PSC 101 Community Meeting Term Paper

Click for PDF of Term Paper Instructions

One important aspect of political science is understanding how politics works in reality. A practical understanding of politics, as seen in community meetings will help heighten your understanding of individual responsibilities in communities, states, and the nation. It will also open doors to personal involvement in local, state, and national politics.

For your term paper, you will be required to view one archived regular meeting from one of the following sources:

Clark County Commissioners Board
Clark County School Board
Henderson City Council
When choosing a meeting to view, it is important that you look at the length of the recorded meeting. You need to watch a meeting that is at least one hour in length.

Preparing for the Term Paper:

Begin by viewing at least one hour of an archived community meeting from one of these three sources (Note: When you see the options, please make sure to select a “Regular” meeting.):

Clark County Board of Commissioners: https://www.clarkcountynv.gov/top_services/meetings___agendas/index.php (Links to an external site.)
Clark County School Board: https://ccsd.net/trustees/meeting-agendas/2019 (Links to an external site.)
Henderson City Council: http://henderson.siretechnologies.com/sirepub/meetresults.aspx?SortBy=Type+Asc&year=2019&month=3 (Links to an external site.)
While viewing the community meeting, take notes regarding the following two questions:

What are two fundamental ideas or principles of American government that are associated with this community meeting? (Consider the ideas and principles that we have studied in class, particular in chapters one, two, and three of the textbook.)

What is one aspect of Nevada government that is associated with this community meeting? (Consider the ideas and principles that we have studied in class, particular in reading the Nevada Constitution.)

Writing the Term Paper:

After viewing the community meeting, you will need to write a term paper that includes the following:

Present a detailed introduction and summary of the meeting that you viewed (including the exact date and name of meeting).

Identify and discuss two fundamental ideas or principles of American government that are associated with this community meeting.
Identify and discuss one aspect of Nevada government that is associated with this community meeting.
Provide a strong conclusion for the paper that summarizes your main points.
You will be graded on the content of the paper as well as proper writing, spelling, and grammar skills.

Your paper should include about 4-6 pages of double-spaced content (not counting the cover page, Works Cited page, or appendices).

Each section will need to have a section heading. Thus, you will need to include the following four section headings in your paper:

Introduction and Summary of Meeting
Fundamental Principles of American Government Associated with this Meeting
Aspects of Nevada Government Included in the Meeting
Summary and Conclusion
A Cover Page and a Works Cited page must be included. The cover or title page must include:

a paper title,
the student’s name,
student ID number (or last 4 digits of SSN),
the course name, semester/year, section number, and the professor’s name.
Honor Statement
* Points will be deducted for failure to follow to these instructions.

A Sample cover page is depicted below (and it is only a sample—specific numbers and titles may be different for you). By submitting this cover page under your CSN Canvas account, it will be counted the same as if you had personally signed the honor statement. However, please include the exact honor statement on your personal cover sheet.

Clark County School Board Meeting

By

John Johnson

SID: C0001234567

PSC 101

American Government and Politics

Fall 2020

Section 1009

Professor April Fife