SF 183
Writing Assignment: Research Question
Example
“The last quarter of the twentieth century may be described as the era of the Republican
Party. During a period when most party observers believed parties were in decline, the
GOP succeeded in first dominating the office and politics of the presidency, and then the
Congress. Following Nixon’s election in 1968, and the decline of the once dominant
Democratic coalition, the Republican Party has played a leading role in the formulation
of presidential policy. It has exercised a similarly profound influence on Congress since
the Republican takeover in 1994, aided by its Senate majorities in the 1980s. It
accomplished this after more than three decades as the minority party. However, unlike
its Democratic predecessor, there is little evidence of a dramatic partisan realignment in
support of the Republican Party in the last quarter of the twentieth century. How, then, do
we account for the success of the contemporary Republican Party in the aftermath of
Democratic dominance? In support of my research, I will consult both primary and
secondary source material. Specifically, I will draw on primary source material available
as various state archives, beginning with the Ray Bliss Papers at the Ohio Historical
Society archives in Columbus, Ohio, as well as the RNC papers housed at the Office of
Presidential Libraries at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. I will also examine
the surviving microfilm record of RNC meetings and memos from the 1960s kept at the
Lamont Government Archives at Harvard University.”
Excerpt: Brian M. Conley, PARTY PEOPLE: Bliss, Brock and the Rise of the Modern
Republican Party.
Topic:
“The last quarter of the twentieth century may be described as the era of the Republican
Party. During a period when most party observers believed parties were in decline, the
GOP succeeded in first dominating the office and politics of the presidency, and then the
Congress. Following Nixon’s election in 1968, and the decline of the once dominant
Democratic coalition, the Republican Party has played a leading role in the formulation
of presidential policy. It has exercised a similarly profound influence on Congress since
the Republican takeover in 1994, aided by its Senate majorities in the 1980s. It
accomplished this after more than three decades as the minority party. However, unlike
its Democratic predecessor, there is little evidence of a dramatic partisan realignment in
support of the Republican Party in the last quarter of the twentieth century.
Question:
How, then, do we account for the success of the contemporary Republican Party in the
aftermath of Democratic dominance?
Sources:
In support of my research, I will consult both primary and secondary source material.
Specifically, I will draw on primary source material available as various state archives,
beginning with the Ray Bliss Papers at the Ohio Historical Society archives in Columbus,
Ohio, as well as the RNC papers housed at the Office of Presidential Libraries at the
National Archives in Washington, D.C. I will also examine the surviving microfilm
record of RNC meetings and memos from the 1960s kept at the Lamont Government
Archives at Harvard University.”