ARTICLE REVIEW: ASSIGNMENT
OVERVIEW
In the field of federalism and intergovernmental relations, the Christian statesman needs the skills to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate content from many sources. Toward that end, the purpose of the Article Review Assignment is to aid in the development of those skills as they apply to scholarship. The focus of the assignment will be on writing informative annotations for the purpose of research along with a synthesis that integrates the assigned articles, comparing them in response to a prompt question.
INSTRUCTIONS
Write an article review using these articles:
Thomas, Clarence. 2000 “Why Federalism Matters.” Drake Law Review 48, no. 2: 231–238.
AND
Rubin, Edward L. 2001. “Puppy Federalism and the Blessings of America.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 574, no. 1 (March): 37–51.
Obtain these articles through the Jerry Falwell Library online. Complete the assignment in Turabian Author-Date style (no footnotes; only in-text citations) in Times New Roman (12 pt.), with margins of 1”. Provide a title page and place page numbers in the upper right corner of the document. A template for this assignment has been provided for you in the announcements. It is expected that there will be ample citations throughout the assignment. However, there should be no more than one or two short quotes. Paraphrase and summarize the material instead.
The review should include (in this order):
• Two Annotations [300–400 words each]. Each annotation should summarize the article, including identifying the research question/thesis, methodology used, evidence or data presented, major findings, and overall strengths or weaknesses of the article. Place a bibliographic reference at the top of each annotation.
• One Synthesis [750–800 words]. The synthesis addresses the prompt question, using the two articles to respond to the question, providing comparison/contrast and agreement/ disagreement between them. Organize the synthesis around answering the prompt question. The structure of the synthesis should be the response to the question. For this assignment, the prompt question is, “Is the federalism established by the Founders still relevant? Why or why not according to Thomas and Rubin”?
