Political Science: Final Project Guidelines, Legislative Case Studies, and Course Logistics

Late Penalty Policy: The instructor clarified that while late penalties are applied systematically to the entire course, they can be manually removed for individual assignments upon receipt. The instructor intends to ensure students have the opportunity to focus on civic engagement, such as registering to vote, without being penalized for timing.
Grading Incentives and Extra Credit: * Voter Registration: Students earn $20$ points for registering to vote. * Course Evaluation: Completion of the course evaluation at the end of the term is worth $25$ points. * Additional Credit: An additional $50$ points are available, totaling enough to significantly impact a student's final grade, potentially moving a grade from a B to an A.

Educational Purpose: The project was designed based on a conference presentation regarding alternatives to traditional academic essays. The goal is to allow students to leverage their specific talents—such as art, music, dance, or digital design—to express research in a meaningful way.
Advocacy and Personal Connection: Students are encouraged to use their background and personal experiences (e.g., immigration status, socioeconomic status, race, class, gender) to inform their work. The project serves as an opportunity for self-advocacy and the articulation of a solid political position.
Topic Selection and Controversial Issues: * The instructor encourages picking controversial topics (e.g., the housing crisis, ICE, immigration policy reform, gender in sports) because it requires the student to become an expert and defend a stance. * Restricted Topics: The only project ever denied in $7$ years was a proposal suggesting the eradication of Islam. The instructor rejected this on the basis of human rights, noting that arguments for ethnic cleansing, genocide, or internment camps have no valid or legitimate academic standing.

The Traditional Research Paper Option: * Length: Generally suggested at $3-5$ pages, though the instructor will read longer submissions, even up to a $30$ page thesis. * Citation Styles: Students may use MLA (common) or APA (preferred for social sciences). APA is noted for being easier due to the use of footnotes (e.g., footnotes $1$ through $20$ ), which is efficient when citing the same source multiple times. * Citation Frequency: A general rule of thumb is one solid citation per page (e.g., $5$ citations for a $5$ page paper).
Alternative Formats and Examples: * Poster Sessions: Comparable to academic conferences where data (graphs, charts) is displayed visually while the researcher explains the findings. * Music: A student previously created a "cigar box guitar" (a rudimentary $3$ string instrument used by enslaved people) and wrote a period-specific song. * Dance: A classically trained ballerina used a dance choreographed to specific music to represent human trafficking, using ribbons as a metaphor for being shackled. * Video/Digital Content: Options include YouTube videos, reels, or parodies, such as a newscast where the student presents information while dressed as a news anchor. * Art/Paintings: Visual art is acceptable but must be accompanied by an explanation of the research and the symbolic meaning behind the work.

Regardless of the format, every project must address four specific prompts to ensure academic rigor: 1. Issue Identification: A clear description of the topic. 2. Personal History: The student's experience or connection to the topic. 3. Actors and Policies: Identification of the stakeholders, organizations, and current laws (e.g., Senate Bill $6594$ ) related to the issue. 4. Proposed Solution: The student acts as a "dictator for a day" to propose a policy solution, whether it is as extreme as banning all airplanes (for a chemtrails topic) or providing tax-funded equipment.

Stakeholders (Actors): In political science, the term "actors" refers to individuals, groups, or organizations with a stake in a policy, not celebrities (unless they are specific individual activists).
Example: Gun Control Actors: * Individuals: Gun owners, victims of gun violence, hunters, Olympic biathlon athletes. * Groups/Organizations: National Rifle Association (NRA), gun control advocacy groups, gun shops, and ammunition manufacturers. * Government: State and federal entities, legislators.

Background: A legislator from Orting, WA, proposed a bill to allow golf carts on city streets to emulate retirement communities like Palm Springs or Florida. Orting has several retirement villages and the Foothills Trail.
The Legislative Process: During a public hearing in the Transportation Committee, an unexpected "actor" appeared: the Captain of the Washington State Patrol.
Stakeholder Concerns: The State Patrol raised several practical and safety questions that the policy analyst (the instructor) had not initially considered: * What time of day can they operate? * Are lights and blinkers required? * Are seat belts mandatory? * What is the age limit for drivers (e.g., is an $8$ year old allowed to drive)?
Resolution: These concerns were reconciled to allow the bill to pass out of committee and eventually into law.

Recycling Papers: Students should not simply resubmit a paper from another class (e.g., English or Sociology). While the research can be used as a foundation, the project must specifically address prompts $3$ and $4$ .
AI Policy: The instructor uses a strict zero-tolerance policy for AI-generated content. He notes that AI writing is often recognizable through specific patterns (e.g., overuse of em-dashes or specific punctuation like "v.i.a."). Submitting AI-generated work results in a grade of $0$ .
Research Validity: Students must use reliable sources. The instructor shared an anecdote regarding The Lancet, a medical journal that had to retract a study on vaccines and autism after it was discovered the author had plagiarized and falsified data.

Course Material: Students are expected to use the textbook and available PowerPoints to study procedural, substantive, and administrative law.
Discussion Question: The upcoming focus will be on the Supreme Court and Alexander Hamilton's argument regarding whether the judiciary is the "most dangerous branch."
Modern Social Trends: A brief discussion occurred regarding "looksmaxing" and "bone smashing," trends among young men discovered through digital research/social media, illustrating how governments or social bodies might eventually face pressures to regulate social media content and free speech.