Texas Government

Government 2306: Texas Government

Personal Responsibility Paper Assignment

Students are required to write a paper over personal responsibility. Several topics are provided below; please choose one and research thoroughly, make a decision about the question asked, and evaluate the arguments for and against the topic.

Personal Responsibility is defined as the ability to connect choices, actions, and consequences to ethical decision-making.

Assignment:
A core component of a well-functioning democratic society is having leaders who will be bound by ethical decision-making.

Within your paper – keeping in mind and evaluating the ethical merits of the decision – you should address the arguments in support of and in opposition to the decision. What evidence is there that lends credence to each side of the argument? Finally, this decision will inevitably have political implications. What are those implications, and how do those realities enhance your understanding of how politics works? You must draw a conclusion and justify your position.

Paper Guidelines:

• Minimum of 1,000 words in the body of the paper
• Minimum of 5 sources, at least two of which are academic in nature, included at the end of the paper in a works cited page
  • For each source you select, carefully incorporate the CLUES method to evaluate your information and assess your sources’ reliability in constructing your arguments. (See power point presentation in Blackboard for a review of CLUES)
• Paper must conform to the APA style format (style guide attached in Blackboard)
• Paper must be typed and submitted via assignment in Blackboard

Due Date: November 8

Points Possible: 100

For 10 Bonus Points: email an outline and five sources in APA format to Prof. Owens by November 1.

Topics: Choose One

• Texas and In-State Tuition for Undocumented Immigrants
  • Evaluate and discuss Texas’ decision to provide in-state tuition benefits at public colleges and universities to undocumented immigrants.
• Texas and the State Income Tax
  • Evaluate and discuss Texas’ decision not to have a state income tax. Not having one has obvious benefits, but it can also create problems, such as a greater burden on local governments and a wider discrepancy in public school funding.