Posted: March 25th, 2015

United State trade agreements with Saudi Arabia

United State trade agreements with Saudi Arabia

I.  Formatting instructions:
•    Policy paper should be typed, double-spaced through the entire document, standard margins (1”), standard font (11 or 12 point, Times New Roman or Calibri), and

8-10 pages in length.
•    A typed preliminary annotated bibliography (instructions below) with a minimum of 12 appropriate sources will be due on 4/9 in lecture.   The annotated

bibliography does not count towards the 8-10  page length requirement of the policy paper.
•    Papers should be printed 2 pages per page to save paper (Do NOT include a cover, follow memo format).
•    Use internal citations, not footnotes or endnotes, to reference the sources used.  It is necessary to use internal citations when you: 1) directly quote from

another source; 2) paraphrase an important idea from another source; 3) include specific factual information that would not be considered common knowledge and/or is

controversial; and 4) when you indicates that someone thinks, believes, feels, etc. anything. To not use internal citations when appropriate is considered plagiarism.

If the paper is plagiarized in part or in whole, it will receive a failing grade and the incident will be reported to the HSS dean.
•    Use APA style for the internal citations and for the bibliography. Here is the link to the Blume Library’s online style guide:

http://lib.stmarytx.edu/content.php?pid=121372&sid=1095761 .

II.  Policy Papers Guidelines:
•    The policy paper should be addressed to either the US President or to an appropriate member of the Cabinet—so be sure the policy paper addresses an issue on

which the US can take action.
•    Have an introductory paragraph that makes perfectly clear what is the purpose and content of the policy paper—remember that you have to propose something about

US policy… you cannot propose a change to another country’s policy.
•    Begin the body of the policy paper with background on the issue (approximately 2 pages). Do not go too far back into history… probably focusing on the events

during the past five years is sufficient.  Remember that the person you are writing the paper for is probably fairly knowledgeable about the topic so does not include

unnecessary information.
•    Describe the present situation and why there is need for a policy review/recommendation (approximately 3pages).
•    Indicate what different policy options are available—you should consider at least three but no more than four different policy options.  Remember that one

policy is option is to do nothing different, but then you will still have to address the pros/cons of inaction.  It is not necessary that policy options be directly

linked to different IPE perspectives nor is it necessary to include options from each of the three different IPE perspectives.
•    For each policy option, discuss carefully and completely the pros and cons (costs and benefits) of each option
•    Select what you see as the best option indicating clearly why it is seen as the best option
•    Have a conclusion

III . Annotated Bibliography
•    The bibliography should be typed and include no fewer than 12 appropriate sources used to develop the policy paper.  You must include some scholarly journal

articles, but also consider using newspaper articles and working papers… Internet sources should be minimal and only used if they are from a reliable/valid source.

You will need the Internet to go to a US governmental agency to see what are existing policies (for example http://www.commerce.gov/ ).
•    To search for on-line articles, go to St. Mary’s Library (http://library.stmarytx.edu), and select “other Blume Library databases” on the Articles tab.  Next

select “International Relations” from the list of databases by subject.  You will then get a list of electronic databases that keep track of works related to

international relations.  Begin with the Academic Search Complete database to search for scholarly journal articles on your topic… it is quite extensive. JSTOR and

Project Muse can also be used to locate appropriate articles.
•    To search for working papers, repeat previous steps, but this time select Columbia International Affairs On-line (CIAONet).  Search this database for working

papers, policy briefs, and other scholarly works on your subject.
•    To search for newspaper articles on your topic, use Lexis Nexis Academic.
•    You may want to look through the LibGuide created for the International Relations program for other helpful sources
•    The bibliography must follow the APA style manual, which is available on-line at St. Mary’s Blume Library:  http://lib.stmarytx.edu/content.php?

pid=121372&sid=1095761
•    The entries for the bibliography should be in alphabetical order, not numbered. After each bibliography entry, you provide a brief summary (2-3 sentences) of

the article… what it is about and how you intend to use the information in your policy paper for the first submission of the bibliography and then how it was used when

submitted with the policy paper. For example, if you provide specific factual information to describe the current issue/problem (which you should do), then in the

annotated bibliography I would expect to find information that indicates which source provided this information.  The annotation should not be vague and general… “this

source provided background information, etc.” but should be specific… “this source was used to provide information on economic growth rates, immigration numbers, etc.”