News Analysis Brief

Description

Each student will complete 3 news analysis briefs during the semester. These briefs will specifically use one of the principles of analysis from the toolkit given in this course (rationality, institutions, collective action, policy, power, history) to analyze a recent or current event in American politics. These briefs involve three steps.

First, you should select a piece of quality journalism on a recent event or issue in American politics

Articles to choose from:

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/09/trump-americans-who-died-at-war-are-losers-and-suckers/615997/?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/06/trump-military-atlantic-losers-suckers-409388
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/24/us/politics/impeachment-trump-explained.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/10/us/politics/executive-power-survey-2020.html?searchResultPosition=4

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/02/business/media/trump-biden-debate-moderators.html

Second, you will analyze the article using one of the principles of analysis in the class. For example, the brief could examine the role of collective action in an event. Or, the brief could note the rules and incentives in a particular institution and how these structures are leading to or have led to a particular outcome. In short, you will need to select an appropriate principle of analysis (and there generally will be more than one that could be fruitfully used) and analyze the current event or issue using this principle. You should use a different principle for each brief.

Each brief must do three basic things. First, it will summarize the article under consideration. Second, it will explain your analysis using the principle of analysis used. Third, it will explain a conclusion that can be drawn from the information in the article using the principle of analysis and possibly propose an additional conclusion or insight that the article does not reveal but the principle of analysis suggests.

Principle of Analysis to choose from:

News Brief: Rationality

A. Article (title, author, date, publisher, url if found online)

B. Summarize the main events, ideas, controversies, actions, and such in the article. In short, what are the main points of the article?

C. Rationality

Who are the central actors and groups described in the article? (You can focus on the ones most relevant to your analysis)

What are the goals of each actor and group?

D. Using what you have written, analyze what is going on. What explanations can be reached using this principle of analysis?

News Brief: Policy

A. Article (title, author, date, publisher, url if found online)

B. Summarize the main events, ideas, controversies, actions, and such in the article. In short, what are the main points of the article?

C. Policy

What was the key policy outcome (the rule, program, action, etc. taken by government)?

Who are the main actors and what are their individual goals?

What rules were involved in making the policy?

How did the goals and incentives of the actors and the rules shape the policy outcome?

D. Using what you have written, analyze what is going on. What explanations can be reached using this principle of analysis?

News Brief: Collective Action

A. Article (title, author, date, publisher, url if found online)

B. Summarize the main events, ideas, controversies, actions, and such in the article. In short, what are the main points of the article?

C. Collective Action

What is/are the group(s) described in the article?

What is/are the goal(s) of the group? Why can these only be accomplished if enough or all of the people in the group work together?

What factors are present that make working together difficult (what incentives lead people to not work together)? What could or did allow the group to overcome these difficulties?

D. Using what you have written, analyze what is going on. What explanations can be reached using this principle of analysis?

News Brief: History

A. Article (title, author, date, publisher, url if found online)

B. Summarize the main events, ideas, controversies, actions, and such in the article. In short, what are the main points of the article?

C. History

What key elements from the past shaped the events/actions described in the article?

What part of the History Principle most usefully explains the outcome (rules, alliances, lenses)? Explain why this part is useful.

D. Using what you have written, analyze what is going on. What explanations can be reached using this principle of analysis?

News Brief: Institutions

A. Article (title, author, date, publisher, url if found online)

B. Summarize the main events, ideas, controversies, actions, and such in the article. In short, what are the main points of the article?

C. Institutions

What are the rules described? What do the rules do? (e.g., Determine how a decision in made? Set the agenda? Who has jurisdiction?)

How do the rules structure the interactions between the actors in the article?

D. Using what you have written, analyze what is going on. What explanations can be reached using this principle of analysis? (e.g., You might ask yourself what would be different with different rules? How are these rules shaping the outcomes?)

Use these questions to organize your analysis of the news article you choose. Do not go over 2 pages. The format must be 12 point, Times New Roman, 1 inch margins on all sides.