The paper should be approximately 5-7 pages. YOU CAN WRITE MORE IF YOU WANT. No less than 5 pages.
MAKE SURE TO READ the guidelines below regarding formatting of the paper and use of quotations.
Formatting: You should have a cover page with your name, the course number, and the date, and a title for your paper. Papers should be double spaced WITH PAGE NUMBERS ON EACH PAGE. Margins should be 1.25 inches on each side. You should use a 12 point font. Make sure to spell check and proofread. Papers with many spelling and grammar errors will be graded down.
When quoting directly from an assigned text, just put the author and page number from the coursepack, or book or article, in parentheses after the quote. For example: “Views of corruption have changed a lot over time.” (Rosenson, p. 126).
You should not need to use any outside readings. If you do, provide a bibliographical page at the end that lists the author, title of book or article, press if applicable (e.g. University of Chicago), year of publication and page number. If it is a newspaper article, use the reporter’s name, article title, newspaper,, and date of publication.
The paper is based on the readings for by Hibbing and Theiss Morse’s (Congress as Public Enemy reading sent to the list serve) and the chapters from the book In Defense of Politicians by Stephen Medvic.
ESSAY QUESTION:
Hibbing and Theiss-Morse both argue that politicians, particularly members of Congress, are unpopular with the public. In the first 1 to1.5 pages pages of your paper, discuss the reasons for this unfavorable sentiment toward elected officials. Why does the public dislike Congress so much? Which explanation(s) do you find most convincing?
In the rest of your paper, you will evaluate Medvic’s argument that politicians get an unfair rap with regard to four specific charges against them: 1) politicians are too focused on winning elections, 2) politicians are too ideological or partisan, 3) politicians are too ambitious, and 4) politicians are dishonest. Choose three of those four charges/claims about politicians. Explain Medvic’s defense against the charges, and discuss whether you are convinced by his defense.