In this assignment:

1. Identify a current event in politics that has occurred between May 2023 and the end of October 2023.

2. Gather citations for information about what happened in the event.

3. Begin discussing the event in terms of a scientific approach to politics, as opposed to just describing what happened.

4. Discuss the relevant actors and institutions in the event.

 

Here are the questions that you should address:

Q1: Briefly describe the event. When doing so, please cite at least two news articles or other sources that document the event or help you explain the issue?

Q2: How might the Historical Institutionalism perspective (or a broader scientific perspective) explain this event and what lead up to it? That is, the event likely is not some isolated thing but is part of a much larger phenomenon or trend. How do you think this event might be part of that? Note: Do not conflate Historical Institutionalism as a focus on race or gender. It is a broader perspective on how historical events and circumstances shape the current system. You do not have to talk about race or gender if you do not think it is relevant here -- there are many other things you can bring up.

Q3: Why should we care about this event? What are the long-term consequences for it? What precedent does it set? What does it tell us about a larger trend? Does it help us identify a larger trend?

Q4: Sources. For all of your sources of information describing the event, discussing the event, or any other information that you included here that are not your own, original ideas, include a complete list of these sources. You will want to keep track of all of these sources for the final paper. These sources will need to follow a consistent format. I highly recommend downloading and using Zotero for this class as well as others, to help manage references.

 

Example of an entry:

Roberts, Damon C. 2022. "Will Biden's age keep him from being re-elected?" The Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/21/biden-trump-president-age-2024-election/Links to an external site..