American government
| Question # 44453 | History | 1 year ago |
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| $15 |
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Purpose:
The purpose of this assignment is for you to practice applying concepts from the lesson materials to current events. You can better understand the concepts by observing them at work in real-world situations and explaining the impact. This particular assignment focuses on reform of the federal bureaucracy. Reforming or restructuring portions of the federal bureaucracy is a common theme in national politics. In almost any given year various proposals for reform are either being discussed in the media or undertaken in Washington.
Task:
Follow these steps to complete your paper.
1. Select two of the federal departments or agencies. The full list of departments and agencies can be found here: https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies
2. Research any major changes—either proposed or actually enacted—to these departments or agencies within the past five years. I suggest reading about the agencies from the links in the list url above and searching the news for an article or two.
3. Write a 400 - 600 word paper analyzing your findings as follows:
a. Give a brief introduction about the departments or agencies you chose.
b. Describe what exactly has changed, or is proposed to change for each department/agency.
c. Discuss how do you think such changes will affect, or have affected, the departments'/agencies' functioning.
4. Format your paper per academic standards: double-spaced, Times New Roman 12-point font, 1 inch margins, complete sentences, clear division into paragraphs, no use of slang or vague terms like "etc", "stuff", "things".
5. Please provide a reference for any source you used (besides the textbook). I do expect at least two citations, one of which can be the usa.gov website given above. Below is an example of how to list a news article as a reference source. If the article has no author, then just leave the author name off. I also show below how to list the website as a reference source.
Example references:
Harwood, William. “SpaceX Launches Next-Generation Dragon Cargo Ship to Space Station.” CBS News, 7 December 2020, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/spacex-launches-dragon-cargo-ship-international-space-station. Accessed 8 December 2020.
"A-Z Index of U.S. Government Departments and Agencies." USA.gov, 2021, https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies. Accessed 2 January 2021.
Grading Criteria:
% of Grade
Area
Description
10%
Selection of departments/agencies
There are two departments/agencies selected from the list provided.
10%
Description of departments/agencies
Each department/agency is correctly and concisely described. The purpose and nature of the organizations are clear.
15%Discussion of changesThe changes made or proposed to each department/agency are within the last 5 years and correctly described.
15%Discussion of impactThe impact of the changes on the functioning of the departments/agencies is clearly described and insightfully written.
10%
Reference citation
There are at least two reference citations given. Wikipedia or other online encyclopedias are not used.
10%
Thoroughness
The narrative is well-developed and thorough, displaying a great deal of thought/consideration of the prompts. Interpretations are insightful and thought-provoking.
10%
Organization
The formatting guidelines are followed. Double-spaced, Times New Roman 12-point font, 1 inch margins, complete sentences, clear division into paragraphs. No quotations.
10%
Length
The paper is 400 - 600 words.
10%
Mechanics
Paper is professional, avoids slang terms, and contains no grammatical errors.
