i have attached the following document which has the details of my assignment which is due no later than Tuesday. you can choose any 1 question from the 3 questions. it is related to political studies
POLS2502
Written Assignments
Students have two written assignments for this course, each worth 25% of your final grade. The first assignment is due Tuesday, October 13th. The second assignment is due Tuesday December 1st. Late assignments will be penalized at a rate of one grade level (i.e A to a B+) per week late, and no comments will be provided. Papers, however, will be accepted up to the last day of class, and no submission will be failed for being late.
All papers will be submitted and returned via UMLEARN (assignments section) hopefully within two weeks following submission (no promises though).
Papers should be approximately eight to ten pages in length which does not include citations (footnotes or endnotes) and bibliography. Students are strongly urged to access a source on citation and bibliography styles. The most common style used in international relations is the Chicago Style. See this site for information on how to cite using the Chicago Style (https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/chicago_manual_17th_edition/chicago_style_introduction.html) Students are free to select any citation style, but must only use one style consistently. Papers without citations is called plagiarism, and will receive an automatic F. There is no requirement to use a specific number of books or journal articles for your bibliography. Primary sources (those closest to the topic are best. E.g. a UN resolution is better than someone’s interpretation of the UN resolution).
Early in the first term, a full class will be devoted to a presentation on writing papers, including the use of citations (how and when).
Assignments
Below you will find the list of topics to choose from for each of your two assignments. Sometime prior to the due date of each assignment, a lecture will be devoted to each topic as a means for students to orient themselves to the topic, especially at the theoretical and conceptual level. These lectures will provide the basis for approaching your paper, but further research is required. As access to the libraries are very difficult in the current circumstances, students are strongly advised to acquaint themselves with the online e-journal collection available via the UoM library website. The librarian assigned to Political Studies is Asako Yoshida. Feel free to contact her for assistance. See https://libguides.lib.umanitoba.ca/prf.php?account_id=54949 or email [email protected]
The library’s collection provides access to all the major professional academic journals in the field of international relations (see suggested list below). In addition to these sources for your research, additional useful material, including think tank reports and newspaper articles, can be located via the basic internet search engines. Be advised though – do not use Wikipedia as a research source. It is unreliable and avoid using sources lacking a professional imprint (i.e. avoid individual blogs etc).
It is vitally important for students to recognize that there is no right or wrong answer per se. As you will find out in your research, there are no shortage of different arguments related to each topic. Your task, on the basis of your research, is to provide your assessment of the topic and support it by employing your sources and empirical evidence. You will be evaluated not on your answer per se, but on your ability to communicate a clear and cogent assessment.
In this regard, you will not be graded explicitly on your writing skills. Writing clearly and effectively is a skill that take time and repetition, and one of the purposes of this course is for you to develop this skill.
Assignment One – due October 13th.
Chose any one of the following topics:
What are the issues surrounding the concept of sovereignty as the fundamental organizing principle of contemporary world affairs? Include the following:
A brief discussion of the various ways in which sovereignty is conceptualized, including an explanation for your decision to apply one specific conceptualization, or definition;
The identification of issues that confront sovereignty in contemporary world affairs and a rationale or explanation for their choice;
The implications of these issues for the likelihood that sovereignty will remain the fundamental organizing principle of contemporary world affairs.
Employing Balance of Power Theory, what is the contemporary balance of power for any pair or group of states in the international system? Include the following:
A brief discussion of Balance of Power Theory as it pertains to your analysis;
A rationale or explanation for your decision to select a pair or group of states;
An evaluation of the contemporary balance of power between the pair or among the group.
What are the dominant issues facing the contemporary international economic system? Include the following:
A brief discussion of the nature of the contemporary international economic systems;
The identification of the dominant issues confronting the system and a rationale or explanation for selecting them;
An evaluation of their implications.
Prominent E-Journals for Research
This is by no means an exhaustive list. If you research by subject and/or key word, you will find a range of articles from different journals. Sometimes, it is also useful to access a specific e-journal, and then search within it by subject and/or key word.
Foreign Affairs The Washington Quarterly
International Relations Review of International Relations
International Organisation European Review of International Relations
International Security Security Studies
World Politics Foreign Policy Analysis
The Economist
