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USSC2602 US Politics: Race, Power, Polarisation
Semester 2, 2025
Policy Report
You’ve been asked by a Washington, D.C. based think tank to analyse an issue in American domestic
policy and recommend a specific course of action to address the issue. This report will involve substantial
research and careful thought. You must first master the details of a specific policy problem and then come
up with at least three different policy options that are available, before recommending only one of them.

Policy challenge

Please choose only one of these areas as the subject of your policy report.

• Immigration (legal, undocumented, temporary, etc., choose only one facet on which to focus)
• Education (K-12, university, etc., again, focus on only one area)
• Impacts of extreme polarisation
• Civic discourse
• Voter turnout
• Economic insecurity
• Healthcare (focus on one area, access, cost, insurance, etc.)
• Race relations/DEI
• Trust in democratic institutions

Objectives

• To analyse a policy challenge facing the U.S.
• To weigh up the different policy options and arrive at a specific policy recommendation.
• To collect and present the necessary empirical evidence in support of the analysis and recommendation.
• To produce concise, readable and accurate prose that is based on the most recent, accurate and complete
information available.
• To present a document that reflects the qualities of effective argumentation.
• To deliver logically coherent conclusions that flow from the analysis and make clear the potential
benefit(s) from the insight gained by the report.

Required structure

Every policy report needs to have the following:
• Executive Summary (approx. 150 words)
• Statement of the Issue/Problem (approx. 200 words)
• Background and Statement of Interests in the Issue (approx. 500 words)
• Pre-existing Policy (approx. 350 words)
• Policy Options (approx. 250 words)
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Each Policy Option (approx. 850 words)
• Policy Recommendation (approx. 200 words)
• The above items should be no longer than 2,500 words
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• Bibliography (includes only the sources that you have referenced in the report, and it doesn’t count
towards the final word count, neither do the in-text references or footnotes)

Please use the following eight components as guidelines for phrasing the sub-headings and content in the
report.

1) Executive Summary (approx. 100 words)
This should be a short summary of the purpose of the report and its recommendations. It typically
appears single spaced on the cover of a report. Write this section last. Summarise your position rather
than listing the sections of the report with no indication of what they say. It’s not the same as an essay
introduction. Usually a paragraph-long – analogous to an abstract in academic articles. Don’t break it
into several paragraphs.

2) Statement of the Issue/Problem (approx. 150 words)
What is the policy challenge? This is an introductory section which presents the policy challenge and
explains why the current policy needs to be reassessed, revised or carefully considered. Some questions
may require a bit of analysis and ground-clearing in order for you to specify the “question,” to which
your policy options are “answers.” This is the section of the report in which to do clarification/ground-
clearing.

3) Background and Statement of Interests in the Issue (approx. 400 words)
Assume that you have been hired to filter through reams of information on behalf of a very busy and sleep
deprived person. Be clear, precise, and succinct. Include only the essential facts that a decisionmaker needs
to know to understand the context of the problem. The background should cover the most recent
developments (don’t go to far into history!).

4) Pre-existing Policy (approx. 300 words)
This summarizes the current policy and outlines what has been done so far about the problem.
Depending on your topic, some of the information may have already been presented in the previous
section. The objective of this section is to inform the reader of policy options that have already been
pursued, if any. Note that the absence of action may be considered a policy decision. That is, a policy
to have no policy. But you need to show what the rationale for this is in your work.

5) Policy Options (approx. 200 words)
This section delineates the possible courses of action could be pursued. This is a problem-solving
task, so state your issue as a problem that can be addressed by policy measures and settings. Ideally,
you will have at three (and definitely not more than five) viable courses of action. Some of them may
be undesirable in your opinion, but please pose them as policy options nonetheless. For each of the
options, provide a couple of sentences of what it would entail.

6) Advantages and Disadvantages of Each Policy Option (approx. 750 words)
This section will present the pros and cons of the options listed in the previous section. Think about
the statement of interests again and use the listed interests as the criteria for assessing each policy
option. How well does a given policy option fulfill its aim? Two things to remember: 1) your policy report
is written for the think tank and the advantages and disadvantages should be presented from that
perspective; and 2) the quantity of reasons to support a given policy doesn’t always mean other options
should be discounted. Analytical frameworks and tools such as SWOT analysis could be helpful to
summarise and better present your assessment of available options.

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7) Policy Recommendation (approx. 200 words)
After prioritizing the relative pros and cons of the above options, please recommend one option.
You need to have an implementation plan.

= 2,000 words

8) Bibliography
Include only the sources that you have referenced in the report. If you are using generative AI to create
material for submission, you will need to acknowledge and/or reference it. Requirements

• The final version of policy report must not be longer than 2,000 words (excluding references and
bibliography). There is a +/-10% allowance on the word limit.
• The policy report is due by 23:59 on October 31
• You should submit your policy report via dedicated dropbox on Canvas
• You must follow the outlined structure in formatting your report
• The policy report must be properly and consistently referenced (either footnotes or in-text) and it must
include a proper bibliography
• Late assignments will be penalised 5% per calendar day (as per the Faculty policy)
• A duplicate copy of the paper must be kept by the student
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USSC2602 Policy Report
– marking guidelines

Assessment criteria Pass Credit Distinction High distinction
1. Critical analysis of the
current policy
Struggles with identifying the crux
of the policy challenge

Limited or patchy understanding of
the context
Sound understanding of the policy
challenge

Potentially some issues with
situating the issue in the broader
context of foreign policy and grand
strategy and/or with the evaluation
of interests and/or the limitations of
the current policy
Well-executed analysis of the
background of the issue, interest
and the drawbacks of the current
policy

Clearly evaluates the arguments and
takes a persuasive position
Sophisticated analysis of the
background of the issue, interest
and the drawbacks of the current
policy

Shows a superb understanding of
the context and persuasively spells
out what the issues are at present
2. Development of discrete
policy options
Issues with developing distinctive
alternative policies – they might be
overlapping, unclear, over-
simplistic (e.g. binary)
Adequately developed policy options,
generally sound

Potentially some issues with the
formulation of policies or identifying
the clear course of action
Well-developed policy options with
clear identification of the course of
action

Evidence of taking into the account
the interests at stake
Original and comprehensive policy
options that fully appreciate the
complexity of the issue at stake
3. Quality and sophistication of
recommendation
The policy recommendation is
marred with issues in either one or
more of the following: unclear,
does not logically follow from the
discussion of options, over-
simplistic, does not recognise the
constraints in the implementation
The policy recommendation is
generally sound

Potentially some issues around its
feasibility and/or implementation

Demonstrates adequate
understanding of the policy process
with some minor issues in
discussing the implementation
The policy recommendation is
well-argued and feasible

Demonstrates very good
understanding of the policy process
and the path for policy
implementation

Makes a strong case for why the
chosen option prevails in
comparison to other policy options
The policy recommendation offers a
spark of originality

Clearly identifies the relevant actors
and institutions in government that
should be spearheading the
implementation, offers the plan for
moving forward, pre-empts
potential issues with
implementation, etc.

Makes a compelling case for why
the chosen option prevails over the
other options based on a clear set
of criteria
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4. Effective argumentation
and relevant evidence
Lack of clarity

Limited evidence of original thinking

Arguments unsupported by the
empirical evidence

Issues with presenting supporting
evidence: the evidence used is not
relevant (e.g. out-dated or
incorrect), sources used not
credible, etc.
Some issues with the clarity of
arguments

Arguments are mostly supported by
empirical evidence

Sound evidence of relevant wide
reading to address the policy
challenge
The expression is clear, logical and
easy to follow

Evidence of effective and focussed
arguments

Arguments grounded in the survey of
the broader literature

Demonstrates very good
understanding of the relevant
literature and chooses the supporting
evidence carefully
The arguments made are highly
sophisticated and demonstrate
excellent understanding of the
subject matter

Undertakes highly relevant wide
reading to address and understand the
policy issue and explore the potential
solutions

Persuasive and engaging all
throughout the text
5. Organisation, structure and
use of appropriate academic
writing style
Significant and persistent issues with
organisation, structure and/or style

This might include issues with
grammar, punctuation, spelling

Referencing inconsistent or
problematic

Issues with bibliography
Generally soundly organised
and structured

Minimal and occasional
omissions

Generally clear and precise
expression with few errors

Referencing accurate with
minimal errors
Well-organised

Clear and precise expression that
conveys meaning in an effective
way

Hardly any errors in writing

Referencing accurate with no errors
Excellently organised

Consistency in presentation

Sophisticated expression that
conveys meaning with flair and
insight

Referencing accurate, consistent and
comprehensive

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