Public-Policy-Analysis

“Policy-Making Process” Please respond to the following:

• Take a position in support of one of the two statements:
  • (a) Policy analysts should research the issues and determine the fundamental causes of social problems such as crime, poverty, or homelessness and then recommend solutions.
  • (b) Policy analysts should develop implementable policies to address social problems such as crime, poverty, or homelessness without research to determine the cause(s). Support your position with examples or evidence.

“Analysis in Practice” Please respond to the following:

• From the e-Activity, provide two reasons and / or examples of what makes the paper or report you selected of high technical quality. Provide the source(s) of the article you selected.
• From the e-Activity, provide two examples from the same article that illustrate how the analysis changes the status quo.

Week 3 eActivity

• Go to the following Websites and analyze at least two policy papers or reports published by a government agency or a think tank that address a current issue (within the last 12 months): Public Agenda, located at http://www.publicagenda.org; RAND Corporation, located at http://www.rand.org; Policy Library, located at http://www.policylibrary.com/; American Enterprise Institute, located at http://www.aei.org; Cato Institute, located at http://www.cato.org; Economic Policy Institute, located at http://www.epi.org/; or The Heritage Foundation, located at http://www.heritage.org. Be prepared to discuss.

Assignment 1: Argument Mapping

Due Week 3 and worth 150 points

Write a four to five (4-5) page paper in which you:
(Note: Refer to Demonstration Exercise 3 located at the end of Chapter 1 for criteria 1-3.)

1. Create an argument map based on the influence diagram presented in Case 1.3 and complete all the criteria provided in the exercise, beginning with this claim: “The U.S. should return to the 55- mph speed limit in order to conserve fuel and save lives.”
2. Include in the map as many warrants, backings, objections, and rebuttals as possible.
3. Assume that the original qualifier was certainly; indicate whether the qualifier changes as we move from a simple, static, uncontested argument to a complex, dynamic and contested argument.

(Note: Refer to Demonstration Exercise 3 located at the end of Chapter 8 for criterion 4.)

1. Apply the argument mapping procedures presented in Chapter 8 to analyze the pros and cons (or strengths and weaknesses) of the recommendations that the United States should not intervene in the Balkans.

(Note: Refer to Demonstration Exercise 4 located at the end of Chapter 8 for criteria 5-7.)

1. Write a one (1) page analysis that uses critical thinking to assess the overall plausibility of the claim: “The conflict in Bosnia is somebody else’s trouble. The U.S. should not intervene militarily.”
2. Complete an argument map to illustrate your analysis.
3. Include at least two (2) peer-reviewed references (no more than five [5] years old) from material outside the textbook to support your views. Note: Appropriate peer-reviewed references include scholarly articles and governmental Websites. Do not use open source Websites such as Wikipedia, Sparknotes.com, Ask.com, and similar Websites are not acceptable resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
• Use Microsoft Word, Microsoft Draw, PowerPoint, or other graphics program to create the arguments maps for the assignment. Whichever program you use, the graphical maps must be integrated into the Word Document and labeled as a Figure with a number and title. The argument maps are part of the page length.