In this assignment, you will write a short case study on a current domestic extremist group, movement, or ideology of your choice. If you are unsure if your group/movement/ideology qualifies as extremist, please ask me for confirmation. Examples of groups/movements/ideologies you could use include those from the right such as Christian Identity, militias, Sovereign Citizens, White Supremacists or those from the left-wing such as Animal Liberation Front, Antifa, Black Nationalist, or environmental extremists.
Your paper will contain the following elements. You should use these elements as headings in your paper to ensure compliance with all requirements of the assignment. A template is included for your convenience.
I. Introduction (1 page)
Identify the topic of your paper. Provide a brief background on the group/movement/ideology. In other words, why is this group/movement/ideology worthy of an analysis?
Include a purpose statement in your introduction. The purpose statement orients the reader to the central intent of the study. The statement is a concise paragraph the addresses the reason(s) for the study. Clearly indicate it is a purpose statement by saying, “The purpose of this study is to….”
Include a research question in your introduction. It is customary for papers to have a single research question that captures the overall purpose of the paper. For assistance with writing a research question, please see the APUS Writing Center for graduate students at Your research question should be placed at the end of the intro and identified as “the research question.”
II. Review of the Literature (2 pages): All research projects include a literature review to set out for the reader what knowledge exists on the subject under study. A good literature review is a thoughtful study of what is written, a summary of the arguments that exist (whether you agree with them or not) and are arranged thematically. The literature review is not an annotated bibliography and should be written in coherent narrative style. Lit reviews are comprised exclusively, or nearly so, of peer reviewed articles. If you select a paper topic that is new you may find a lack of peer reviewed articles on the topic. In that case, you should take a step back and place your topic within a larger framework. For example, if your group is a left-wing group then you would look at literature that discusses left-wing extremism in general and then apply that research to the newer group. If appropriate, you should note the absence of literature on your topic at beginning of your lit review. Your lit review should summarize and synthesize at least 5 peer reviewed articles.
III. Research Design (1/2 page): Your research design is the case study method. In this brief section, you identify your design as well as the case you selected. Explain why and how you selected this case.
IV. Analysis (3 pages): This section provides the results of your case study. It should be arranged in a way that clearly presents evidence needed to answer your research question.
V. Conclusions (1/2 page): This brief section will include your final analytical argument and clearly reveal the answer to the research question. It should provide a synopsis of the paper, including the design and major result. This section should also offer suggestions for avenues of future research for other scholars, as all knowledge is evolutionary.
VI. References: This section will contain all references, cited in APA format, properly indented, and alphabetically arranged. Your paper must contain a minimum of 10 scholarly reference sources such as peer-reviewed journals or authoritative references (like recent government publications). Primary sources would also be appropriate given the nature of the assignment. YouTube videos showing leaders or members/believers speaking about their ideology would constitute primary sources.
Technical Requirements
- Your paper must be at a minimum of 7 pages (the Title and Reference pages do not count towards the minimum limit).
- Scholarly and credible references should be used. A minimum of 10 scholarly sources are required.
- Type in Times New Roman, 12 point and double space.
- Students will follow the current APA Style as the sole citation and reference style used in written work submitted as part of coursework.
- Points will be deducted for the use of Wikipedia or encyclopedic type sources. It is highly advised to utilize books, peer-reviewed journals, articles, archived documents, etc.
- All submissions will be graded using the assignment rubric.
