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USSC2602 US Politics: Race, Power, Polarisation

Semester 2, 2025

Policy Report

You’ve been asked by a Washington, D.C. based think tank to analyse an issue in American domestic

policy and recommend a specific course of action to address the issue. This report will involve substantial

research and careful thought. You must first master the details of a specific policy problem and then come

up with at least three different policy options that are available, before recommending only one of them.

Policy challenge

Please choose only one of these areas as the subject of your policy report.

• Immigration (legal, undocumented, temporary, etc., choose only one facet on which to focus)

• Education (K-12, university, etc., again, focus on only one area)

• Impacts of extreme polarisation

• Civic discourse

• Voter turnout

• Economic insecurity

• Healthcare (focus on one area, access, cost, insurance, etc.)

• Race relations/DEI

• Trust in democratic institutions

Objectives

• To analyse a policy challenge facing the U.S.

• To weigh up the different policy options and arrive at a specific policy recommendation.

• To collect and present the necessary empirical evidence in support of the analysis and recommendation.

• To produce concise, readable and accurate prose that is based on the most recent, accurate and complete

information available.

• To present a document that reflects the qualities of effective argumentation.

• To deliver logically coherent conclusions that flow from the analysis and make clear the potential

benefit(s) from the insight gained by the report.

Required structure

Every policy report needs to have the following:

• Executive Summary (approx. 150 words)

• Statement of the Issue/Problem (approx. 200 words)

• Background and Statement of Interests in the Issue (approx. 500 words)

• Pre-existing Policy (approx. 350 words)

• Policy Options (approx. 250 words)

• Advantages and Disadvantages of Each Policy Option (approx. 850 words)

• Policy Recommendation (approx. 200 words)

• The above items should be no longer than 2,500 words

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• Bibliography (includes only the sources that you have referenced in the report, and it doesn’t count

towards the final word count, neither do the in-text references or footnotes)

Please use the following eight components as guidelines for phrasing the sub-headings and content in the

report.

1) Executive Summary (approx. 100 words)

This should be a short summary of the purpose of the report and its recommendations. It typically

appears single spaced on the cover of a report. Write this section last. Summarise your position rather

than listing the sections of the report with no indication of what they say. It’s not the same as an essay

introduction. Usually a paragraph-long – analogous to an abstract in academic articles. Don’t break it

into several paragraphs.

2) Statement of the Issue/Problem (approx. 150 words)

What is the policy challenge? This is an introductory section which presents the policy challenge and

explains why the current policy needs to be reassessed, revised or carefully considered. Some questions

may require a bit of analysis and ground-clearing in order for you to specify the “question,” to which

your policy options are “answers.” This is the section of the report in which to do clarification/ground- clearing.

3) Background and Statement of Interests in the Issue (approx. 400 words)

Assume that you have been hired to filter through reams of information on behalf of a very busy and sleep

deprived person. Be clear, precise, and succinct. Include only the essential facts that a decisionmaker needs

to know to understand the context of the problem. The background should cover the most recent

developments (don’t go to far into history!).

4) Pre-existing Policy (approx. 300 words)

This summarizes the current policy and outlines what has been done so far about the problem.

Depending on your topic, some of the information may have already been presented in the previous

section. The objective of this section is to inform the reader of policy options that have already been

pursued, if any. Note that the absence of action may be considered a policy decision. That is, a policy

to have no policy. But you need to show what the rationale for this is in your work.

5) Policy Options (approx. 200 words)

This section delineates the possible courses of action could be pursued. This is a problem-solving

task, so state your issue as a problem that can be addressed by policy measures and settings. Ideally,

you will have at three (and definitely not more than five) viable courses of action. Some of them may

be undesirable in your opinion, but please pose them as policy options nonetheless. For each of the

options, provide a couple of sentences of what it would entail.

6) Advantages and Disadvantages of Each Policy Option (approx. 750 words)

This section will present the pros and cons of the options listed in the previous section. Think about

the statement of interests again and use the listed interests as the criteria for assessing each policy

option. How well does a given policy option fulfill its aim? Two things to remember: 1) your policy report

is written for the think tank and the advantages and disadvantages should be presented from that

perspective; and 2) the quantity of reasons to support a given policy doesn’t always mean other options

should be discounted. Analytical frameworks and tools such as SWOT analysis could be helpful to

summarise and better present your assessment of available options.

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7) Policy Recommendation (approx. 200 words)

After prioritizing the relative pros and cons of the above options, please recommend one option.

You need to have an implementation plan.

= 2,000 words

8) Bibliography

Include only the sources that you have referenced in the report. If you are using generative AI to create

material for submission, you will need to acknowledge and/or reference it. Requirements

• The final version of policy report must not be longer than 2,000 words (excluding references and

bibliography). There is a +/-10% allowance on the word limit.

• The policy report is due by 23:59 on October 31

• You should submit your policy report via dedicated dropbox on Canvas

• You must follow the outlined structure in formatting your report

• The policy report must be properly and consistently referenced (either footnotes or in-text) and it must

include a proper bibliography

• Late assignments will be penalised 5% per calendar day (as per the Faculty policy)

• A duplicate copy of the paper must be kept by the student

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USSC2602 Policy Report

– marking guidelines

Assessment criteria Pass Credit Distinction High distinction

1. Critical analysis of the

current policy

Struggles with identifying the crux

of the policy challenge

Limited or patchy understanding of

the context

Sound understanding of the policy

challenge

Potentially some issues with

situating the issue in the broader

context of foreign policy and grand

strategy and/or with the evaluation

of interests and/or the limitations of

the current policy

Well-executed analysis of the

background of the issue, interest

and the drawbacks of the current

policy

Clearly evaluates the arguments and

takes a persuasive position

Sophisticated analysis of the

background of the issue, interest

and the drawbacks of the current

policy

Shows a superb understanding of

the context and persuasively spells

out what the issues are at present

2. Development of discrete

policy options

Issues with developing distinctive

alternative policies – they might be

overlapping, unclear, over- simplistic (e.g. binary)

Adequately developed policy options,

generally sound

Potentially some issues with the

formulation of policies or identifying

the clear course of action

Well-developed policy options with

clear identification of the course of

action

Evidence of taking into the account

the interests at stake

Original and comprehensive policy

options that fully appreciate the

complexity of the issue at stake

3. Quality and sophistication of

recommendation

The policy recommendation is

marred with issues in either one or

more of the following: unclear,

does not logically follow from the

discussion of options, over- simplistic, does not recognise the

constraints in the implementation

The policy recommendation is

generally sound

Potentially some issues around its

feasibility and/or implementation

Demonstrates adequate

understanding of the policy process

with some minor issues in

discussing the implementation

The policy recommendation is

well-argued and feasible

Demonstrates very good

understanding of the policy process

and the path for policy

implementation

Makes a strong case for why the

chosen option prevails in

comparison to other policy options

The policy recommendation offers a

spark of originality

Clearly identifies the relevant actors

and institutions in government that

should be spearheading the

implementation, offers the plan for

moving forward, pre-empts

potential issues with

implementation, etc.

Makes a compelling case for why

the chosen option prevails over the

other options based on a clear set

of criteria

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4. Effective argumentation

and relevant evidence

Lack of clarity

Limited evidence of original thinking

Arguments unsupported by the

empirical evidence

Issues with presenting supporting

evidence: the evidence used is not

relevant (e.g. out-dated or

incorrect), sources used not

credible, etc.

Some issues with the clarity of

arguments

Arguments are mostly supported by

empirical evidence

Sound evidence of relevant wide

reading to address the policy

challenge

The expression is clear, logical and

easy to follow

Evidence of effective and focussed

arguments

Arguments grounded in the survey of

the broader literature

Demonstrates very good

understanding of the relevant

literature and chooses the supporting

evidence carefully

The arguments made are highly

sophisticated and demonstrate

excellent understanding of the

subject matter

Undertakes highly relevant wide

reading to address and understand the

policy issue and explore the potential

solutions

Persuasive and engaging all

throughout the text

5. Organisation, structure and

use of appropriate academic

writing style

Significant and persistent issues with

organisation, structure and/or style

This might include issues with

grammar, punctuation, spelling

Referencing inconsistent or

problematic

Issues with bibliography

Generally soundly organised

and structured

Minimal and occasional

omissions

Generally clear and precise

expression with few errors

Referencing accurate with

minimal errors

Well-organised

Clear and precise expression that

conveys meaning in an effective

way

Hardly any errors in writing

Referencing accurate with no errors

Excellently organised

Consistency in presentation

Sophisticated expression that

conveys meaning with flair and

insight

Referencing accurate, consistent and

comprehensive

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