Touchstone 2: Government in My Community
ASSIGNMENT: For this assignment, you will research and write about an issue that is important to you, to your community, or to Americans in general. To do this, you will investigate the ways that government in the United States has or has not addressed your selected issue. As part of your research, you will choose at least five articles from newspapers, magazines, or other online sources that highlight the U.S. government’s response to the issue. You will then identify and analyze this response and provide a personal reflection on the impact. In doing so, you will deepen your engagement with course content by applying what you’ve learned in Units 1 and 2 about the U.S. federal system and the division of powers among and between the different layers of government. To complete the assignment, download the Government in My Community template, and follow the directions below.
You will return the completed template as your Touchstone submission.
Government in My Community Template
Example Government in My Community Submission (PDF)
In order to foster learning and growth, all essays you submit must be newly written specifically for this course. Any plagiarized or recycled work will result in a Plagiarism Detected alert. Review this tutorial for more about plagiarism and the Plagiarism Detected alert:
Touchstones: Academic Integrity Guidelines.
For guidance on the use of generative AI technology, review
Ethical Standards and Appropriate Use of AI
.
Step 1: Select an issue that is important to you, your community, or to Americans in general. If you reside in the United States, your community could be your geographical community (e.g., your neighborhood, town, or city) or the broader state or national community. If you do not reside in the United States, your community could be a group with shared characteristics with whom you identify.
You can choose any issue, but your assignment must focus on how government officials are addressing the issue within the United States or as a matter of U.S. public policy. Here are some ideas to get you started: immigration; border security; public school policy; public safety; gun rights or gun control; victim rights; student testing; school choice; abortion; access to public transportation or city services; energy, environment, conservation, or economic issues; healthcare (cost of medicines or health insurance, health care access); homelessness; the death penalty.
Step 2: Find and read at least five articles from newspapers, magazines, or other online sources that highlight the government’s response to the issue. It is important that your articles do not only describe the issue or present opinions on the issue from general members of the public. Look for sources that communicate how government officials in the United States have responded or are responding to the issue. You will be asked to identify government officials by name in your articles.
hint
Ideas for sources include news articles; speeches from political candidates or current office holders; campaign ads; press releases; and data collected from non-profit organizations, among others. The website
www.usa.gov
can be a good starting point for learning about government responses to various issues. Other online sources for information about government policy and services could include (but are not limited to):
· State or local government websites
· Political party websites (e.g.,
democrats.org
;
www.gop.com
)
Step 3: After completing your research and reflecting on what you’ve learned, fill out the Government in My Community template. The suggested total word range is 1500-2500 words. You will respond to the following prompts:
· What is the issue or problem that is impacting your community? Describe the issue or problem and its effects. (Remember to use in-text citations anytime you paraphrase, summarize, quote, or include data or statistics from your sources!)
· In the U.S. federal system, which level of government (local, state, or national) or branch (executive, legislative, judicial) is responsible for addressing the issue? Is there more than one? Explain your reasoning. Be sure to include evidence from the U.S. Constitution and from the course to support your explanation.
· Identify all of the government officials discussed in your sources. Include their names and the level of government and agency that the officials represent. For example, are they a member of Congress? A city council member? Or a member of a federal, state, city, or county agency?
· How have these government officials attempted to address the issue? Describe their actions, citing evidence from all five articles or other online sources with in-text citations. For help understanding how and when to include in-text citations, see Section D “Additional Resources” (below).
· In your opinion, has the government done a good job addressing the issue? Why or why not? What more should be done, and by which level of government?
Step 4: Compile your reference list in the APA style. Section D. “Additional Resources” (below) will help you to understand how to add your sources to the Government in My Community template.
Checklist for Success:
❒ Did you find articles that specifically communicate how government officials in the U.S. have responded or are responding to the issue you’ve selected, and have you identified who those officials are?
❒ Did you complete all sections of the Government in My Community template?
❒ Did you review the grading rubric and compare it to your response?
❒ Did you review the example Government in my Community submission to see an example of a completed assignment?
❒ Did you include in-text citations and a reference list in the APA style for 5 unique sources?
C. Requirements
The following requirements must be met for your submission to be graded:
· Use a readable 11- or 12-point font.
· All writing must be appropriate for an academic context.
· Composition must be original and written for this assignment and all writing must be appropriate for an academic context.
· The suggested total word range is 1500-2500 words. Submissions should not exceed 6,000 words.
· Submissions that focus on non-U.S. governments will be returned.
· Plagiarism of any kind is strictly prohibited.
· Submission must include your name and the date.
· Include all of the assignment components in a single file.
· Acceptable file formats include .doc and .docx.
The following resources will be helpful to you as you work on this assignment:
1.
APA In-Text Citations: The Basics
a. In-text citations are inserted into your writing to document the source of your information. APA-style in-text citations include the author and the date of your source (Jones, 1998). This site provides an overview of when and how to include APA-style in-text citations in your response.
2.
APA Reference List: Basic Rules
b. This site includes a comprehensive overview of APA-style reference lists, as well as individual pages with instructions on how to format reference lists for various source types, including electronic sources (i.e., articles found on websites).
b. The website also includes a citation generator, which will cite your sources automatically in APA. You may use this citation generator for your reference list.
