Political reform essay
- Due on Tuesday, May 6, at 3:30 pm, in my office (DRL 4N28).
- Consider a proposed reform of the political system.
- Find political organizations that support and that oppose the particular reform you've chosen (at least one of each). Describe their views and their arguments.
- Discuss the mathematical aspects of the reform (e.g. using game theory or simply calculations).
Examples:
- In discussing the electoral college you could describe the way votes in some states are more likely to influence the outcome of the election
than in others.
- In discussing campaign finance reform, you could describe the models that predict the effects of a reform.
- Avoid purely political arguments, though.
- Cite at least one academic/scholarly paper on the subject (e.g. Journal of Public Economics).
Try looking in databases on political science and
economics; typically these papers will use mathematical models.
- Cite at least one nonacademic article on the subject (e.g. Newsweek or Washington Post)
- You may use sources linked on this web page, but these will not count toward your minimum (e.g. if you use Stephen Coate's paper,
you have to use another academic paper as well).
- What current problem does the reform correct? What new problems could the reform create?
- Give explicit examples of how it would work.
- Finally, give your own opinion on it.
- No more than three pages.
- Points will be assigned based on: 1) your understanding of the arguments over the reform you've chosen, 2) citations and fulfillment
of requirements, and 3) mathematical aspects of arguments.
- Bonus points may be assigned for things like studying a reform I haven't mentioned, or applying mathematics from this course.