What is the name of your policy recommendation?

Journal Part II builds on your research from Journal Part I where you analyzed and critiqued at least 2 scholarly articles on the country/case study of your own choosing. In Journal Part II you will offer recommendations on how to solve your country’s gender equity problem. Many of you have discussed ways in which to solve your country’s gender equity issue in your previous two papers, but in this paper, I want you to go in-depth and produce a plan on how to remedy the gender equity issue you have been writing about all semester.
4 minimun sources needed

In Journal Part II, you will collect a minimum of 4 new informative, well-written related articles on your policy issue from scholarly journals and newspapers or other recent periodicals and use them as the sources to write a paper of at least 1250 words. Note, you may use more than 4 sources, but 4 is the minimum number required for Journal Part II. Also note, that there is a correlation between longer papers and higher grades, so although I have required a minimum word count of 1250 words, if you want to get a good grade in this paper, spend more time writing and developing your ideas instead of writing to reach the minimum word count.

Use at least 2 scholarly sources, meaning articles in peer-reviewed academic journals. You may use more than 2 scholarly sources or only scholarly sources but at the bare minimum, 2 of your sources must be scholarly articles from peer reviewed journals. For non-scholarly sources, I recommend selecting articles from periodicals that have well-written substantial articles such as: The New York Times, the Economist, the Atlantic Monthly, NPR, Al-Jazeera, BBC World Service etc. You may use sources other than the ones listed above if they are similar in journalistic scope and quality, but if you are unsure whether the non-scholarly source you find is acceptable, you can clear it with me before using it in your paper. The purpose of these new articles is to provide you with ideas on what will (or won’t) work for your issue in your country.

To help focus your paper, imagine you are a consultant hired by your country’s government to help solve the gender equity issue you identified before the country’s next CEDAW Committee meeting (as discussed in the Merry article assigned for Week 15). Your recommendations should be actionable, meaning the country should be able to have the resources to carry out your recommendations, so for example, you should not recommend that Mozambique hire 10,000 new female teachers and build at least 1,000 all-girls schools to solve low female literacy rates because given Mozambique’s limited resources, that would not be economically feasible. Likewise, if you are writing about law that targets women, for example, a ban on abortion, you cannot recommend that a right-wing government overturn an abortion ban. Instead, think through a solution that would be feasible given your country’s political situation for example, to increase access to contraceptives and/or sex education etc.

Although not all of these questions may be applicable to your country and policy, here is a non-exhaustive list of questions to help you write Journal Part II:
What is the name of your policy recommendation? For example, Early Childhood Education Act.
What is the goal of your policy recommendation? For example, decrease female illiteracy by 50% by year 2045 in country X.
What does your policy do that the current policy does not do? For example, cut illiteracy rates is to train new female teachers but the existing policy of building more schools has not helped cut illiteracy rates.
Which government departments or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or international organization does it involve? For example, country X’s department of education and UNICEF.
What resources, in terms of expertise, time, money etc., would the government need to implement your recommendation? For example, it may simply require a re-orienting of resources that are currently being used for the problem, or it may require additional resources from foreign aid or loans.
What results can the government expect once they have implemented your proposal? For example, decreased child marriage, lower birth rate, lower infant mortality, etc.
How long will it take to implement your proposal? What are some short-term results? Long term results?
Have other countries implemented your proposal and what results did they see? For example, Kenya implemented a similar teacher training program in 2013 and it cut illiteracy rates by 36% in 10 years.
Your paper should also include:
An introductory paragraph that includes the country name and policy issue, a brief description of the issue and a summary of your recommendations. This paragraph will lay out what I can expect in the rest of the paper.
Themes and concepts you have learnt about in class throughout the semester.
Copies of the minimum 4 articles at the end of the paper.
A bibliography that includes the complete list of sources used in Journal Parts I & II. (Previously I had indicated that I would require the submission of Journal Part I including copies of the articles, as part of Journal Part II but this is no longer the requirement. The purpose of the requirement was to make sure that you were using new articles in Journal Part II, but to simplify things, I want you to simply make clear in your bibliography which articles were used in Journal Part I and which were used in Journal Part II).
Formatting requirements
Paper should be submitted as a Word document or PDF on Canvas and should be at least 1250 words, double spaced, written in Times New Roman, 12-point font, with 1-inch margins, standard character spacing and page numbers.
Paper should include a title that clearly communicates the policy issue and country, in-text citations and a complete list of sources in a bibliography section at the end of the paper, followed by copies of the 4 articles.
Avoid quotes, especially long ones, it is difficult to evaluate your understanding of the material when you use someone else’s words extensively.
Grading Rubric
Total points: 150 points
Content – 50 pts
Provides answers to all applicable questions provided in the Journal Part II guidelines including (but not limited to), name of policy recommendation, governmental departments involved in policy implementation etc.
Argumentation – 40 pts
Incorporates relevant themes and concepts from class readings and/or lectures to support your policy recommendation
Provides explanation of the disadvantages or costs of continuing current policy.
Demonstrates knowledge of country’s political/economic situation and makes actionable policy recommendation(s) based on this knowledge.
Thorough step by step explanation of how policy would be implemented.
Use of evidence – 30 pts
Paper includes research from the scholarly articles showing that policy has worked in similar cases.
Provides evidence showing why current policy or law is not working
Strong evidence to support the viability of your policy recommendation.
Inclusion of the 4 articles in full at the end of the paper
Organization and writing – 20 pts
Clear organization and flow. Includes an introduction that provides a brief description of the issue and a summary of policy recommendation(s), transition sentences to connect major ideas, and conclusion.
There are few or no grammar or spelling errors. Paper uses minimal passive voice. Ideas and evidence are correctly cited.
Mechanics – 10 pts
Paper follows all formatting requirements in the Journal Part II guidelines.
Bibliography that includes the complete list of sources used in Journal Parts I & II.

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