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I shall post videos, graphs, news stories, and other material there. We shall use some of this material in class, and you may review the rest at your convenience. You will all receive invitations to post to the blog. (Please let me know if you do not get such an invitation.) I encourage you to use the blog in these ways:
To post questions or comments about the readings before we discuss them in class;
To follow up on class discussions with additional comments or questions.
To post relevant news items or videos.

There are only two major limitations: no coarse language, and no derogatory comments about people at the Claremont Colleges.


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Tuesday, January 28, 2025

First Assignment, Spring 2025

  Pick one:

  • Pick any current member of the House or Senate.  Tell how this member has explained her or his position on one of the following: DOGE, the Israel-Hamas War, the Ukraine War, abortion, or immigration. With reference to Davidson, ch. 5, analyze how this explanation reflects both the member's constituency and her or his place on Capitol Hill.
  • Pick chapter 3, 4, or 5 of the Davidson book.  Write a brief postscript to update the analysis. That is, what events of the past year should materially change the authors' analysis when they write the next edition?

    Essays should reflect an understanding of class readings and discussions. Many resources, including CQ Magazine are at Library/Databases/CQ Library.  Consult other sources as well. See, among others: 


    Read Strunk & White and my stylesheet (with links to model papers).

    The specifications:
    • Essays should be typed (12-point), double-spaced, and no more than three pages long. I will not read past the third page. 
    • Please submit all papers in this course as Word documents, not Google docs or pdfs.
    • Cite your sources. Please use endnotes in the format of Chicago Manual of Style.  Endnotes do not count against the page limit. Please do not use footnotes, which take up too much page space.
    • Misrepresenting AI-generated content as your own work is plagiarism and will result in severe consequences
    • Watch your spelling, grammar, diction, and punctuation. Errors will count against you. Return essays to the Sakai dropbox for this class by 11:59 PM, Friday, February 7. (If you do not use Sakai, simply email me the paper as an attached file.)  I reserve the right to dock papers one gradepoint for one day’s lateness, a full letter grade after that.

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