AK/SPPA 4115 6.0A

DUE DATE: MARCH 12, 2008

ASSIGNMENT: WRITE A COMPREHENSIVE POLICY PAPER AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF AN IMPORTANT SOCIAL ISSUE OR PROBLEM IN THE CANADIAN POLITICAL ECONOMY THAT INVOLVES THE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF A DEFENSIBLE PLAN (POLICY PROPOSAL) FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEM AND FORMULATE WORKABLE STRATEGIES FOR IMPLEMENTING THE PLAN.

THE POLICY PAPER WILL BE DESIGNED AND STRUCTURED IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA:

THREE KEY FOCI:

[1] AIMS TO IDENTIFY KEY POLICY ISSUES;

[2] APPLIES THE BEST AND MOST UP-TO-DATE RESEARCH TO HELP UNDERSTAND THESE ISSUES; AND

[3] EXPLORES THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS RESEARCH FOR THE DESIGN AND CONDUCT OF POLICY.

THE PROSPECTIVE OUTCOME:

POLICY PAPERS ARE GENERALLY EXPECTED TO INCREASE THE INVOLVEMENT OF ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS IN AND IMPORTANT EFFORT AT SOME LEVEL,

[1] WHETHER IT BE SUPPORTING AND/OR ENDORSING THE POLICY PAPER,

[2] ADOPTING THE USE OF THE SET OF CRITERIA,

[3] JOINING A WORKING GROUP, COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP, ETC., AND/OR

[4] EDUCATING OTHERS ON THIS TOPIC.

RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS INTO THREE CATEGORIES:

[1] FINDINGS (OF FACT),

[2] CONCLUSIONS (SOLID, CLEAR LOGIC IS USED TO WEAVE TOGETHER FINDINGS), AND

[3] RECOMMENDATIONS (CREDIBLE CAUSAL RELATIONSHIPS, YOU MAY BE ABLE TO MOVE INTO THE WORLD OF THE PREDICTIVE THESIS – THAT IS, YOU CAN PRESCRIBE A COURSE OF ACTION THAT WILL ACHIEVE A DESIRED SOCIAL OUTCOME, E.G., WHAT POLICY ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN NOW TO PREVENT THE RACIALIZATION OF POVERTY.).

POLICY PAPERS NEED TO BE FORMAL, CONCISE, STRAIGHTFORWARD, ORGANIZED, LOGICAL, THOUGHTFUL, WELL RESEARCHED, WELL SUPPORTED, WELL WRITTEN, AND WELL ARGUED.

YOUR PAPER WILL BE EVALUATED BASED ON: ACADEMIC CONTENT, CLARITY, ORGANIZATION OF IDEAS, PROPER USE OF SOURCES, PROPER QUOTATIONS AND CITATIONS. PLEASE REFER TO YORK'S CENTRE FOR ACADEMIC WRITING <http://www.arts.yorku.ca/caw AND TO ATKINSON FACULTY OF LIBERAL AND PROFESSIONAL STUDIES CALENDAR FOR OTHER WRITING RESOURCES.

(1) ESSAY SHOULD BE TYPED AND DOUBLE-SPACED.

(2) ESSAY SHOULD BE TYPED IN THE "MLA" OR "APA" FORMAT (YOU MAY WISH TO CHECK WITH THE GUIDE AT THE WRITING CENTRE).

(3) ESSAY LENGTH: 15 TO 20 PAGES (OR AS MANY AS REQUIRED FOR EXCELLENT WORK).

(4) ESSAY ON WHITE PAPER AND STAPLED IN THE UPPER LEFT-HAND CORNER. (NO BINDERS PLEASE).

(5) MAKE SURE TO HAVE A SECOND PRINT OF YOUR ESSAY (NOT ON THE DISKETTE) FOR YOUR OWN FILES BEFORE SUBMITTING YOUR PAPER.

(6) ESSAY MUST USE THE COMPULSORY FORMAT AS A TEMPLATE STRUCTURE.

(7) ESSAY MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY A COVER PAGE CONTAINING THE FOLLOWING:

. STUDENT NAME AND CLASS

. ESSAY TITLE

. DUE DATE

. NAME OF PROFESSOR

. NAME OF COURSE

WORKS CITED OR REFERENCE PAGE: THIS SECTION CONTAINS THE WORKS CITED PAGE (FOR MLA) OR REFERENCE PAGE (FOR APA). ONLY LIST REFERENCES CITED IN THE TEXT OF THE PAPER. FOLLOW APA/MLA PROCEDURES WHEN FORMATTING EACH REFERENCE.

NOTE ON PLAGIARISM: PLAGIARISM REFERS TO USE OF IDEAS, WORDS, SENTENCES, DATA, ARGUMENTS, CALCULATIONS OR OTHER WORK DONE BY SOMEBODY ELSE WITHOUT ACKNOWLEDGMENT. PLAGIARISM IS CONSIDERED AS AN EXTREMELY SERIOUS ACADEMIC OFFENSE AND CARRIES PENALTIES. YOU SHOULD PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO PROPER CITATION AND QUOTATION RULES IN YOUR ESSAY. YORK UNIVERSITY USES SOFTWARE THAT CAN CHECK FOR PLAGIARISM. STUDENTS MAY BE REQUIRED TO SUBMIT THEIR WRITTEN WORK IN ELECTRONIC FORM AND HAVE IT CHECKED FOR PLAGIARISM.

**NOTE ON EMAILING PAPERS: NO EMAILING PAPERS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES