Politics and Social Responsibility Paper Guide
Three short essays under one cover page — and item three fails when it becomes an argument for a party rather than an analysis of one difference.
Editorial process
Last reviewed · August 9, 2026
Three short essays, one cover page
Three items, headers required, three to four pages — so this is three short essays under one cover page rather than one continuous argument, and the structure is prescribed rather than chosen. Use the headers the brief demands and make each one name its item, because a marker working through three separately-specified topics should not have to find where one ends and the next begins. Three to four pages divided three ways is roughly a page each, which is enough for one event, one line of analysis and two or three supporting examples, and not enough for background. Assume the reader knows what civil liberties are. The brief also notes that this document supersedes an earlier one, so if you have a previous version of the instructions, the requirement to give only one example per topic and the revised wording both come from here.
Item one asks for a civil liberties *or* a civil rights event, and choosing between those two categories is itself a graded decision, because one of the course outcomes is distinguishing them. Civil liberties are protections from government action — speech, religion, assembly, due process. Civil rights are protections against discriminatory treatment and claims to equal participation. Some events involve both, and saying which aspect you are treating is stronger than using the terms interchangeably. Then answer the actual question, which is not what the event was but how it *influenced a sense of social responsibility in American government* — so the analysis has to land on how leaders or agencies subsequently behaved. The note attached to the item makes that explicit by asking you to consider how state, local or national actors responded, which means an event with a documented institutional response is a much easier choice than one without.
Item two is about a media event's effect on public opinion of a *government agency*, and the word agency is doing work. A story about a president or a party does not satisfy it; a story about a named body — an emergency management agency, a public health agency, a regulator, a law enforcement agency — does. The strongest answers pick an event where the shift in perception is documented rather than assumed, because polling data turns an assertion into evidence. The brief also allows the influence to be positive or negative, so a case where coverage improved an agency's standing is as valid as a scandal and is often less crowded ground. Say what the coverage actually changed in people's expectations of the agency, since the note attached to this item frames it as a question about how responsible an agency should be toward the public rather than about whether people liked it.
Item three is the one that most often goes wrong, and it goes wrong in a predictable way. The task is to discuss *one difference* between the two parties that may have an ethical impact — not to survey their platforms, and not to argue that one party is ethically superior. Pick a single, specific, documentable difference in position, describe both parties' stances fairly and in their own terms, and then do the ethical analysis: who is affected, what value is being traded against what, and where the concern for the public interest lies. A paper that presents one side's reasoning and the other side's conclusion has failed the fairness the item requires. The final sentence of the item asks you to determine whether your example presents ethical concerns for *or against* the public interest, which is an invitation to a judgement — so reach one, but reach it after the even-handed description rather than before.
Sourcing is constrained explicitly and the exclusions are named: no Wikipedia, no online dictionaries, no Sparknotes or Cliffnotes, and nothing that does not qualify as an academic resource. For a paper about events, that pushes you toward a specific and useful mix — peer-reviewed political science and public opinion research for the analysis, established polling organisations for evidence of opinion change, and primary or major-outlet reporting for the events themselves. Court opinions and agency documents are strong sources for item one and cost nothing to cite accurately. Be particularly careful with item three, where partisan advocacy sites are easy to reach and will undermine an argument whose whole value depends on the reader trusting your description of both positions. Check the date on anything describing a party position too, since platforms shift and a difference that was real a decade ago may no longer describe either party accurately.
The formatting requirements are itemised and each is checkable: typed, double spaced, Times New Roman 12, one-inch margins, APA or the school's convention for citations and references, and a cover page carrying the assignment title, your name, the professor's name, the course title and the date — with the cover page and the reference page excluded from the page count. That exclusion matters, because it means three to four pages is three to four pages of argument. Headers are required by the instructions themselves rather than being a stylistic choice. Read the course learning outcomes listed at the end before you finalise, since they name the vocabulary the paper is expected to use — federalism, political processes, the distinction between rights and liberties — and a paper that never employs that terminology has missed an outcome it was told about in advance.
Item | The version that loses marks | The version that scores |
|---|---|---|
Structure | Continuous prose | Three headed sections, one per item |
Item 1 category | Rights and liberties used interchangeably | One chosen, and the distinction stated |
Item 1 focus | Describes the event | Shows how institutions subsequently behaved |
Item 2 subject | A politician or a party | A named government agency |
Item 2 evidence | Assumed opinion shift | Documented change, ideally polled |
Item 3 scope | A survey of both platforms | One specific, documentable difference |
Item 3 fairness | One side's reasoning, the other's conclusion | Both stances in their own terms, then a judgement |
Sources | Wikipedia and advocacy sites | Peer-reviewed research, polling, primary documents |
Page count | Padded with the cover and reference pages | Three to four pages of argument |
Likely learning objectives
Inferred from the brief — check these against your own rubric.
- 01Distinguish civil rights from civil liberties and apply the distinction to an event.
- 02Trace a media event to a documented change in public opinion of an agency.
- 03Analyse a single partisan difference without arguing for a party.
- 04Meet an explicit exclusion list when choosing sources.
Read the full question
Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.
Course-wide instructions that accompany this question
Important information for writing discussion questions and participation Hi Class, Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts. Contact me if you have any questions. Important information on Writing a Discussion Question Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references) There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article. Include in-text citations in your response Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information Follow APA-7th edition Points will be deducted if the above is not followed Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week. Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references) Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count. Follow APA 7th edition Points will be deducted if the above is not followed Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points. Here are some helpful links Student paper example Citing Sources The Writing Center is a great resource Welcome to class Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to. I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you. Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted. If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations. Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements. Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week. I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!
What the paper must contain
- 01A three- to four-page paper with headers separating each item.
- 02One civil liberties or civil rights event and its influence on government social responsibility.
- 03One media event and its effect on public opinion of a government agency.
- 04One difference between the parties with an ethical impact.
- 05Supporting examples throughout.
- 06A cover page and APA-formatted citations and references.
From social responsibility to partisan ethics
Framing social responsibility
Establish the concept briefly so all three items can use it.
Item one: a rights or liberties event
Choose one category, trace the event to institutional behaviour.
Item two: media and an agency
Evidence how coverage changed public expectations of a named body.
Item three: one partisan difference
Describe both stances fairly, then analyse the ethical impact.
Sources that survive the exclusion list
Recommended databases
- Peer-reviewed political science journals
- PubMed Central
- Established polling organisations
- Court opinions and agency documents
Search sequence
- 1.Choose the three events first and check that each has a documented aftermath, since all three items ask for consequences rather than descriptions.
- 2.Find polling or survey evidence for item two specifically, because a claimed change in public opinion is the one assertion in this paper that can be checked.
- 3.Search the public opinion and polarisation literature for item three, which supplies a neutral vocabulary for describing partisan difference.
- 4.Verify every source against the brief's exclusion list before drafting, since replacing a source after the argument is built usually means rewriting the paragraph.
Public opinion, agencies and polarisation
These are authoritative starting points, not a ready-made bibliography. A qualified reviewer must confirm that each source fits the assignment and supports the claim beside which it is cited.
Nothing here is cleared for citation until you have read it.
- 01
Politicians polarize and experts depolarize public support for COVID-19 management policies across countries
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2022
Evidence that who speaks changes public support for a policy, which is directly useful for item two's argument about coverage and agency perception.
- 02
Delivering risk information in a dynamic information environment: Framing and authoritative voice
Social Science & Medicine · 2016
Examines how a government agency's communication is received and reframed by media, which is the mechanism item two asks you to describe.
- 03
Regional and temporal patterns of partisan polarization during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
PLOS ONE · 2026
Supplies measured partisan differences over time, which is what lets item three describe a difference as documented rather than as characterised.
- 04
Putting the affect into affective polarisation
Cognition & Emotion · 2024
A neutral analytical vocabulary for partisan division, which is what keeps item three's description of both parties even-handed.
Before Assignment 1 is submitted
Common mistakes
- Writing continuous prose when headers are required.
- Using civil rights and civil liberties as interchangeable terms.
- Describing the event in item one without reaching the institutional response.
- Choosing a politician or a party rather than an agency for item two.
- Asserting an opinion shift with no polling or documentary evidence.
- Surveying both party platforms instead of isolating one difference.
- Presenting one party's reasoning against the other party's conclusion.
- Reaching an ethical judgement before describing both positions fairly.
- Citing Wikipedia, dictionaries or study-guide sites the brief excludes.
- Relying on partisan advocacy sources for item three.
- Counting the cover page and reference page toward the page requirement.
- Never using the political science terminology the course outcomes name.
Submission checklist
- Each item has its own header naming the item.
- Item one states whether it treats a liberty or a right, and why.
- Item one lands on how leaders or agencies subsequently acted.
- Item two concerns a named government agency.
- Item two evidences the opinion change rather than assuming it.
- Item three isolates one specific, documentable difference.
- Both parties' positions are described in their own terms.
- An ethical judgement is reached after the even-handed description.
- No excluded source types appear in the reference list.
- The paper is three to four pages excluding cover and references.
- Course terminology appears where relevant.
Use this guide to plan and review your own work. Follow your institution's rules and read our academic-integrity policy.
Written by
Aaron Bishop
MA, Education
assignment interpretation and research-methods coaching across disciplines
Aaron leads the EssayCrackers editorial desk. He works on how assignment briefs are read — what a rubric is actually asking for, and where students most often answer a different question than the one set.
Reviewed by
Dr. Nathan Cole
PhD, Rhetoric & Composition
Argumentation and thesis development
Nathan teaches first-year composition and directs a university writing center. He reviews EssayCrackers guides for argumentative soundness and citation accuracy.