Final Exam Writing Assignment
POLS 1101
Question: Is the United States of America a democracy?
Description: Over the course of the semester, you will learn about the American political system. This will include lectures, readings, and discussion on many topics including democracy, civil liberties, civil rights, and American government procedures and structures. Using the knowledge you gain, you will write a paper addressing whether or not America is a democracy. You will need to clearly state your answer to the question and support it using three pieces of evidence. I have provided an outline below that shows you how to prepare and write your paper. You have all semester to work on and complete this assignment so please start working on it early. Be in contact with me early and often regarding your paper, I will be able to help steer you through
any questions or problems you may have.
Outline: Follow this outline. It will help you organize and support your argument. Ultimately, you are writing
a persuasive essay. Thus, you will need to state an argument and support it with evidence. This type of essay is
very common in college so this will help practice and get use to the organization and structure of a persuasive
essay.
Brief Outline:
Introduction
Thesis Statement
Supporting Evidence 1
Supporting Evidence 2
Supporting Evidence 3
Conclusion
Detailed Outline:
-Introduction
Define and discuss the criteria for democracy. What does a country need to be democratic?
Use the textbook, the article entitled “What democracy is and isn’t”, and the video lectures to get
the information need for this section.
-Thesis Statement (1 Paragraph):
Clearly state whether or not you think America is a democracy. Briefly preview the three pieces of
evidence you are going to use.
Your thesis statement is your argument. It must be clear and strongly stated so I know what you
are arguing.
-Supporting Evidence 1
Using Freedom House’s 2021analysis of the U.S., support your argument
regarding democracy in the U.S.
This web page is link in the Final Exam module. Please visit it early and start reading through it.
-Supporting Evidence 2
Choose a news quiz article from the ones provided and explain the event covered in the article and how
it supports your argument.
I will provide you with links to many articles that will work well for whichever side you argue.
You are free to find your own article, but you should send it to me first.
-Supporting Evidence 3
Choose another quiz news article from the ones provided and explain the event covered in the article and
how it supports your argument.
I will provide you with links to many articles that will work well for whichever side you argue.
You are free to find your own article, but you should send it to me first.
-Conclusion (1-2 Paragraphs)
Summarize your supporting evidence and how it supports your overall argument. This should include a
brief discussion about how the other argument could be right.
Citations: You will need outside sources for this paper. All sources must be properly cited. This means that the
sources need to be parenthetically cited in the text of the paper (example below) and needs to be included in a
bibliography page (example below). Failure to properly cite sources is an indication of plagiarism, so take this
seriously and be diligent. You should ask me any questions you have regarding citations. I am more than
happy to guide you in this area so that you do not fall into plagiarism inadvertently. You are not allowed to use
any user-edit web sites (Wikipedia, Yahoo Answers, Ask.com, etc.) or social media as sources (if you feel the
need to use social media sources, you must discuss it with me first). If you turn in a paper with no in-text
citations and/or no bibliography, I will immediately deduct 25 points from your grade.
-In-text citation examples:
Doe (2020) claims that authoritarian states need to increase the number of civil liberties given to their citizens.
Authoritarian regimes “must consistently increase civil liberty protections in order bring true peace and stability
to their citizens” (Doe, 2020)
Freedom House (2020) reports that the United State usually has free and competitive elections.
-Bibliography example: Use hanging intent
Doe, Jane. 2020. “Authoritarian Regimes and Civil Liberties.” Ending Authoritarianism.
Webb Publishing.
Last Name, First name. Year. “Title of article in quotes.” Title of
book/newspaper/magazine/website in italics. Date article written. Link to article if
online.
Last Name, First name. Year. “Title of Chapter in quotes.” Title of Book in italics. Publisher of
the book.