The task will be to inquire more deeply into an aspect of social inequality, consider and evaluate a current policy, referendum, law, legislative act, or court decision which has been made recently to address this issue, and to suggest your own proposal for change. The policy act chosen by the student must be currently proposed or recently implemented. Students will be required to provide a brief history of the law or policy, its current status, the affected population and why such rulemaking was seen as necessary. You will justify your position using the concepts and theories learned in the class and will be expected to demonstrate how your research relates to your understanding of the course concepts, readings and theories. Data collection for the paper should be based on: scholarly journals, newspapers, magazines, congressional testimonies, archival material, planning department documents, government reports, and analyses, census data, and other governmental data sources. Blog postings and online forums should not be used.
Your paper should contain the following elements:
Problem Statement (state, describe, and demonstrate the importance of your problem).
Identify the problem that concerns you and how it relates to social inequality.
Characterize the nature, dimensions, and impacts of this problem.
Causal analysis (identify the major causes of this problem).
Policy Approach (provide a brief history of the law or policy, its current status, the affected population and why such rulemaking was seen as necessary).
Proposal for Change (propose an alternative way to address this problem).
Describe and justify your solution and illustrate how it addresses the causes of the problem. If possible, mobilize evidence that such a solution might work, g. instances in which such an approach has been used.
Evaluate the limitations of your solution: What aspects of the problem does it leave unaddressed, unchanged? What else do you think might be necessary to do to alleviate this problem?
The paper must be clear, concise and succinct. You should include data in tables, graphs, and or figures if you have large amounts of quantitative data you would like to include. Tables, figures, and graphs must have a descriptive title over it and be referred to by figure number in the text of the research paper. Grades for the term papers will be based on organization, thoroughness of argument, and connection/integration of various themes, concepts, and readings from the course to explain your research problem. Papers should demonstrate thoughtful engagement with issues, causes, and consequences of social inequality.