page, go to Databases (left panel of home page) and choose EITHER Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe or Proquest Newsstand for access to articles from a large number of news sources; these databases can be searched with lots of features for limiting/focusing your search; off-campus access to these databases does require a Gustavus ID (the barcode number and your last name as password will be requested)
Choose RECENT articles (generally, go back no further than January 1, 2008) unless otherwise indicated in the assignment
Use the government writing style guide in preparing your paper!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

FUTURE NEWS SUMMARY ASSIGNMENTS:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

PREVIOUS/OLD NEWS SUMMARY ASSIGNMENTS (old assignment info goes here)

#1, Contemporary Issues in Federalism

The topic for the first news summary assignment is FEDERALISM/FEDERAL-STATE RELATIONS, following what will be the typical format for all of these assignments:

· The first of the three articles for this assignment is: “Georgia Loses Federal Case in a Dispute about Water”

· Find TWO ADDITIONAL ARTICLES that cover some aspect of federalism/federal-state relations, using the tips and guidelines listed below

· Valid TOPICS under federal-state relations include ANY issue where some part of the federal government (Congress, President Obama, executive branch departments and agencies, the Supreme Court and other federal courts) is interacting with some part of any state or local government (local governments would include cities and counties). These interactions cover just about any issue area one can think of: water rights (as in my example, but don’t limit yourself to water rights only!), environmental issues, health care, agriculture, trade and commerce, education, use of the National Guard, taxation issues, legal disputes over same-sex marriage and other issues, assistance with natural disasters, etc. Note these are just examples of possible topics to search for – choose something you are interested in, or scan today’s paper or a good news website and see if any relevant articles pop up. The recently passed economic stimulus package qualifies as a good article, but make sure any stimulus package article you find is actually discussing relations between the federal government and the states, or relations between states.

· Using the keyword “federalism” in your searches may also work, although the term is not used in news stories as much as it is in political science books!

#2 Presidential-Congressional Relations

The topic this time is PRESIDENTIAL-CONGRESSIONAL RELATIONS and your task is simple: find three articles dealing with President Obama’s relations with the Congress. These articles can cover any topic – focus on just one aspect or event, or choose three different topics; it’s entirely up to you.

· There is NO starter article for this news summary; you find all three

· Given the topic (President Obama and Congress), all articles should be from 2009 (use nothing published prior to January 1, 2009)

· We will discuss the articles you find, and presidential-congressional relations in general, IN CLASS on Friday, March 13. Papers are due in class.

#3 Recent Supreme Court decisions

This assignment’s focus is on the Supreme Court (this is more broad than the initial listing of civil rights and civil liberties). There is no starter article for this assignment. Your task is to find three articles that discuss the U.S. Supreme Court’s involvement in some recent case. This “involvement” can be at any stage: agreeing to hear a case, the oral arguments, or the final decision. “Articles” means you are looking for news coverage or commentary on a case, not the actual case ruling itself.

At least ONE of your articles should be focused on a final decision – a ruling of the Supreme Court – on some case.
The time frame for this assignment is longer – you can go as far back as January 1, 2007 for your articles.
The paper format is identical to previous news summary assignments: one single-spaced page, summarizing all three articles and discussing ONE of them at more length.
No article used for a previous news summary assignment can be included.
A sample of the kind of article (commentary in this case) that is appropriate can be found by clicking here.

#4 Public opinion polls

Your task is to find 3 news articles that discuss the results of some public opinion poll that surveys the American public about some subject. These articles can all be about the same topic, or they can cover different topics. As usual, one article should be discussed in more detail.

· Your paragraph summary should include (when available) the margin of error for the poll discussed in the article, and the number of people surveyed (if this information is not given with the article and/or if you perceive that this poll has not been conducted in a scientific manner, please note that specifically in your paper!)

· The major polling organizations (Gallup and Roper, for example) have their own websites and they post reports about the polls they are conducting; we are interested in news articles, however, NOT reports from a polling organization. Part of the point here is to see how news providers report on both the substance and the technical details of polls. Thus you should find these articles using the same techniques and same news sources you have been utilizing all semester.

· the ‘standard’ ‘no further than’ date is in effect: go back no later than January 1, 2008.