• POL201 • Assignments • Week 5 - Final Paper America’s Democracy: Your Report Card The primary goal of your last assignment is to critically analyze the primary features of the American national government. The results of your analysis will indicate what you have learned over the last five weeks. In order to accomplish this task, it is important to critically evaluate the key facets of our American democracy. You have been preparing for this final assignment each week by constructing a detailed outline of the Final Paper’s main points through the weekly Learning Activities. In addition, you have read the course text and course readings, reviewed videos, and researched additional material for each week’s assignments and for this paper. This week, you will put all of those outlines, readings, reviews, and research together into a one summative paper. As we wrap up our course, reflect back on what you have learned about the key structures, systems, roles, and processes that embody our national government. Focus on the strengths and weaknesses, advantages and disadvantages, and positive and negative impacts of these aspects of our democracy. Use what you have learned so far to evaluate our national government and recommend ways to enhance what works and repair what is not working well. It is important to understand that this paper is not simply a cut and paste of your four Learning Activities. While the research you have completed can serve as a strong base it is important that you implement any comments from the instructor, as well as further expand on the material. Appropriate transitions and headings are needed to ensure a cohesive paper. Construct a six-page paper based on the detailed outlines that you created over the last four weeks. It is important to utilize APA headings (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. major sections of your paper in order to ensure that the paper is easy to follow. A model POL201 Final Paper Guide is provided for you to download and utilize when completing your Final Paper. Scaffold your paper around the following outline: • Title page (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. • Introduction (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (half page) o Describe the paper’s overall thesis. o Provide an overview of main points. • The Constitution (1 to 1.5 pages) (Week One) o Describe one strength and one weakness of the U.S. Constitution. o Recommend one option to maintain the strength and one to correct the weakness • Federalism (1 to 1.5 pages) (Week Two) o Describe one advantage and one disadvantage of a national policy that must be implemented by one agency of the federal bureaucracy. o Recommend one option to maintain the advantage and one to improve the disadvantage. • Branches of Government (1 to 1.5 pages) (Week Three) o Describe one strength and one weakness of one branch of our government: Executive, Legislative, or Judiciary. o Recommend on.

1. • POL201 • Assignments • Week 5 - Final Paper
America’s Democracy: Your Report Card
The primary goal of your last assignment is to critically analyze
the primary features of the American national government. The
results of your analysis will indicate what you have learned
over the last five weeks. In order to accomplish this task, it is
important to critically evaluate the key facets of our American
democracy.
You have been preparing for this final assignment each week by
constructing a detailed outline of the Final Paper’s main points
through the weekly Learning Activities. In addition, you have
read the course text and course readings, reviewed videos, and
researched additional material for each week’s assignments and
for this paper. This week, you will put all of those outlines,
readings, reviews, and research together into a one summative
paper.
As we wrap up our course, reflect back on what you have
learned about the key structures, systems, roles, and processes
that embody our national government. Focus on the strengths
and weaknesses, advantages and disadvantages, and positive and
negative impacts of these aspects of our democracy. Use what
you have learned so far to evaluate our national government and
recommend ways to enhance what works and repair what is not
working well. It is important to understand that this paper is not
simply a cut and paste of your four Learning Activities. While
the research you have completed can serve as a strong base it is
important that you implement any comments from the
instructor, as well as further expand on the material.
Appropriate transitions and headings are needed to ensure a

2. cohesive paper.
Construct a six-page paper based on the detailed outlines that
you created over the last four weeks. It is important to utilize
APA headings (Links to an external site.)Links to an external
site. major sections of your paper in order to ensure that the
paper is easy to follow. A model POL201 Final Paper Guide is
provided for you to download and utilize when completing your
Final Paper.
Scaffold your paper around the following outline:
• Title page (Links to an external site.)Links to an external
site.
• Introduction (Links to an external site.)Links to an
external site. (half page)
o Describe the paper’s overall thesis.
o Provide an overview of main points.
• The Constitution (1 to 1.5 pages) (Week One)
o Describe one strength and one weakness of the U.S.
Constitution.
o Recommend one option to maintain the strength and one to
correct the weakness
• Federalism (1 to 1.5 pages) (Week Two)

3. o Describe one advantage and one disadvantage of a national
policy that must be implemented by one agency of the federal
bureaucracy.
o Recommend one option to maintain the advantage and one
to improve the disadvantage.
• Branches of Government (1 to 1.5 pages) (Week Three)
o Describe one strength and one weakness of one branch of
our government: Executive, Legislative, or Judiciary.
o Recommend one option to maintain the strength and one to
correct the weakness.
Parties, Interest Groups, and Elections (1-1.5 pages) (Week 4)
o Describe one positive impact and one negative impact of
one of the following: political parties, interest groups, or
federal elections.
o Recommend one option to accentuate the positive impact
and one to lessen the negative impact.
• Conclusion (Links to an external site.)Links to an external
site.
o Review your main points.
o Review your overall thesis.
• References page (Links to an external site.)Links to an

4. external site.
The America’s Democracy: Your Report Card paper
• Must be at least six double-spaced pages in length (not
including title and references pages) and formatted according to
APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center (Links to
an external site.)Links to an external site..
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
o Title of paper
o Student’s name
o Course name and number
o Instructor’s name
o Date submitted
• Must use at least eight scholarly sources in addition to the
course text. A minimum of six of the resources must be from
peer-reviewed scholarly sources from the Ashford University
Library
o The Scholarly, Peer Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources
(Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. table offers
additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have
questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this
assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has
the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a

5. particular assignment.
• Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the
Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted
according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing
Center.
America’s Democracy
Name
POL 201 – American National
Government
Instructor Name

6. Date
America’s
Democracy
This is where the introduction for your paper should begin.
You should indent the first paragraph and include a hook to
draw your reader in and make the topic interesting. Your
introduction should also include an overview of the main points
you will discuss in your paper and conclude with a clear and
concise thesis statement of 25 words or less that clearly
summarizes what your paper is about. Please be sure to not
refer to the paper in your paper. For example, “In this paper, I
will discuss…” is not appropriate for formal writing. Also,
your paper should not use words such as I, we, or you. Start the
first paragraph here. It should introduce your reader to the
subject you are writing about, as well as your particular
position or claim. Be sure that your thesis reflects on all four
of the topics you will discuss in a concise manner of 25 words
or less. For more suggestions, please read about thesis
statements on our Ashford Writing Center website: Thesis
Statements. Other helpful tools on our website are the Thesis
Generator and Moving from Prompt to Thesis. Your
introduction should be at least ½ a page in length.
US Constitution

7. Your paper should include the four main headings, as outlined
in this template. It is vital, in order to fully meet the
expectations for this paper that you support your arguments
utilizing scholarly sources. You must is properly cited with in-
text APA formatted citations and an APA reference list in order
to avoid plagiarism. No more than 10% of your paper should be
direct quotations. Be sure to summarize, paraphrase, and
include in-text citations. Each heading should focus on the
topics you discussed in your Week 1, 2, 3, and 4 Learning
Activities. Each heading/topic should be a a minimum of 1 to
1.5 pages in length. Please do not just cut and paste the
paragraphs from your Learning Activities. It is important to
include transitions and to more deeply reflect and expand on the
material from each week. Be sure to review the WayPoint
feedback provided by your instructor each week and integrate
the feedback into your revisions as you expand your analysis of
each topic for your final paper.
Federalis
m
Your section heading should focus on Federalism. Utilize your
Learning Activities as a guide to construct each section of your
paper or create an outline or list to help you organize the
evidence you plan to present. Be sure to include the appropriate
transitions, review your instructors comments from your Week
Two Learning Activity, and expand on the material regarding
Federalism.
Branches of Government

8. The third section of your final paper should focus on one of the
branches of government, as you discussed in your Learning
Activity. Be sure to include the appropriate transitions, review
your instructors comments from your Week Three Learning
Activity, and expand on the material regarding the branch of
government you have selected. Each paragraph of your
assignment should be clear and easy to follow. Ashford has
several good resources to help you write a strong paragraph,
such as How to Write a Good Paragraph and the P.I.E.
Paragraph Structure.
Political Parties, Interest Groups, or
Elections
The 4th section of your paper should focus on Political Parties,
Interest Groups, or Elections as researched in your Week 4
Learning Activity. Once again, Be sure to include the
appropriate transitions, review your instructors comments from
your Week Three Learning Activity, and expand on the material
regarding the topic you have selected. In addition to being well-
written, each paragraph throughout your paper should include
an in-text citation to all ideas, references, or quotations that are
from outside sources and research. The Ashford Writing Center
provides many resources to help you follow correct citation
style (primarily APA) and gives lessons and examples of how to
paraphrase and cite sources. The APA Key Elements page is a
good place to start.
Conclusion
Your paper should conclude with a review of your main points

9. and a review of your thesis.
Remember to start your references on a new page. Space down
until References is as the top of the final page of your paper.
References
Your paper must utilize at least eight scholarly resources (in
addition to the textbook). A minimum of six of the resources
must be from the peer-reviewed scholarly sources from the
Ashford University Library. The following are commonly used
references. Please fill in the required information, and if you
need more help, see the AWC References page. References are
listed in alphabetical order. Please be sure to format your
references correctly according to APA 6th edition guidelines
and utilize hanging indents
Ashford Textbook (Online edition): *
Author, A. (Year published). Title of book: Subtitle of book
(edition, if other than the first)
[Electronic version]. Retrieved from from URL
Example:
Witt, G. A., & Mossler, R. A. (2010). Adult development and
life assessment [Electronic version]. Retrieved from
https://content.ashford.edu/books/4

10. Online Journal Article (such as from the Ashford Library):**
Author, A. (Year Published). Article title. Journal Name,
Volume(Issue), page range. doi:# or Retrieved from journal’s
homepage URL
**When including a URL for an online journal, you must search
for the journal’s home page and include this in your reference
entry. You may not include the URL found through your
university library, as readers will not have access to this library.
Examples:
Churchill, S. D., & Mruk, C. J. (2014). Practicing what we
preach in humanistic and positive psychology. American
Psychologist, 69(1), 90-92. doi:10.1037/a0034868
Santovec, M. (2008). Easing the transition improves grad
retention at Trinity U. Women in
Higher Education, 17(10), 32. Retrieved from
http://www.trinitydc.edu/education/files/2010/09/Wo
men_in_higher_
Ed_Trinity_Transistions_10_08.pdf
Online Magazine:*

11. Author, A. (Year, Month Date Published). Article title.
Magazine Title. Retrieved from URL Example: Walk, V. (2013,
April 29). Can this woman fix Europe? Time. Retrieved from
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,213969.html
YouTube Video:* Author, A. [Screen name]. (Year, Month,
Day). Title of video [Video file]. Retrieved from URL Example:
Apsolon, M. [markapsolon]. (2011, September 9). Real ghost
girl caught on video tape 14 [Video file]. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nyGCbxD848 Web Page:*
Author, A. (Year, Month, Date Published). Article title.
Retrieved from URL Example—Corporate web page: U.S.
Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2008). Police
and detectives. Retrieved from
http://bls.gov/oco/pdf/ocos160.pdf Example—Article or section
within web page with no author: Presentation tools. (n.d.).
Retrieved from
http://web2014.discoveryeducation.com/web20tools-
presentation.cfm
*Please delete the notes in this document before submitting
your assignment.
Previous from week 4 learning activity
Thesis Statement
Even though the election system is the best avenue for

12. citizens to exercise their democratic rights, weakness in the
system is bound to make people distrust it and even fail to take
part in the elections. Public awareness and education can lessen
the cons of the electoral system.