Social and Political Sciences

Policy Research- The literature review is a critical component of most social science research papers. Therefore, you are expected to write a literature review on the federalism/Intergovernmental Relations-related topic of your choice. Not to be confused with a book review, a literature review involves researching scholarly articles, books and other sources relevant to a particular issue or area of research and synthesizes them into an analytical research paper.

Your goal is to identify a public policy related topic that is relevant to intergovernmental relations and that interests you, identify a research question related to that topic and answer that question using other studies to help shape that answer. Questions you might ask yourself in the process of developing your thoughts on this include:

What is the policy issue you are addressing?
What is the geographic scope of this issue (local, state, federal, international, other)? Is this the appropriate scope? Should another level of government become more or less active? Why or why not?
Which is the dominant government when it comes to governance/implementation? Has it always been this way? If not, why did it change?
What does the constitution say about the appropriate level of governance (i.e., second amendment, but also, are their commerce clause issues? General welfare clause issues)? Anything else? Have any constitutional conflicts emerged over time?
Have any Constitutional exceptions emerged over time? For example, if you’re writing about gun regulation, I expect you to explore cases where gun regulation has been upheld as constitutional, as well as when it has not. What is the distinction? What legal ability do local, state, and national governments have to regulate guns?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of managing this issue at the local, regional, national, other levels of government?
How do governments interrelate during governance/implementation on this issue? Is it characterized by conflict? Cooperation? Both? Could changes be made to enhance coordination or reduce conflict?
What are the local, state, and federal governments’ perspective on the issue? Are they different? If so, why?
What do you think? Support your argument with research.

Potential topics include the proper role(s) of national, state, and local governments in education, intergovernmental failures during the Flint water crisis, the conflict between states and federal government in water pollution regulation (“WOTUS” rule), cooperation among states in climate change agreements, conflict between local and federal government regarding “sanctuary cities,” and many, many more.

It could also research a fundamental aspect of federalism or intergovernmental relations. For example, the commerce clause has been used over the years to expand federal government authority in the states, and is often the basis of controversy as states argue that the federal government is expanding the definition of “interstate commerce” beyond its original intent. A paper studying the role of the commerce clause in intergovernmental relations might be an interesting option.

Your literature review should have no less than fifteen (15) referenced sources and should be at least 2000 words (or about 8-10 pages) in length (typed with numbered pages). While you will need to do some preliminary research on possible topics, If you have questions about paper topics, feel free to consult with me. The final draft of the literature review is due Friday, December 6th, and there are also several assignments due throughout the semester to measure progress.

The issue I would like to be focused on disaster relief and specifically Wildfires in. California. If you have a better idea let me know.