POL 201 Final Paper Topics Handout
Introduction
Voting is the most fundamental right in a constitutional republic such as the United States. Because of its importance, voting has been the basis of numerous historical and contemporary debates. For your final, you will be investigating voting, especially with regard to voter participation, by chosen one of following six topics and examining it in an evidence-based essay.
• Motivating Voters
• Non-Voters
• Uninformed Voters
• Expansion of suffrage
• Suffrage for Felons
• Voting Fraud
Motivating voters refers to efforts to increase voter turnout and participation in elections. This can include voter education, outreach, and mobilization efforts. Non-voters are individuals who are eligible to vote but do not participate in elections. Uninformed voters are those who lack knowledge about the issues and candidates in an election.
Expansion of suffrage refers to efforts to extend the right to vote to more individuals, such as women and minorities. This has been a historical process, with various groups fighting for and gaining the right to vote over time.
Suffrage for convicted felons is a controversial issue. Some argue that individuals who have served their sentences should have their right to vote restored, while others argue that convicted felons have lost the right to participate in the democratic process through their actions.
Voting fraud refers to illegal activities intended to interfere with the democratic process, such as voter impersonation, ballot box stuffing, and voter intimidation. It is important for government and election officials to take steps to prevent and investigate voting fraud to ensure the integrity of elections.
You may go into this project with very strong feelings about one (or more) of these topics, but the purpose of this assignment is to analyze the topic based upon credible sources, such as those written by scholars and professional researchers, not those by pundits or partisan media. In doing this research, you may find that your initial understandings of this topic have changed – or not!
Researching your Topic
Once you have selected your topic, you will need to begin your research. To get you started, you have been given a non-scholarly, but credible, resource from the Pew Research Center (PRC), a nonprofit, non-partisan research group. Review this source first to get a feel for the topic and some of the issues that are common surrounding your topic. Because this course will be your entry into further research, it is required that you use this source on your final. In addition to the source from the PRC, you will need a total of three scholarly (that is, published in a scholarly journal or book) sources for your final. You have been provided with two scholarly sources below, meaning that you will only have to identify and analyze one additional scholarly source if you choose. Alternatively, you can replace these sources with your own scholarly research if you choose – but you will still need three scholarly sources total for your final.
Topics and Aligned Sources:
1) Motivating Voters:
Examine strategies for motivating voters. Discuss at least three strategies that special interest groups or political candidates can use to motivate their voters and get them to the polls. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of each strategy.
Required Non-Scholarly, Credible Source:
Krogstad, J. M., & Noe-Bustamante, Luis. (2021, January 29). Most U.S. citizens report a campaign contacted them in 2020, but Latinos and Asians less likely to say so. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/01/29/most-u-s-citizens-report-a-campaign-contacted-them-in-2020-but-latinos-and-asians-less-likely-to-say-so/
Selected Scholarly Sources:
Gil de Zúñiga, H., Roemmele, A., & Gibson, R. (2020). Scientific and subversive: The two faces of the fourth era of political campaigning. New Media & Society, 22(4), 595–610.
McGuire, B. (2018). Political organizing in the Digital Age: Why campaigns need to integrate traditional and digital organizing. Harvard Kennedy School Review, 18, 25–33.
2) Non-voters:
Examine barriers to voting for non-voters. Discuss at least three ways that the major barriers to voting for most eligible non-voters can be addressed. Explain the advantages and disadvantages to addressing these barriers to voting.
Required Non-Scholarly, Credible Source:
Pew Research Center. (2017, September14). How ‘drop-off’ voters differ from consistent voters and nonvoters. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2017/09/14/how-drop-off-voters-differ-from-consistent-voters-and-non-voters/
Selected Scholarly Sources:
Nickerson, D. W. (2015). Do voter registration drives increase participation? For whom and when? The Journal of Politics, 77(1), 88–101. https://doi.org/10.1086/678391
Draper, B. M. (2021). No more half measures: The case for compulsory voting in United States elections. Elon Law Review, 13(1), 147–192. https://www.elon.edu/u/law/wp-content/uploads/sites/996/2021/01/Brandon-Draper.pdf
3) Uninformed Voters
Examine the issue of uniformed voters. Identify some common characteristics of uninformed voters. Explain how uninformed voters affect the process of choosing democratically-elected representatives. Discuss at least three possible outcomes, positive or negative, of encouraging more uninformed citizens to vote.
Required Non-Scholarly, Credible Source:
Mitchell, A., Jurkowitz, M., Oliphant, J.B., & Shearer, E. (2020, July 30). Americans Who Mainly Get Their News on Social Media Are Less Engaged, Less Knowledgeable. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2020/07/30/americans-who-mainly-get-their-news-on-social-media-are-less-engaged-less-knowledgeable/
Selected Scholarly Sources:
Klašnja, M. (2017). Uninformed voters and corrupt politicians. American Politics Research, 45(2), 256–279. https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X16684574
Kato, G. (2020). When strategic uninformed abstention improves democratic accountability. Journal of Theoretical Politics, 32(3), 366–388.
4) Expansion of Suffrage:
Examine the expansion of suffrage throughout US History. Explain at least three major expansions of suffrage through either constitutional or legislative means in US history. Identify the groups who gained the right to vote as well as the groups who supported and the groups who opposed the expansion of suffrage for each instance you choose.
Required Non-Scholarly, Credible Source:
Gomez. V. & Doherty, C. (2021, July 22). Wide partisan divide on whether voting is a fundamental right or a privilege with responsibilities. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/07/22/wide-partisan-divide-on-whether-voting-is-a-fundamental-right-or-a-privilege-with-responsibilities/
Selected Scholarly Sources:
Teele, D. L. (2018). How the West was won: Competition, mobilization, and women’s enfranchisement in the United States. Journal of Politics, 80(2), 442–461. https://doi.org/10.1086/696621
Tolson, F. (2019). The spectrum of Congressional authority over elections. Boston University Law Review, 99(2), 317–393.
5) Suffrage for convicted felons
Examine the current movement to gain suffrage for convicted felons. Explain at least three the arguments for and/or against allowing convicted felons to vote once they have completed their sentences. Discuss the strategies the movement using to achieve their goal and how much progress has been made to achieve their goal.
Required Non-Scholarly, Credible Source:
Gomez. V. & Doherty, C. (2021, July 22). Wide partisan divide on whether voting is a fundamental right or a privilege with responsibilities. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/07/22/wide-partisan-divide-on-whether-voting-is-a-fundamental-right-or-a-privilege-with-responsibilities/
Selected Scholarly Sources:
Kwortek, J. (2020). Guilty beyond a reasonable vote: Challenging felony disenfranchisement under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Southern California Law Review, 93(4), 849–883. https://southerncalifornialawreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Kwortek_website.pdf
Whitt, M. S. (2017). Felon disenfranchisement and democratic legitimacy. Social Theory & Practice, 43(2), 283–311. https://doi.org/10.5840/soctheorpract20172145
6) Voting Fraud:
Examine the issue of voting fraud. Determine how common documented voting fraud has been in the last 15 years, the methods commonly used, and by whom. Discuss at least three commonly proposed solutions for voting fraud, if they would address the cases of voting fraud you identified, and the advantages and disadvantages of each proposed solution.
Required Non-Scholarly, Credible Source:
Pew Research Center. (2018, October 29). Elections in America: Concerns over security, divisions over expanding access to voting. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2018/10/29/elections-in-america-concerns-over-security-divisions-over-expanding-access-to-voting/
Selected Scholarly Sources:
Eggers, A.C., Garro, H., & Grimmer, J. (2021, November 9). No evidence for systematic voter fraud: A guide to statistical claims about the 2020 election. PNAS, 118(45). https://doi.org/10.1073/PNAS.2103619118
Goel, S., Meredith, M., Morse, M., Rothschild, D., & Shirani-Mehr, H. (2020). One person, one vote: Estimating the prevalence of double voting in U.S. presidential elections. American Political Science Review, 114(2), 456–469.
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Week 3 Final Paper Framework Guide
This guide will help you prepare for your final paper by organizing the information for your final paper, walking you through the process of defining your topic, researching and analyzing scholarly sources, creating an annotated bibliography, and crafting a thesis. Once you have completed the guide submit it to the online classroom for grading.
After your instructor has graded the guide, please be sure to use it and the feedback provided to you by your instructor as you construct your final paper. As a reminder, you can access your feedback through Waypoint directly.
1. Identification of Topic:
In a representative democracy, voting gives citizens our voice in government. It is the power to choose the leaders, to ratify or reject state or federal constitutional amendments, approve or deny bonds, tax changes, and many other questions that affect our lives so voting is the most important right in the United States. The following topics all address voting in the United States in some way. Choose ONE topic from the list below to examine in your final paper.
• Motivating Voters
• Non-Voters
• Uninformed Voters
• Expansion of Suffrage
• Suffrage for Convicted Felons
• Voting Fraud
Which topic have you chosen? Click or tap here to enter text.
2. Subtopics
Once you have selected your topic, next choose three specific subtopics that relate to your topic that you plan to discuss in your final paper. These subtopics will be referenced by the prompt that aligns to your topic.
. For example:
Motivating Voters—Examine strategies for motivating voters. Discuss at least three strategies that special interest groups or political candidates can use to motivate their voters and get them to the polls. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of each strategy?
In the above prompt, the subtopics that should be used for this assignment correspond to “three strategies that special interest groups or political candidates can use to motivate voters and get them to the polls.” Accordingly, each of the three different strategies will be a subtopic.
It is recommended that you complete some research before attempting to complete this part of the assignment. If you are having trouble completing this form or have questions, be sure to contact your instructor.
Complete the form below for each subtopic. Where noted, please identify your subtopic. Then, within each text box, discuss the following:
1. How is this subtopic related to the topic that you chose?
2. How is the subtopic related to voting?
3. Who is affected/involved with or by this subtopic?
4. What circumstances contributed to the subtopic?
5. How does this subtopic affect voting for those individuals involved?
Subtopic 1: Name Subtopic 1 HERE
Click or tap here to enter text.
Subtopic 2: Name Subtopic 2 HERE
Click or tap here to enter text.
Subtopic 3: Name Subtopic 3 HERE
Click or tap here to enter text.
3. Sources
For this assignment, you are required to provide one non-scholarly credible source and two scholarly, peer-reviewed sources; you will need to use an additional scholarly source for your final. You should choose sources that address the prompt for the topic that you chose, especially the subtopics that you outlined above. Provide APA-formatted references and annotations for your sources in the space below.
Please remember that you have been provided with a required non-scholarly credible source and two scholarly peer-reviewed sources that you may use for each topic
Non-Scholarly Credible Sources:
Non-scholarly credible sources are sources like articles that you can find published by newspapers, magazines, polling organizations, think tanks, or other organizations. They are not scholarly or peer reviewed so it is important that you carefully consider if they are credible. Each non-scholarly source must pass the CRAAPO test to be used in this assignment and in your final paper. For this assignment, your non-scholarly, credible source has been selected for you; it is the source listed as “required” in the Final Paper Topic Handout, and is from the Pew Research Center. You may use additional non-scholarly credible sources when you write your final, but you need to make sure to use the required source listed in the handout.
APA Citation for Non-Scholarly Credible Source 1:
Provide the APA citation for your source. Here are some examples of APA citations.
Click or tap here to enter text.
Annotation for Non-Scholarly Credible Source 1:
In your own words, provide an annotation explaining what the source is, where it came from, what this source can tell us about your topic, what information this source provides that will help you address the final paper prompt, and how this source will help you prove your thesis. Be sure to provide specific information in your annotation. Here are some examples of annotations.
Click or tap here to enter text.
Scholarly Peer-Reviewed Sources
Scholarly sources are peer-reviewed article written by professional researchers. You will need to provide two scholarly articles for this assignment, and you will need to identify an additional one for your final for a total of three. You may use one or both of the scholarly articles that have been provided for you with the final paper prompt that you have chosen or you may choose to locate other scholarly articles. You may find the How to Read a Scholarly Article tutorial helpful. If you are having trouble completing this form or have questions, be sure to contact your instructor.
APA Citation for Scholarly Peer-Reviewed Source 1:
Provide the APA citation for your source. Here are some examples of APA citations.
Click or tap here to enter text.
Annotation for Scholarly Peer-Reviewed Source 1:
In your own words, provide an annotation explaining what the source can tell you about your topic, what author’s thesis is, the evidence they use, and how this source will help you address the final paper prompt. Be sure to provide specific information in your annotations. Here are some examples of annotations.
Click or tap here to enter text.
APA Citation for Scholarly Peer-Reviewed Source 2:
Click or tap here to enter text.
Annotation for Scholarly Peer-Reviewed Source 2:
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4. Introduction and Thesis Statement
Provide an introduction and thesis statement for your final paper. An introduction introduces your topic and approach. A thesis is a sentence length statement of the main idea of your paper. A good introduction and thesis should be informed by the findings of your sources, and your analysis of the ways in which those findings apply to the final paper prompt.
In addition, your thesis should help you organize your paper. Each of the subtopics you have chosen to examine should be incorporated into your thesis, and the order in which you mention these subtopics should be the order in which you examine these subtopics in your paper.
Example thesis: The Progressive movement reached its zenith in the early 1900s, demonstrated by the popularity of muckraking literature, the ratification of new Constitutional amendments, and the political platforms of presidential candidates in the 1912 election.
In this case, the three subtopics that would be explored are:
1) Muckraking literature
2) Progressive Constitutional amendments
3) The political platforms of presidential candidates in the 1912 election
For more information about thesis statements, consult the UAGC Writing Center’s Thesis Statement Tutorial and UAGC AEC How To Write a Thesis video.
Draft of Introduction and thesis:
