Political Science 321
Fall 2006
Dr. Bilocerkowycz
PAPER GUIDELINES
You are required to write a 10 page research paper (typed and double-spaced) which will account for 30% of your course grade. The paper should do the following:
1. pose a major or several related research questions to be investigated-- be explicit and place the research question or questions in question format
2. discuss and analyze carefully selected aspects of the topic
3. provide relevant supportive data (statistical, demographic, biographic, documentary etc.)
4. examine and critique alternative interpretations/perspectives
5. present your own conclusions
6. note the broader significance of your findings (beyond the particulars of your case) in a paragraph or so
In addition to the paper's BODY of 10 pages, you should also include endnote references (any consistent and understandable citation system is fine, so long as author and page number is clear-- assuming there are page numbers). However, be sure that endnotes/footnotes are numbered consecutively throughout the paper.
Note page numbers begin with the body of the paper but that the first page is understood to be page 1 and should not be typed in (although it is counted). Thus, visible page numbering begins with page 2 of the paper’s body. Please NO Roman numerals.
Also provide a CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY, which briefly describes and evaluates each source used in a couple of choice sentences. It is expected that you will be using both Web-based AND non-Web-based sources (library books, journal articles, etc) Note the critical bibliography should be separate from the endnote references. Please also include a one page SUMMARY OUTLINE of your paper to be placed after your TITLE PAGE. The outline should use a letter and number format (A. 1, 2, 3; B. 1, 2, 3). PHOTO IMAGES are encouraged, especially on the title page, as are maps, tables, and charts where relevant.
The papers are due in class on NOV. 1 (WED). Late papers will be penalized, but will not be accepted more than one week late (unless you have spoken with the instructor and received an extension before hand). Papers written for other courses are not acceptable, whether they have been revised or not. Please make TWO COPIES of your paper, one to be turned in, the other is your "insurance" backup and can be used for oral presentation purposes.
Plagiarized work will result in a zero for the paper. Plagiarism includes quoting directly from a source without acknowledgment in an endnote or simply paraphrasing someone else's analysis or interpretation without citing the source. Common knowledge does not need to be footnoted.
You may select a topic from among those listed below or choose one of your own. In either case, however, you need to check with me to obtain formal approval. To prevent a "run" on library materials and diversify oral presentation topics, only a limited number of students will be allowed to work on the same topic.
Analyze and Evaluate:
-the political and/or socio-economic challenges facing any of the new non-Russian post-Soviet successor states:
Ukraine (esp. post-Orange Rev.), Belarus, Moldova
Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia
Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan
-post-Soviet policy or problem in any new state or states (crime, agriculture, environment, energy, space, privatization, culture)
-status, role, and problems facing a religious denomination in Soviet or post-Soviet eras (Baptists, Catholics, Jewish, Islamic, Russian Orthodox)
-leadership profile/intellectual biography of a political leader
(Nazarbayev/Kazakhstan, Shevardnadze/Georgia, Saakashvili/Georgia, Adamkus/Lithuania, I. Aliyev/Azerbaijan, Karimov/Uzbekistan, Niyazov/Turkmenistan; Tymoshenko/Ukraine;
Zhirinovsky/Russia, Zyuganov/Russia, Luzhkov, Chernomyrdin, Yavlinsky, Nemstov, Kasyanov, Gary Kasparov)
-political or territorial disputes (Moldova and Transdniester; Russia and Tatarstan; Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh; Ukraine and Russia over Crimea)
-rise and role of a given popular front movement (Sajudis, Rukh, etc)
-nature, views, and support for select political parties in any new state
-electoral behavior of public/subgroups across several elections
-Western coverage of 1932-33 famine or Purge Trials of the 1930s
-Stalin-style of political leadership or psychological profile
-constitutional issues/debate in non-Russian state
-status and role of women in any new state or two
-problem of human trafficking for prostitution in/from the post-Soviet region
-status and treatment of a minority or minorities within any new state
-problem of health care in Russia or other new states
-problem of AIDS or tuberculosis in Russia or other new states
-educational reform any new state or states
- compare select reforms Khrushchev vs. Gorbachev
-status, role, and problems of the military (or a select branch) any state
-status, role, and controversies surrounding the FSB (Federal Security Service), “successor” to the KGB
-refugee or migration problems
-politics and economics surrounding the closure of the Chernobyl Nuclear
Plant
-Russian perspectives on US-led Iraq War
-Russian perspectives on the US presidential elections 2000 & 2004 and top contenders
-controversies surrounding Russian symbols (flag, anthem; monuments/burial sites; holidays; city and street names)
Russia’s recent relations with a key country (Germany; France; Poland; Turkey; India; Iran; Cuba; or North Korea) or the Russian govt. and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
-Ukraine’s foreign policy orientation (e.g. possible NATO or World Trade Organization membership; peacekeeping activities; relations with select country USA; Germany; Romania; Georgia etc);
-politics and controversies surrounding Pope John Paul’s visit to Ukraine
and its impact on Ukrainian society
-religious rivalry/division within Ukraine
-Ukrainian-Polish relations since 1991
-any Baltic state’s admission into NATO or the European Union
-GUUAM (regional bloc within the CIS : Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Moldova)—nature, activities, problems
-Russian-Belarusian Union—past and present efforts, controversies, problems, and costs
-U.S. relations with Central Asia post-9/11 (e.g. Uzbekistan etc)
-human rights analysis of any new state (including Russia)
-Caspian Sea oil- politics and economics in the division of oil rights
-alcohol abuse/alcoholism or drug abuse
-Western tobacco firms and smoking in the new states
-problem of corruption
-Russian mafia (analysis of select sectors of activities)
-Western investment/firms active in Russia, Ukraine etc and the challenges they face
-level of computer use/internet use in several new states and the challenges therein
-300th year anniversary celebration for St. Petersburg (politics, economics, cultural aspects)
-foreign trade analysis over several years in a given state or two
- status and freedom of media and media controversies in non-Russian state
-Georgia’s “Rose Revolution”
-Putin and the Kursk submarine tragedy
-Russo-Ukrainian energy relations and controversies
-Russian public opinion about America and/or the US government—statistics, trends, etc
-Tatarstan—Tatar nationalism (key Russian region)
-Kaliningrad- Russian exclave’s problems and future