Structure of the paper: Provide an introduction and a conclusion; the body of your paper should be sectioned as appropriate to provide the reader with an understanding of your topic. To get an idea, look at the structure of any substantive article (not book reviews or opinion pieces) in an academic political science journal (such as the Political Science Review).
A good paper is based on good research, so be sure your analysis is based on the appropriate research material.
Be preciseabout what your paper is about. Omit information or points that are not relevant to the topic.
Demonstrate your knowledge: do not assume I know what you are talking about; assume the reader has no knowledge of the subject and provide adequate explanations of your statements.
Avoid subjective statements, like “President Dodo put US national interest above human rights”; instead: “President Dodo focused <this> and <that>. His policy of <whatever> contributed to <specific impacts on human rights*>.” Then go on to explain* and be sure to provide citations for the information.
THE OTHER 20% is on technical aspects of your paper: writing style (academic) and organization.
Papers should be written in your own words. I prefer and suggest that you do not quote from any writer, because most of the time it is not done appropriately. Any resemblance to anyone else’s work is plagiarism, which means an automatic “F” in the course.
Avoid redundancies, “fluff,” and unfounded generalizations
“Fluff” refers filler sentences that do not help demonstrate knowledge of the topic, but only add to the word count.
Avoid passive tense because such statements omit critical information.
For example, NOT “the policy was criticized for …” (which does not indicate who criticized the policy and thus lacks explanation of that party’s perspective), instead: “The adoption agency criticized the <whatever> policy because …”
Use terms appropriately: “human rights,” “humanitarian(ism),” and “democracy” have different meanings, so are not to be used interchangeably.
As a noun: refer to “the United States” (not “U.S.” and not “America”).
As an adjective: “US” and “American” may both be used as adjectives. (For example: “US foreign policy” or “American foreign policy” are both acceptable.)
Requirements: 2000-2500 words
A suitable topic is any topic that reflects Human Rights
Answer preview
Proponents of this school of thought argue that the rights guaranteed in international human rights frameworks should be applicable to all nations. Furthermore, such rights should prevail even when they contradict an established religious or cultural norm. According to Frick (2019), this position is informed by the belief in equity, indivisibility, as well as the universality associated with human rights. Frick (2019) further cautions against confusing universality with conformity. Unlike conformity, universality encourages diversity by protecting and promoting cultural freedom. Proponents of this school of thought believe that human rights are inherent (Frick, 2019). Due to this, basic ethical principles and standards that are acceptable to all political, cultural, and religious systems should be adopted (Frick, 2019). Unlike cultural relativists, who argue that culture is the only valid source of moral rules, universalists argue that humanity is the only source of human rights. Thus, cultures should be irrelevant when determining the validity of moral rules.
