1. Political Science Question
political science writing question and need the explanation and answer to help me learn.
compare the Old Third World(old) and the Global South (now) in depth
Requirements: 1500 words
The Paper
The first step to a good paper is to identify the problem to be addressed. A problem is a
question with a non-obvious answer. Seeming paradoxes ( “Why are so many IOs headed
by men or women from small states ?”) are especially suited for this. Once one has identified
a problem, one gathers the pertinent material and does the necessary research, something
today much facilitated by the internet. That said, books and journal articles are still the most
trustworthy secondary sources for academic research, much more so than the ephemera
one often comes across in websites of dubious origin or blogs with no established
reputation.
With the material in hand, one proceeds to organize it , to make an outline, and to develop
the argument. The paper has a certain structure. It starts from identifying the problem;
moves on to providing the background information ( say, number of extant IOs and national
origin of their heads); it then explores the literature and various theories available on the
topic; this is followed by the empirical evidence one has gathered and what it tells you ;
considers various alternative explanations for the question at hand; and then comes up with
an answer, the one that makes most sense and is most supported by the evidence; a
concluding section wraps this all up.
Once you have done your reading and your research, and you have the outline of what you
want to say, you are ready to start writing. A good idea is to write it all “flat out”, not
worrying about length limits. With your first draft in hand ( ideally somewhat longer than
the assigned length), you revise and edit. This entails cutting “filler” words (like adjectives
and adverbs), weak phrases and paragraphs, and tightening your argument, so that it reads
well, and is fully coherent from beginning to end. Apposite quotations from the literature
(ideally short and pithy) and some numbers and stats make for a more convincing argument
than one based solely on your own prose.
Good writing means using only the precise amount of words needed to make your point.
Not more, not less. Short words are better than long ones. Short sentences are better than
extended ones. This, however, does not hold for paragraphs ( though they should never be
longer than a single page, and preferably not longer than a third- or a half-page). Once you
2. have an edited, first draft of your paper, read it aloud to yourself to make sure it sounds
right. If it doesn’t , fix it. If it doesn’t flow naturally from your tongue, there is a reason for it.
As a rule, the better papers will come up with a strong, preferred argument in favor of a
particular explanation for the puzzle you are trying to solve. The weaker ones, will often
dither ( “on the one hand, and on the other”; John F. Kennedy famously said, “bring me a
one-armed economist”). Yet, in the end, your explanation will only be as strong as the logic
of your reasoning, the tightness of your prose and the quality of your evidence.
