Choose one:
1. See page 57 of Stone, and undertake the exercise that she suggests in the passage that starts “When you confront a political issue…” and ends with “read between the lines and interpret.” Pick a current policy issue, and identify two political figures who take different positions. “Read between the lines” and infer their answers to Stone’s questions.2. Fifty years ago, Max Singer wrote a landmark article titled “The Vitality of Mythical Numbers.” Write your own version about a current issue. That is, identify a dubious statistic that features prominently in policy debate, carefully explain why it is problematic, and spell out how it has distorted deliberations over the issue.
3. After reading the Downs essay on the issue-attention cycle, take an issue from recent years (not including COVID), and explain how it progressed through the cycle.
Instructions:
- Document your claims. Do not write from the top of your head.
- Essays should be double-spaced and no more than four pages long. I will not read past the fourth page.
- Cite your sources with endnotes in Chicago/Turabian style. Endnote pages do not count against the page limit.
- Watch your spelling, grammar, diction, and punctuation. Errors will count against you.
- Turn in essays to the class Sakai dropbox by 11:59 PM, Friday, October 1. I reserve the right to dock late essays one gradepoint for one day’s lateness, a full letter grade after that.
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