POL 321: Latin American Politics Fall 2010

TOPIC STATEMENT

Your topic statement is due September 8. The purpose of your research prospectus is to
sketch out the topic of your semester research paper in less than 120 words. The topic
statement should contain the following elements:

Research Question
Specify a research question (or “puzzle”) you hope to answer. Be sure the statement is
worded in the form of a question and is as concise as possible.

Case
Specify the country you want to write about. In addition, provide a short description (1-2
sentences) of your case. Please note: You cannot use any of the 7 cases we will cover in
class (Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Cuba, or Guatemala).

Rationale
Explain how your case and research question fit together. You can think about this in one
of two ways:

1) If your research question is abstract (i.e. what is the best path to economic
development?), be sure you explain how looking at your chosen case help you
answer your research question (i.e. because country Y is a good example)

2) If your research question is specific (i.e. why did candidate X win in country Z?),
be sure you explain how answering this question will help you understand
something more general (i.e. how candidates win elections).

Your topic statement must be typed, double-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman font,
and with 1-inch margins. At the top of the page, be sure you include your name, the
course, your professor, and the due date. This information should be single-spaced, flush
right (see example below):

[Your name]
POL 321
Dr. Centellas
September 8

This assignment is not graded, but failure to submit it will result in a deduction from the
final research paper grade.

We will continue to work on this project over the next few weeks. The next deadline is a
draft outline (about 500 words) and preliminary bibliography (of at least five “scholarly”
sources”) due October 4.