First Essay Assignment

Pick one:

• Pick any leader or top staffer of a national party organization. Explain how that person’s career illustrates the point that a party is a “network of actors.” Coming up through the ranks, how has that person built connections with various layers of the party? How does this person’s experience shape her or his current performance? 
• Compare and contrast an American political party with its counterpart in another democracy (e.g., the US Democratic Party and the British Labour Party). How are they alike and different? To what extent do your findings confirm or disconfirm Rae’s argument in chapter 2 of Brewer? 
• Appraise the national parties’ efforts to recruit college activists in the 2012 campaign. In light of circumstances, who did a better job? Why? In your answer, you may wish to speak with activists on the Claremont campuses. Also take a careful look at studies of political participation and surveys of college-age voters (e.g., the IOP poll). 
• Pick any of the “qualified” minor parties in California. What barriers does it face in 2014? What can it do to survive? See: http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/political-parties
• You may write on another topic of your choosing, subject to my approval. 

Essays should reflect an understanding of class readings and discussions. Many resources, including CQ Weekly and Politics in America are at Honnold Library/Databases/CQ Library. You should check other sources as well. See: http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/pages/faculty/JPitney/elect.htm

The specifications:

• Essays should be typed (12-point), double-spaced, and no more than four pages long. I will not read past the fourth page. 
• Cite your sources. Please use endnotes in the format of Chicago Manual of Style. Endnotes do not count against the page limit. Please do not use footnotes, which take up too much page space. 
• Watch your spelling, grammar, diction, and punctuation. Errors will count against you. Return essays to the Sakai dropbox for this class by 5 PM, Friday, February 14. Papers will drop one gradepoint for one day’s lateness, a full letter grade after that.