Faithr Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 My son, the reluctant writer, has yet to write a proper research paper even though he's 17! Yikes, how did that happen? Anyway, he's got to write one this year. His dad is teaching him Government but he's leaving the topic choices up to me. Son doesn't want to have to think about it (typical when it comes to writing for him!). So I've come up with one possible choice: compare and contrast our state constitution with U.S. constitution. Any other Government/civics paper topics you can think of? Have your kids written papers for this subject? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
history_junkie Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 You could take any major issue and discuss its constitutionality. Separation of Church and State (so many topics here!) Compare the two Houses of Congress Compare our system to another system of government Compare/ contrast a bicameral legislature to a unicameral legislature How has Federalism impacted _______ (insert any major political issue). Compare the powers of the presidency today with the powers that G. Washington had Discuss the merits/ negatives of the Electoral College and our election process. I could go on and on :tongue_smilie: Do you mind sharing what government curriculum he is using? Hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithr Posted December 4, 2012 Author Share Posted December 4, 2012 Wow, great list! My dh has cobbled together his own thing. He's an attorney and he knows his constitutional law pretty well. He uses Declaration Statesmanship in the beginning to discuss the origins of and philosophy behind the Constitution. Dec.State. is a very conservative approach, more conservative than dh is really. Now they are entering the next phase of the class where my dh just walks them through each part of the Constitution and they discuss each line, its issues and how it has been interpreted through the years. So basically his curriculum now is the Constitution itself and his own brain! Thanks for this great list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan in GE Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 Compare and contrast Rousseau and Voltaire's views on government.... Joan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
history_junkie Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 Wow, great list! My dh has cobbled together his own thing. He's an attorney and he knows his constitutional law pretty well. He uses Declaration Statesmanship in the beginning to discuss the origins of and philosophy behind the Constitution. Dec.State. is a very conservative approach, more conservative than dh is really. Now they are entering the next phase of the class where my dh just walks them through each part of the Constitution and they discuss each line, its issues and how it has been interpreted through the years. So basically his curriculum now is the Constitution itself and his own brain! Thanks for this great list. You're welcome. Wow! I want to take your dh's class. It sounds great. Since your student has a very clear grasp of the Constitution, that opens up lots of research possibilities. Taking a major case (Roe v. Wade, Lawrence v. Texas, etc) and examining it's constitutionality, the ramifications the decision has had on government and society could be very interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaLisa Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Other topics might include (and these are quite broad so would need to be narrowed considerably): *party decline and reasons for it *Media influence on American government -- polling, election night coverage, televised debates; influence and use of social media *vote turnout, it's rise or decline in America; comparison to vote turnout in other countries; effective means to influence voter registration or voter turnout *affect of Citizens United v. FEC on 2012 campaigns and election (campaign finance reform) *superPACs *the constitutionality of an issue pending before the USSC but not yet decided: enforcement of federal narcotics laws in Washington and Colorado that just passed medical marijuana referendums *the use of direct democracy to accomplish political goals (ballot measures) *the use of courts to accomplish political goals *is American really more politically polarized now that we have been in the last 200 years *minor political parties *political parties in the US v. European countries (pick one) *current political issues: US policy in the middle east; US-China foreign policy *political legacies of a certain president I could keep going, but hope one of these leads him to brainstorm a topic of interest! Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 My son, the reluctant writer, has yet to write a proper research paper even though he's 17! Yikes, how did that happen? Anyway, he's got to write one this year. His dad is teaching him Government but he's leaving the topic choices up to me. Son doesn't want to have to think about it (typical when it comes to writing for him!). So I've come up with one possible choice: compare and contrast our state constitution with U.S. constitution. Any other Government/civics paper topics you can think of? Have your kids written papers for this subject? Thanks! Pick a case that might go before the supreme court this year or that recently went. Explore the sides of the case. Argue that the decision was or was not the right one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tullia Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Pick a case that might go before the supreme court this year or that recently went. Explore the sides of the case. Argue that the decision was or was not the right one. This. Many 17 year olds would relish digging into a case that's been in the news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 My son, the reluctant writer, has yet to write a proper research paper even though he's 17! Yikes, how did that happen? Anyway, he's got to write one this year. My daughter didn't write a research paper until the third quarter of senior year when she took a "Writing the Research Paper" class at the local community college. She was not a reluctant writer, and had written a number of short papers before that time. When we discussed her community college classes after her first year at a four year college, she said that having had the experience of writing a reseach paper while in high school was beneficial. I hope that your son's paper is going well. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithr Posted December 18, 2012 Author Share Posted December 18, 2012 He's decided. He wants to study the commerce clause and take it right up to the HHS mandate. He's just beginning to research now. Thanks for all your suggestions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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