Political Science 130g Research Paper Assignment Spring - 2021 Nature of the Assignment: The goal of this assignment is for students to apply the concepts of the Dynamic Court View or Constrained Court View to one of the cases below. In the end, you will thoroughly research the case you selected as well as the apparent influences on the Supreme Court resulting in the decision. You may select from one of the following cases: Atkins v. Virginia (2002) Lawrence v. Texas (2003) Gratz v. Bollinger (2003) Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (2014) Your paper must include the following components: (1) provide an introduction that includes a strong thesis statement setting forth the position you will take relative to your case; (2) summarize your case, including who are the parties, the main legal claims presented and how the court resolved them; (3) set forth the elements of either the DCV or CCV model depending on which model fits your case; (4) analyze your case in light of the elements from either a DCV or CCV perspective (this is where you need to incorporate the research you discovered on the various elements of DCV or CCV); (5) develop and rebut the most persuasive counter-argument(s) and (6) offer the broader implications about your analysis, in other words, what does your case study tell us about the conditions under which the Supreme Court is more likely to be “dynamic” versus “constrained.” Logistics of the Paper: The paper is due in class at the beginning of lecture on Thursday, April 29. Late papers will be marked down ½ grade (5 pts) for every day late. All late papers must be uploaded on Turnitin and emailed directly to your teaching assistant. Papers must be 10 to 12 pages in length, double spaced, on 8 ½ by 11 inch paper, using a 12 point, legible font (such as New Times Roman or Courier). Every paper must have a title page that includes a title, the student’s name, the student’s TA and the section time. Neither the title page nor the Work Cited page count toward your total page count. Any paper less than 10 full pages will be marked down ½ grade (5 pts). Caveat: You will be graded in part on the quality and quantity of your research. You may cite scholarly (peer-reviewed) sources and non-scholarly sources, although scholarly sources are viewed as more valid and therefore more valuable to your analysis. You must also properly cite all sources using a Work Cited page with parenthetical citations, including internal page cites. Please follow MLA format Turnitin: Students must not only turn in a hard copy to their TA but also submit an electronic version to “Turnitin.” Turnitin is an anti-plagiarism program that is located within Blackboard. All papers will be examined for evidence of plagiarism. Plagiarism of any form, which includes the failure to cite sources, will earn you an “F” on this assignment. If you have questions about citation, ask your TA.
