Final Paper (30%): The final paper for this course is intended to be a moderately intensive research project insofar as you will need to perform some additional research on your topic beyond the material covered in this course. The intention here is to introduce you to reviewing literature and identifying key debates related to your topic and to haveyou utilize that scholarly literature to produce an academic paper. Be sure the additional literature selections are scholarly and peer reviewed pieces. I am happy to direct you to relevant literature accordingly.I do not want an opinion piece and you may not use the same topic or issue-area as your group project.This kind of work is ubiquitous in professional publications of various fields and disciplines, such as the American Historical Review, the American Political Science Review, World Politics, in law journals, and the like. The point is to familiarize you withthis form of intellectual production and to let you practice this art yourselves. Why practice it? Writing will, arguably…make you better at writing. The skills involved are also ones that you will use often in the future. Most of you will go on to graduate and professional schools or take positions in organizations where you will have to read and synthesize complex arguments and information for yourselves and others. I suggest you go about tackling this project using one of the following two approaches:(1) Exploratory Case Study: Choose ONE example in your issue area and delve deeply into the literature vis-à-vis in-depth qualitative analyses of within-case evidence. In Social Science Methodology: A Unified Framework (2011), John Gerring described the exploratory case study as a “time-honored approach […] enabling one to gain more in-depth knowledge of one or a few cases that arethought to exemplify key features of a topic” (Kindle Locations 1589-1590). As such, you might choose one SPECIFIC example of ethnic conflict, overthrow etc., on which to research and write.(2) Theory-Based Analysis: Here you will discuss the theoretical underpinnings of your issue area more broadly. Developing a sound understanding of the theory beneath a specific topic is normally the first step in any scholarly inquiry. In Social Science Concepts: A User’s Guide (2006), Gary Goertz wrote, “we must first think clearly about the substance and structure of our concepts [theory] and then we can begin to think about how to validly operationalize that theory into aquantitative measure” (Kindle Locations 165-166). As such, here you should discuss the broad theories resting at the core of your chosen issue area (e.g., ethnic conflict, overthrow, etc.).Other requirements for the final paper are as follows:1. You are to use scholarly literature to support or refute claims.2. Your paper should not exceed 8 pages.3. You are required to use at least five pieces of scholarly literature.4. You must follow Barry Weingast’s CalTech rules (we will discuss this duringdetail in class): http://people.ku.edu/~kennedy1/caltech_rules.pdf5. You are required to follow either MLA or APA formatting:MLA: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/APA: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/*NOTE: My professor wants me to follow this structure:1. Intro- Hook, talk, thesis, road map of what will be talked about in every step (about 1 page)2. Theory/ Alternative Explanation- Quoting material (about 2.5 pages)3. Application/Argument- Why theory/ alternative explanation doesn\’t work (about 4 pages)4. Conclusion- sum up everything already said
