One means by which citizens communicate with public officials and government agencies is through letter writing.For this assignment, you will draft a detailed letter to your representative in the House of Representatives or one of your two U.S. senators on a national public policy issue.In the letter you will ask the official to adopt a specific position and to take some kind of action.Your letter should be at least three pages (plus the cover page as described below), typed, double-spaced (in 12-point font with one-inch margins).Please do not write more than five pages without discussing the paper with your TA or the professor.Note that this is a required assignment for the course and the grade will be included in the calculation of your final course average.Failure to submit the paper results in an F on the assignment, which is one-quarter of your course grade.
 

    The letter must be based upon research.To begin with, you must study the policy issue itself, so you can develop the strongest argument for the position you advocate and address possible objections or counter-arguments to your position.Then you must decide which elected official to contact and find the correct mailing address.(Whether you actually mail it will be your choice; before you mail it you should wait for comments from the instructor grading the assignment.)The cover page of the assignment should include your name and section, identify the policy issue, and identify the official to whom you are sending the letter.The letter itself should include a proper heading with the official’s address and formal salutation.Failure to identify a specific official, include a proper mailing address, or sign the letter will cost you points on the assignment.
 

    In the letter you seek to persuade the official to support your position by the strength of your argument.Begin with an introduction in which you state in the first sentence what specifically you want the official to do and follow with a preview of the argument that makes up the body of your letter.(Note that urging the recipient to speak out or support position is not sufficient – specify the action, such as voting for a specific bill by its number, that you want the official to take.)The letter should proceed in order through the following three steps:(1) Your argument for why the official should act as you suggest.Your argument may focus on moral and/or practical issues.Some possible arguments include:the current policy has the wrong goal or purpose; the current policy is not accomplishing its purpose; the current policy is too short-sighted and ignores the long-run public interest; or there may be a better way to achieve the same goal.(This list is not complete.Feel free to develop other arguments.)Whatever kind of argument you make, it must be supported by appropriate data or examples.While you may include personal experiences as part of the argument, it must be based primarily on your research.(2)The counter-argument or objections to your position.Every issue has at least two sides.Some people will disagree with you for moral, practical, or political reasons.(Note that in an actual letter to a public official, you would not ordinarily include counter arguments, but you must discuss them here to demonstrate your awareness of other viewpoints).If there are numerous counter-arguments, pick several of the most compelling ones and explain them carefully.Note that there is a danger of reducing the opposing side to a caricature.To avoid this, it is essential to quote or cite opposing sources.(3)Your answer to the counter-arguments.Show the official why the objections to your position are not convincing.

4.Broadening employer-based health insurance/creating a tax credit to let individuals purchase private health insurance;

5.Raising taxes on wealthy Americans by ending parts of the Bush tax cut/lowering the capital gains tax and/or corporate taxes;

6.Reforming “No Child Left Behind”;

7.Increasing off-shore oil drilling/building new nuclear power plants;

8.Mandatory measures (specify which ones) to reduce green-house gas emissions;

9.Comprehensive immigration reform.

You may choose to advocate either side of any issue listed.If action on the issue already has been completed by one chamber of Congress, your letter should be directed to an official in the other chamber.
 
 

    Many Internet research sources are suitable for this assignment, but be aware that many sites are sponsored by advocacy groups and their objectivity and accuracy cannot be assumed.Watch out for bias! Good starting points for basic information include nationaljournal.com and major news media web sites such as cnn.com.When you turn in the assignment, attach a photocopy of all articles, internet downloads, and other short published material you use.Failure to attach the material will result in a late penalty for the assignment until the material is submitted and an F if the material is not submitted within one week of the instructor’s request.Instructors reserve the right to ask you to show them any other material (such as longer reports or pamphlets) you have used that you do not attach to the letter.
 

    Although you must draw upon appropriate sources, your letter should consist mostly of analysis, argument, and/or interpretation in your own words.You may quote directly not more than ten linesin the entire letter.If we find that you are lifting more than ten lines from your sources (including language only slightly changed from the original), we will treat that as plagiarism.While that is an academic violation at Hunter College, in this case your letter will be returned without a grade and we will treat the assignment as though you did not do it, computing an F into your course average.If we suspect deliberate plagiarism, we may require that you submit your paper to a plagiarism detection service.Evidence of plagiarism in such cases will result in formal disciplinary action.
 

    Note that all information derived from your sources must be cited, even when you have put it into your own words.Citations should follow the in-text parenthetical format, with full bibliographic information at the end of the letter.Citations to the Internet should be sufficiently specific so as to allow a reader to arrive at the same web page where you found the information.
 

    The paper is due Monday, November 24th.If your discussion session meets Monday, the paper must be turned in there.For all others, the papers must be submitted at the end of the lecture that day in Room 714 HW.Late papers (without a documented, valid reason) will be penalized one full letter grade for each day late.This includes papers turned in on the due date after the time indicated.You may not submit papers via e-mail or fax.Late papers should be left in our respective mailboxes in the department office (1724 HW); never leave a paper under an office door.Note that you will have the option to rewrite the paper to earn a better grade, but only if you submit the original paper on time.Failure to attach source material not only incurs the late penalty but costs you the option of rewriting the paper.