1
ARGUMENTATIVE RESEARCH PAPER TOPICS 2015-16
Academic Tenure
Business-Improvement Districts
Accounting Industry Regulation
Cable Television Regulation
Affirmative Action
Cameras in the Courts
Age Discrimination
Campaign-Finance Reform
Air Bags
Campus Policing
Air Pollution
Cap-and-Trade Programs
Alcohol and Cigarette Taxes
Capital-Gains Tax
Alcohol and Tobacco Advertising
Capping Executive Pay
Allocating Federal Funds to Cities
Census Sampling
Alternative Energy Incentives
Character Education
American Indian Policy
Charge-For-Rescue Laws
Americans with Disabilities Act
Charter Schools
Amtrak's Future
Chemical and Biological Weapons
Antiterrorism Policies and Civil Liberties
Child-Welfare Policies
Arbitration
Civil Asset Forfeiture
Army Corps of Engineers
Class Action Lawsuits
Automobile Industry Crisis
Clean Air Act
Bipartisanship
Cochlear Implants
Block Scheduling in Schools
College Early Decision Policies
Boarding Schools for Troubled Teens
College Entrance Exams
Boot Camps for Juvenile Offenders
College Legacy Programs
Border Patrols Civilian Volunteer
College Tuition Costs
Bounty Hunters
Comic Books and Graphic Novels
Boxing Regulation
Commercial Personal Data Collection
Boycotts
Community Service Requirements in Schools
Broadcast Decency Rules
Compulsory Voting
Budget Deficits
Computer Hacking
Budget Surplus Allocation
Confederate Symbols
2
ARGUMENTATIVE RESEARCH PAPER TOPICS 2015-16
Confidentiality of Reporters' Sources
Endangered Species Act
Congressional Earmarks
Ergonomic Standards
Constitutional Amendments
Ethics of Intelligence Gathering
Consumer-Bankruptcy Reform
Executive Privilege
Contingent Workers' Rights
Exit Polling
Copyright and the Internet
Exporting Democracy
Copyright Extensions
Faith-Based Initiatives
Cultural Artifacts Ownership
False Confessions
Debt Forgiveness
Family Leave
Defense Spending
Federal Land Use
Deficit Spending
Federal Reserve System
Detainees' Rights
Federalist Society
Diesel Emissions
Filibusters
Disaster Relief
Flat Tax
Disenfranchisement of Felons
Food Safety
Distance Learning
Forest Management
Domestic Surveillance
For-Profit Public Schools
Drug Testing
Foster Care
Ecotourism
Freedom of Information
Education Standards
Funeral Protests
Education Year-Round
Future of U.S. Manufacturing
Election Monitors U.S.
Gasoline Taxes
Election Reform
Gated Communities
Electoral College
Gentrification
Electric Utility Deregulation
Global Currency
Electronic Privacy
Global Population Growth
Electro-Shock Guns Police Use
Government Transparency
Elimination of the Penny
Grandparents' Visitation Rights
3
ARGUMENTATIVE RESEARCH PAPER TOPICS 2015-16
Head Start Preschool Program
Labor Unions
Heart Screening for High School Athletes
Land-Mine Ban
History Curriculum Reform
Lead Poisoning
Holocaust Reparations
Learning Disabilities
Home Buyer Tax Credit
Legal Services Corporation
Housing Vouchers
Life Span Extension
Human Rights Litigation International
Line-Item Veto
Hydroelectric Energy
Linguistic Diversity
Hydrogen Power
Loan Discrimination
Immigration
Lobbying Reform
Income Gap
Local Food Movement
Independent Counsels
Logging in National Forests
Infotainment
Luddites and Technology
Infrastructure Upkeep
Mandatory Sentencing
Intelligence Testing
Manned Spaceflight
International Criminal Court
Mars Exploration
Internet Advertising
Mass-Transit Funding
Internet Campaigning
Mass-Transit Security
Internet Filtering Software
Media Bias
Internet Radio Royalties
Media Consolidation
Internet Taxation
Memorial Building
Internet Voting
Mentally Ill in the Legal System
Israeli Settlements
Mercury Emissions
Journalists' Safety
Metric System
Judicial Activism
Militarizing Space
Judicial Double Jeopardy
Military Aircraft Unmanned
Judicial Nominations
Military Corporations Private
Jury System
Military Draft
4
ARGUMENTATIVE RESEARCH PAPER TOPICS 2015-16
Military Recruiting at High Schools
Olympic Bidding Process
Military Tribunals
Olympic Boycotts
Minimum Wage
Online Journalism
Miranda Warnings
Organized Squatting
Missile Defense Programs
Outsourcing White-Collar Jobs Overseas
Morality in America
Paid Vacation Time
Multiculturalism in Education
Panhandling Laws
Municipal Broadband Internet Access
Parents'-Rights Laws
NASA Funding
Personhood for Primates
Nation Building
Pet-Owner Liability
National Anthem
Plea Bargains
National Identification Cards
Pledge of Allegiance
National Parks Policy
Police Lineups
National Power Grid
Police Pursuit
National Sales Tax
Policing Quality-of-Life
National Security and the Media
Political Asylum
National Service and Volunteerism
Political Correctness in Education
Native American Sovereignty
Political Diversity in Higher Education
Naturalized Citizens and the Presidency
Political Polls
Needle-Exchange Programs
Politicians' Privacy
(Inter)Net Neutrality
Polygraph Tests
New Orleans Recovery
Postal Service U.S.
No-Fault Divorce
Postsecondary Prison Education
Nobel Peace Prize
Presidential Debates
Noncitizen Voting Rights
Presidential Pardons
Noncitizens in the Military
Presidential Primaries
Nonprofit Institutions and Taxes
Presidential Records
'Official-English' Laws
Prison Privatization
5
ARGUMENTATIVE RESEARCH PAPER TOPICS 2015-16
Prisoner Rehabilitation and Recidivism
Single-Sex Education
Prisoners' Rights
Skilled-Worker Visas
Private Ownership of Public Space
Social Networking and Privacy
Private Security
Solitary Confinement
Product Safety
Standardized High School Exit Exams
Property-Rights Laws
States' Rights
Proportional Representation
Student-Achievement Testing
Public Broadcasting
Student ID Cards
Public Opinion Polling
Students' Free-Speech Rights
Public Protest
Surveillance Cameras
Public-School Funding
Tabloid Journalism
Race and Ethnicity in Entertainment
Telecommuting
Racial Gerrymandering
Telemarketing
Religion in the Workplace
Televised Executions
Reporter's Testimonial Privilege
Term Limits
Rescuing the Newspaper Industry
Think Tanks
Reserve Officers Training Corps ROTC
'Three-Strikes' Crime Laws
Safe-Haven Laws
Ticket Resale
Sanctions
Tourism in Authoritarian Countries
School Attendance Incentives
Tracking in Schools
School Busing
Trade Deficit
School Safety
Trans-Fat Bans
School Vouchers
Twenty-Four-Hour News Cycle
Science in the Courtroom
Unpaid Internships
Seaport Security U.S.
Urban Sprawl
Self-Defense Laws
User-Edited Online Content
Sentencing Juveniles to Life without Parole
Voting Machines
Sign-Language Towns
Welfare Reform
6
ARGUMENTATIVE RESEARCH PAPER TOPICS 2015-16
Welfare-to-Work
Wiretapping the Internet
Wetlands Regulation
Women in the Military
Wildfire Prevention
Workplace Privacy
Wildlife Relocation
How to begin:
This is a list of topics. It is your responsibility to research the controversies
surrounding these topics and determine your thesis. You may utilize any grade
appropriate (high school level is a minimum) print media from the school, public, or
university libraries. While searching online, use only the following sources:
http://jpl.coj.net/res/db/dbaz.html - Jacksonville Public Library Database
http://www.jacksonville.com
http://www.reuters.com
http://www.foxnews.com
http://www.msnbc.com
http://www.cnn.com
http://www.bbc.com
http://www.nytimes.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.chicagotribune.com
http://www.latimes.com
http://www.miamiherald.com
http://www.orlandocentinel.com
You may use any books, major newspaper articles, news magazine articles, or
professional journal articles. However, encyclopedias, world yearbooks, etc. are not
permitted.
Start by choosing your top five topics and do some preliminary research. Be
prepared with a list of your top five (in order of preference) by 12/4. At that time you
will choose 2 to explore further.