Explain why the issue is important from a public administration perspective.

Public Administration Research Paper
Each student must complete a research paper (10 pages this is a rigid requirement!) that is due at the end of the semester.
Find a topic of interest.
Select a public administration topic that interests you. Topics may include issues like Government accountability and performance, immigration, technology/government and government collaboration.
Apply to public administration.
Find 5-7 academic sources related to this topic (academic sources are peer-reviewed journal articles). These sources should be directly related to a public administration concept or theory. The textbook cannot be substituted as a source in place of a journal article
For the completed paper use the articles and your knowledge of the current events to write up a written research paper 10 pages in length.
Paper Guidelines:
1. Introduction (no more than 30% of paper length)
a. Brief description of the issue
b. Explain why the issue is important from a public administration perspective. This does not mean you should say “This is important to public administration because…” Instead, you should simply describe why the issue is important. Use an example from current events or your own experience to help illustrate this point
c. Thesis statement —how are you relating the case to journal articles? For example, you might say something like this…
“While any organization, public or private, is at risk of hiring employees who are unethical, when public administrators defraud their employers, they are stealing from the public whose interests they are supposed to protect. For example, recently a case came to light in “City Z” where an employee was able to steal over $500,000 (citation). Research in the public administration literature provides some insight into the efforts governments are making to prevent internal organizational fraud.”
2. Describe the findings from the academic literature and relate those findings back to the thesis statement.
a. What lessons from the academic literature can be applied to the issue you are investigating?
3. Conclusion
a. Sum up your main points
4. References page
a. Using APA or Chicago style, write a list of references used
b. Textbooks do not count as legitimate sources
c. You need 5 peer-reviewed public administration journal articles
d. You may also use books to supplement your sources, but they cannot be substituted for the five journal articles minimum

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