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PSCI 3201: Course Assignments

General Guidelines
Paper Assignment Schedule
Short Paper #1 Assignment
Short Paper #2, #3, and #4 Assignments
Research Paper Assignment

The paper assignments are intended to deepen student understanding of the substance of environmental policy and the processes by which environmental policy decisions are made.

SOME GENERAL GUIDELINES:

  • To reduce paper waste, all written assignments should be printed single-spaced. If possible, print double-sided, or print on reused paper.
  • Include a bibliography with full information on sources at the end of each paper. Remember that a bibliography is always presented in alphabetical order by author’s last name. Where there is no individual author, the name of the organization is considered to be the author. Web addresses alone are insufficient bibliographic information. These should be listed like any other source (starting with author, title, date, etc., with the web address listed last as the publisher).
  • All papers need to be submitted in hard copy at the beginning of class on the due date.
  • Points will be deducted for incomplete assignments, lateness, and editing errors.
  • Feel free to ask questions about any of the assignments!
PAPER ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE

Tue, 11 Sept Short paper #1 (5 percent)
Tue, 25 Sept Short paper #2 (5 percent)
Tue, 9 Oct Short paper #3 (5 percent)
Thu, 1 Nov Short paper #4 (5 percent)
Thu, 29 Nov Research paper (30 percent)

SHORT PAPER ASSIGNMENTS

SHORT PAPER #1: Ecological Footprint Quiz and Discussion.

  1. Go to the Ecological Footprint Quiz, found at http://www.earthday.net/footprint/info.asp. The opening page of this website will show a map of the world. Direct the mouse to North America, click on the U.S. and your chosen language, and then a new screen will open to start the quiz.
  • Complete the quiz with responses that best match your current circumstances.
  • Rerun the quiz twice:
    • Change at least one variable to highlight a consumption choice in your current situation (e.g., use of transportation, food selections, etc.).
    • Duplicate your original quiz responses, changing only your location – i.e., assume you are living in a different state or country. (NOTE that the units change by country and cannot be directly compared. In the U.S. the unit of area is acres, in most other countries the unit is hectares. An alternative is to compare number of planets.)
  • Record all choices and results; attach data sheet to written assignment.
  • Write a paper (1-2 pages, single-spaced) that discusses the following:
  • Compare the results from part (2) to part (3a). What did you compare and why? What was interesting? Unexpected?
  • Compare the results from part (2) to part (3b). What was most interesting? Unexpected?
  • Discuss how these results might affect your personal choices.
  • What are the limits to individual attempts to protect the environment? How might collective choice (ie, public policy) help us to address some of the concerns raised in this exercise?

SHORT PAPERS #2, #3 and #4: Policy Design Analysis

These short papers will use the same policy design framework to analyze three different environmental policy issues discussed in the general media or other sources of information on environmental policy issues. We will discuss the policy design framework in detail in class, and you can gain further insight on the elements of policy design through the assigned reading (especially Anne Schneider and Helen Ingram, “Systematically Pinching Ideas: A Comparative Approach to Policy Design,” Journal of Public Policy 8 (Spring 1988): 61-80, available on the class website).

Each paper should be 1-2 pages single-spaced. Specifically:

  1. Identify an environmental issue of interest. You should be able to briefly and objectively explain the problem.
  2. Describe the elements of the existing policy design applied to this issue: Goals, targets, agents, linkages (tools, rules, assumptions).
  3. In many cases it will be difficult to pinpoint all of the policy details from any particular article, and extrapolation may be necessary. (Keep in mind that these are not intended to be major research papers but rather opportunities to apply the policy design framework to issues currently being addressed in the news.) However, be sure you base your analysis on solidly-written material. The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/) provides some of the best science and environmental coverage among U.S. newspapers. The Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/) has some of the best coverage of national policy and political issues. Environmental interest groups such as Worldwatch Institute (http://www.worldwatch.org/) also provide easily-accessible environmental policy materials.
  4. Explain what is being proposed in terms of policy design (for example, no change, new or expanded goals, different targets, alternative agents, new tools, different assumptions, etc.). If there are many proposals under consideration, select one or two for further assessment.
  5. Analyze and critique. Does this proposal seem to be an appropriate approach? Why or why not? What would you do differently? What are some alternatives (e.g., other targets, competing assumptions, more modest goals, etc.).
  6. One or more of your short papers can be a test run for your longer research paper. However, all short papers must be on different policy issues.
  7. Be prepared to discuss your issue and the policy design you examined on the due date or in subsequent classes. Volunteers will be solicited, but you could also be called on to briefly describe your paper in class.

RESEARCH PAPER: An Analysis of Environmental Policy Options (5-6 pages, single-spaced)

 This is a three-part research assignment that allows students to examine an environmental issue in its broad policy and political context. Environmental policy issues can be addressed from many different angles, appealing to different arguments, involving many different actors, and using different policy design elements. Your job is to identify a politically feasible policy approach to an issue of interest to you. Part A will focus on the nature of the issue itself – explaining the underlying environmental problem, the current controversy and the competing interests trying to influence the issue. Part B will require an assessment of where this issue fits in the policy process and which political actors might have an impact in terms of promoting policy change. Part C will focus on the policy design elements, current and proposed. What policy design options do you consider most promising, considering the nature of the problem and the likelihood of gaining sufficient support? Papers will be graded on research (demonstrating that all relevant information was located and used); analysis (appropriately interpreting the information and developing an argument using that information); and presentation (paying attention to the details of careful writing, including style and editing for errors).

It is strongly advised that students begin to think through this assignment early in the semester. All of the materials necessary for the analysis will be introduced in the first weeks of the semester, including discussion of the environmental policy process, agenda setting and the environment, policy formulation and design, and competing perspectives on the environment.

Part A: Identifying the Interests at Stake. The focus of this first part of the assignment is to examine the competing interests that organize around issues of environmental concern.

To complete this part of the assignment:

  1. Choose an environmental issue of current concern. Describe the problem and general controversies.
  2. Identify at least three different special interest groups that are taking a position on your chosen issue and briefly explain the position each group is advocating. In order to examine the issue from different points of view, seek out different types of groups. For example, environmental organizations (such as Sierra Club, Greenpeace); industry groups (such as the American Petroleum Institute, American Forest & Paper Association); other affected interests (such as Off-Road.com, American Council of Snowmobile Associations, developers, ranchers, farmers); and broader-spectrum interest organizations (such as the Public Interest Research Group, other consumer groups, health care interests, partisan groups, religious organizations).
  3. What are the underlying values in this debate? Are the competing interests/groups arguing from the same or different perspectives? You should discuss the range of perspectives introduced in class (e.g., ethics, commons, economics, science, justice), but you are not limited to these. Which of the perspectives seem to better fit the case and the arguments, and why is this?
  4. Are these groups arguing at cross-purposes? Is there common ground? Over what kinds of issues and values might the various interests/groups agree? Keeping in mind that policy change in the U.S. depends on developing majority coalitions, it is usually the case that no one group’s position will prevail. Compromise and negotiation are necessary. How could we bring representatives of each of these organizations together for a fruitful discussion? Be creative.
Part B: Assessing where the issue stands in the policy process. There are many different actors involved in the environmental policy process. Among others, these actors include the president, executive appointees, federal agencies, the Congress, the judiciary, interest groups, experts, the media and the broad public. In addition, environmental issues might be addressed locally, at the state level, regional level, national level or international level. Which actors are most likely to be involved in this issue today, given how the issue has been addressed to date? Remember that many different actors operating at different levels can be simultaneously involved in an issue. Describe how you see each of these actors involved or, if not, why not. Which do you think could be most effective in terms of advancing this policy issue? Explain.

Part C: Evaluating the policy design elements. You should be well practiced in evaluating the elements of policy design by the time you turn attention to your research paper. D escribe the elements of the existing policy design applied to this issue: Goals, targets, agents, linkages (tools, rules, assumptions). Be specific! What particular changes to these elements are being proposed (for example, in legislation, by an interest group “expert,” or by an interest group in a court case)? Do the proposed policy design elements seem to offer an appropriate approach? Why or why not? What would you do differently? Keeping in mind political feasibility concerns, what are some alternatives that you would favor (e.g., specifying alternative targets, different assumptions, more modest goals, etc.). To whom would you offer these insights?

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