Develop a detailed outline of your first main point. (For assistance with your writing skills, refer to the Ashford Writing Center.)
1. The Constitution:
a. Provide an introductory paragraph that briefly describes one strength and one weakness of the U.S. Constitution.
(Use the space below to complete this section.)
b. Provide a paragraph that recommends one option to maintain the strength and one to correct the weakness.
(Use the space below to complete this section.)
2. Scholarly Support: (For assistance with your research, the Ashford University’s Library provides tutorials and recorded webinars on a variety of topics. To access these helpful resources look for the links located under the [email protected] search box on the library home page. For help with writing, please review the APA Style Aid, and Ashford Writing Center’s Sample Annotated Bibliography for additional help.)
a. Provide two credible sources in APA format to support your main points.
(Use the space below to complete this section.)
b. Briefly discuss how these sources support your main points.
(Use the space below to complete this section.)
c. Briefly evaluate your sources for bias, validity, and reliability.
(Use the space below to complete this section.)
Example:
Main Point: A strength and weakness of the British constitution.
1a. The British constitution has many strengths and weakness that make their political system unique. One unique major strength is that the British constitution is based on over 800 years of common law, customs, and conventions and one unique major weakness is that it is not a formal written constitution, like the U.S. Constitution.
1b. A way to enhance the strength and correct the weakness of the British constitution is to capture and summarize the 800 years laws, customs, and conventions into one easily understood document.
2a. Powell Jr., G. B., Dalton, R. J., and Strom, K. (2012). Comparative politics today: A world view. (10th ed.) New York: Pearson Longman.
Levin-Waldman, O. M. (2012). American government. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
2b. Comparative politics today: A world view by Powell, Dalton, and Strom (2012) is a respected textbook used in many college courses. This text has an entire chapter dedicated to the British political system and should be a very valuable secondary source for this paper. In addition, the book has many references to other scholarly sources that could be helpful in this paper.
American government by Levin-Waldman (2012) is also a respected textbook used by Ashford University. It too should be a valuable secondary resource as it traces the evolution of the U.S. Constitution from the British constitution. The historical background material should be very useful in setting the stage for future discussion of the British constitution. This book also has many references to other scholarly sources that could be helpful in this paper.
2c. Both books should provide relatively unbiased information but both books are from American authors so they may be some bias towards American views, beliefs, and political systems. All of the material in the books should be valid and reliable as the books have gone through a significant peer review and editing process and the authors are considered as experts in their respective fields.
