Draft 1. Puzzle, Question, and Article Review. This is a brief draft focusing on your
puzzle (see Appendix A for some ideas), its practical and disciplinary importance, and at
least one journal article or scholarly book that addresses the puzzle using a formal
model. Follow these steps to construct this initial draft (worth 25 points):
Create a cover page. Come up with a title other than POLI Draft or the
like (you may want to save this part for last, since you may not know your thesis
yet); add your name and institutional affiliation[REDACTED]. [2 points]
Begin the draft by offering a puzzle in politics; then establish your research
question and its importance for both political life and political science. This
should take a paragraph or two. [6 points]
Then provide a thesis about where the solution to the puzzle may lie.
Incorporate strategic interaction between political actors in your explanation.
Now discuss an article from an academic journal, a thesis or dissertation, or an
academic/scholarly book that used a formal (mathematical) model to address
part of all of your puzzle.
Once youve found a study with a formal model (typically expected utility theory,
game theory, or social choice theory), describe its dependent variable, its
theoretical approach (answer) to the question, its research design, and the
authors conclusions. Conclude your discussion of the article by examining the
weaknesses of the authors approach (especially the formal model itself, to the
extent that you can figure out what assumptions it makes) and what knowledge
we gain from the study (if any) over previous studies discussed by the author(s)
in their literature review. [15 points]
Attach a works cited page in APSA format. [2 points]
Note that one point will be deducted for every two spelling/grammar errors in
this draft, so be sure to proofread.
Topic choices are uploaded as a separate doc. You are free to choose any one topic you like
