Description
Pick a topic from Week 9-14 and write a policy memo. Imagine you are working for a principal (e.g., the White House, a US Senate candidate, a CEO of a multi-national company) and you are asked to provide input on a current policy issue your principal is dealing with. The goal is to critically engage a major policy issue dealing with globalization. You can pick an actual policy reform from the past, a real reform idea currently being debated or a fictitious proposal of your own choosing. E.g., you could discuss whether the US should impose steel tariffs on Canada if the US should restrict FDI from China, how Europe should handle the refugee crisis, the 2019 EU Mercosur trade agreement, or how the OECD could limit international tax evasion. You should clearly describe the policy issue you are interested in, explain key conceptual terms, discuss the major debates and positions, and provide a reasoned recommendation. Throughout the memo, please reference relevant literature (e.g., academic articles and books, policy white papers, newspaper articles, government reports). You can draw on the assigned and supplementary readings from the syllabus but I expect you to go beyond and find your own material
The memo will be graded with the following criteria in mind:
- Did you provide key background information about the policy issue and explain it clearly?
- Did your discussion of the issue engage relevant theoretical and empirical debates we covered in a class?
- Did you offer a reasoned conclusion?
- Did you cite proper references and bring in additional literature?
The memo should be at most six pages long (not including the reference list at the end). Please format your memo in 12pt-font, with 1.5 spacing, 1-inch margins, and references formatted in APSA-style (https://www.macalester.edu/las/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2012/09/APSAStyleGuide.pdf). The memo is due no later than midnight, Oct 13th. Late submissions will only receive 50% of the credit. Prepare accordingly. Please submit your response paper via the Canvas dropbox. The memo will help you to get more out of the readings and lectures.