Political instability

Your research paper will be based on a significant research question with sections for the background, data, and analysis around the paper’s topic.

Research papers will be about 4,000-5,000 words. Altogether your paper will be about 20 pages, double spaced, including a cover page, body of text, tables, maps, figures, references, and any footnotes.

Written work is graded with attention to depth, breadth, clarity, creativity, and examples. In other words, given the parameters of written assignments, write with attention to appropriate depth of ideas for your topic, with choosing appropriate breadth of points you can cover, and write with clarity of thought and grammar. Your writings should always aim for some lively creativity and showcase examples to highlight your topic or main points. Avoid unnecessary wordiness and spoken idioms!

Essays can be organized around an key research question or, alternatively, they may be organized around a falsifiable argument. These are common strategies as in “In this essay, I argue that…, However, you do not need to present your essay as a key question or argument if your topic is better presented in another format.