1st Paper – due in Week 4:
Write an opinion
essay in which you address a common-pool resource problem. Your essay, or op-ed, should be written in
the style of op-eds in the New York Times, Washington Post, or Wall
Street Journal. Here is a typical set
of instructions for submitting an op-ed:
https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115014809107-How-to-submit-an-Op-Ed-essay.
In your essay,
clearly explain why the problem you describe is a common-pool resource
dilemma. Present a policy proposal and
an argument in favor of it. You may take
whatever side you like. For example, you
may identify a common-pool resource problem and argue that the best solution is
to leave it alone and not involve government regulators.
Unlike traditional
opinion essays, please use citations to identify sources. Your essay should be 400-700 words in length
(not counting references). Papers that
are too short or too long will be penalized.
Your paper will be graded on your knowledge of the CPR and the strength
of your argument and analysis of the issues.
More details about
the assignment are below.
2st Paper – due in Week 8:
Write an opinion
essay in which you address a climate or environmental justice problem. Your essay should be written in the style of
op-eds in the New York Times, Washington Post, or Wall Street
Journal.
In your essay,
clearly explain why the problem is a climate or environmental justice
problem. Present a policy proposal to
address it and an argument in favor of your proposal. You may take whatever side you like. For example, you may identify an
environmental justice problem and argue that the best solution is to leave it
alone and not involve government regulators.
Unlike traditional
opinion essays, please use citations to identify sources. Your essay should be 400-700 words in length
(not counting references). Your paper
will be graded on your knowledge of the CPR and the strength of your argument
and analysis of the issues.
Additional details about the assignments:
Your essay should have a clear thesis stated in the first paragraph. Just
as real op-ed essays do, get to the point quickly.
Your essay should make a
theory-driven argument. In the body of your essay, you should describe
a problem and a proposed policy solution.
Explain why the policy should work.
The explanation of why things
work as they do is a critical part of the paper assignment.
Your paper should cite relevant readings in the PS 175 syllabus. That is, if one of the required readings makes a point relevant to the subject of your essay, we expect you to cite that reading in your paper and integrate it into your analysis. If you choose not to cite the reading, please add an endnote to your paper explaining briefly why you thought it best not to mention a reading.
Your paper may cite academic papers or books, government reports, interest groups publications, news stories, or web pages--except Wikipedia--as sources. You should keep in mind that interest group publications and web sites may present selective or misleading information in order to persuade readers to agree with them.
You may not use Wikipedia and other on-line encyclopedias as sources. Because Wikipedia may be edited by the public, entries are sometimes slanted or biased in ways similar to the ways in which interest groups slant the information they provide. Wikipedia is a good source for citations, but it cannot be considered an authoritative source of information. Moreover, we want you to do the research yourselves, rather than rely on Wikipedia
Your paper should not spend much time writing about the details of any policy you propose (or any other law or policies). Just as real op-ed essays do, paint the big picture; don’t wallow around in details. For example, no newspaper would accept an op-ed that patiently explained the details of how the clean air market works.
Your paper should not spend time explaining and justifying your opinions. If you have a side, just say so and move on. We won’t give you any credit for laying out a passionate, well-reasoned defense of your opinion. We want to know what you would do to address a common-pool resource or environmental/climate justice problem.
You do not have to argue the side which you personally support. Like a good lawyer, you should be able to develop a good paper favoring any side in a debate. Which side you choose to argue will have no bearing on your grade.
Format: Your essays should be
400-700 words plus footnotes. They
should be double-spaced with reasonable margins (e.g., 1-1/4") and printed
in font size 11 or 12. Footnotes and citations must be in a
standard reference form (e.g.,
For the paper due dates, please see the syllabus. You should submit your papers electronically on the Gauchospace class web page. You may, of course, submit your papers before the deadline.
Late papers will be accepted, but there is a penalty for late papers. The penalty is 1/3 of a grade for each 2 days, up to 1-2/3 grade off if the paper is ten or more days late. There are cut-off dates for late papers. If your paper will be late, please contact your Teaching Assistant or me to discuss it. In some cases, late-paper penalties may be reduced or waived if we believe you have a reasonable excuse.
Grading
Papers will be graded on the quality of the arguments you present, the evidence you muster to support your arguments, and your skill in writing. You may, of course, present personal opinions, but your opinions (i.e., which side you take in any controversy) will have no influence on your grade. The following rubric will be used to grade your papers.
|
|
Excellent |
Good |
Fair |
Poor |
|
Description
of the common-pool resource or environmental/climate justice problem. |
Clear,
concise description of problem |
Adequate
description; some parts are confusing or missing |
Description
is not present or not clear |
|
|
Argument
for analysis of problem |
Arguments
made throughout paper are particularly well thought out, the structure of
paper is logical, clear |
Argument
makes sense, but has gaps or ignores problems with it. Structure of argument is good |
Argument
to support strategy is present, but structure of argument neither logical,
clear nor explicit |
Lacking
an argument or coherent structure of argument |
|
Use
of theory or evidence |
Should
use a theory or present evidence to explain problem and proposed policy |
Theory
and evidence used, but poorly explained or evidence poorly described |
Missing
theoretical claim and/or evidence |
|
|
Readability
and Spelling/Grammar |
Paper
was overall very readable, varied sentence structure, logical paragraph
breaks with few spelling or grammatical errors |
Paper
was readable with only a few instances of awkward phrasing with few
grammatical errors |
Paper
was difficult to read and/or had a number of spelling and grammatical errors |
|
|
Total |
|
|
|
|
Rubric for Papers 1
and 2
Plagiarism Warning
Let me remind you about the use, or lack of use, of quotation marks and citations: The Campus Regulations have the following to say about plagiarism: "Representing the words, ideas, or concepts of another person without appropriate attribution is plagiarism. Whenever another person's written work is utilized, whether it be a single phrase or longer, quotation marks must be used and sources cited. Paraphrasing another's work, i.e., borrowing the ideas or concepts and putting them into one's 'own' words, must also be acknowledged." In addition, submitting the same paper to two classes is also considered cheating because the work is not original for both classes. Any act of plagiarism or other form of cheating will be rewarded with an automatic "F" and referral to the administration for further punishment.
The standard punishment for plagiarism is a two-quarter suspension from U.C. Santa Barbara. In addition, upper-division students convicted of plagiarism have the conviction noted on their permanent transcript. Anyone reading the transcript (e.g., a law school or graduate school admissions committee, or a potential employer) will know that you been convicted of cheating.
There is a simple way to avoid plagiarism. Put the words you take from another source and add a footnote citing the source. Or you can paraphrase them and add a footnote citing the source. If you paraphrase a section, you still need the footnote. Aside from avoiding plagiarism problems, this can actually improve your grade because it shows that you did additional research.