For this option, you will be answering the following prompt:
What is Presidential Unilateralism? How can the various branches of government check the executives unilateral powers? Do they? Why or why not?
Your essay should be organized as follows:
Define the concept of presidential unilateralism.
Provide a clear thesis about the ability of the other branches to check presidential unilateralism
Put that theory in conversation with Neustadts theory of presidential power. Therefore, review Neustadt and explain how presidential unilateralism conflicts with that theory.
Discuss if the Legislative Branch can check unilateral actions (Howell, Chapter 5), and whether they do, and why. Use examples.
Discuss if the Judicial Branch can check unilateral actions (Howell, Chapter 6) and whether they do, and why. Use examples.
Conclude with a summary of the paper
Formatting/Structure
Make sure to use 12-point font, one-inch margins, double-spacing, and proper citation format (see section below). Additionally, please number each page. The essay should be five-six pages long (not including the bibliography). If you submit less than 4.5 or more than 7 pages, you will not receive full credit.
Essays will be graded on content (evidence provided), analysis (claims drawn about the evidence provided), structure (clarity of thesis and logical flow of the essay), and mechanics (grammar, punctuation use, sentence and paragraph composition, etc.). The following elements are part of an A paper:
Clear use of evidence in the form of facts, ideas from existing research, and thoughtful, balanced analysis. An A paper will clearly connect the analysis to the broader political science literature on executive power.
Clear writing with few grammatical errors. Clear structure, including introduction, a conclusion, and reasonably sized body paragraphs. Each body paragraph should start with a topic sentence that introduces that paragraph.
You may divide your paper into discrete sections or structure it as a traditional essay
A bibliography with a complete list of your sources. Some guidelines:
Congressional bills and executive orders should be cited when referenced, but do not count as academic sources
Google Scholar can be very useful for finding sources
Include a minimum of five (5) sources total.
At least three (3) academic sources for each paper. These should be academic articles or university press books (the textbook is fair game).
At least one of your three academic sources must be from outside the class (meaning that it is not on the syllabus).
Lectures may be cited, but do not count towards your required sources.
Appropriate and sparing use of quotes. Quotes do not speak for themselves. They should always be preceded by context and followed by analysis of that quote.
Citations and Bibliographies
I am not a stickler for a particular citation format. What does matter is that you cite every source you reference and include a bibliography at the end of every paper you submit that references outside sources. You may use in-text parenthetical citations (e.g. APSR style) or footnotes (e.g. Chicago style), but you MUST be consistent and use citations every time you refer to an outside source rather than your own opinion.
