Writing for Political Science
The purpose of writing for 100 and 200-level political science classes is to demonstrate how well you understand the concepts being taught and how thoroughly you are absorbing the material.
Good writing in this discipline will showcase your ability to clearly distill concepts from the readings, to marshal evidence to support the claims you’re making, and to thoughtfully weigh the evidence you’ve been presented and communicate your ideas in a convincing manner. PoliSci faculty do not want 4-5 pages of freestyle on your opinion, nor a statement of your personal, partisan opinion. They want you to impartially weigh the evidence and make the case for why you find a particular reading of the evidence most compelling. Part of the reason to take a PoliSci class is to learn how to assess existing research in a way that helps you refine or challenge your opinions, so if you’re inclined to discuss your own opinions, use the readings to ratify them. Tip: Professors don’t evaluate papers based on how well the argument corresponds with their own personal opinions, but rather based on the strength of the argument itself—is it coherently expressed, does it make good use of evidence? A paper that summarizes and analyzes the evidence without using that evidence to make a claim will not be successful.
The passive voice has two things working against it. It creates unnecessarily wordy sentences. And, perhaps most importantly, it disappears the actor. As one professor in the department explains, "So often Poland was invaded by Germany becomes Poland was invaded to cut down on wordiness, but then Germany disappears entirely." If you want to make an argument about German aggression, it must be: Germany invaded Poland. Less wordy and more direct.
Think of your early political science papers as 5-paragraph essays on steroids. That is, the final draft should start with a strong thesis stated clearly at the outset followed by an overview of the major claims you’re going to make in your argument. However, a traditional three-pronged argument isn't required. Imagine your argument weaving together multiple elements into a coherent whole, rather than artificially separating elements of the argument or forcing yourself to have three distinct claims. Tip: In order to brainstorm your introduction, speak your main ideas aloud (to a writing tutor or a roommate or a friend) in just a sentence or two; this is the first draft of your thesis statement. When your friend asks why you’re making that argument, list at least three reasons. Draft the intro based on this conversation. The body of the paper should develop the argument stated in the introduction, and each aspect of that argument needs to be supported with evidence. We refer to this type of paper as a 5-paragraph essay on steroids because each aspect of the argument likely needs more than one paragraph devoted to its analysis. The conclusion should not simply restate the introduction. If you’ve done a good job, your professor doesn’t need to be reminded of what you just said in the paper. A good conclusion will open up new questions or bring together some of the different ideas you’ve encountered. Tip: Oftentimes, when writing the first draft of a paper, the best paragraph comes last. This is because after writing for some time you finally know what you really want to say—and after reviewing all the evidence in support of your argument, you believe it even more strongly. If this happens to you, and you have the time to revise, move that paragraph to the top and turn it into the introduction, and then make sure the body of the paper proves it.
It is fine to use the first person in PoliSci papers, but remember that your goal is to make an impartial observation of the evidence. That said, you are a person making your argument, and it’s much better to write “In this paper, I will argue these points for these reasons,” rather than “This paper will argue,” because—after all—the paper doesn’t argue; it is a vehicle through which you make an argument. Tip: That said, concise writing involves cutting out phrases such as "I think" or "I believe," so even if you use the first person, make sure to focus edits on concision.
Many political scientists use the Chicago Manual of Style for citations, but most don’t care which style you use, as long as you use it correctly, consistently, and in abundance (in other words, if you’re ever in doubt, cite).