Technology and Citizen Participation
What effects do the new technologies (e.g., smartphones, computers, tablets, social media) have on citizen participation? Based on your own direct experience (please provide a few examples from your own experience) and current research, how do these new technologies facilitate citizen participation? Also based on your own direct experience (again, please provide examples) and the current research, how do they hinder citizen participation? What policies might you develop to enhance citizen participation in the digital age? (Note: 40-50% of this paper should be your narration of your own direct experiences with how new technologies have influenced your participation in government. If you do not have sufficient examples from your own experience, please interview friends or colleagues and recount their direct experiences.)
All written material needs to be submitted in American Psychological Association (APA) format. The Web site Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) is an excellent source for information. You are expected to review this site and follow the format for in-text/parenthetical sourcing of your references in your papers. For writing support, here are a few resources: The College Writing Center, The University Writing Center and the University Graduate Writing Center.
The required format for your Course Papers and Final Paper is: double-spaced, 1 inch margins, Times New Roman 12 fontwith appropriate research and sources to back up your findings and conclusions (as indicated below, all citations in this course should use the APA style) that ground your creative idea(s) in current research and thinking. Each of your Course Papers and your Final Paper should specify your research question and have a brief introduction and conclusion (but not an abstract). Include your name and the page number in the header on each page (for an example, see the header on this page). For each paper, please include a title page displaying the title and your identifying information. The title page does not count toward the page length requirement. Additional paper requirements are indicated in the Taxonomy of Writing Codes that you will find in Important Course Documents.
The only citations that count in your two course papers and your final paper are citations from unique sources that do not include the course textbook or any required articles in the course syllabus. For papers that may involve interviews, you should reference who your interviewees are (you can use fictitious names) in the text and should not include them as citations (interviews do not count as citations). Consider the course textbook and required/recommended articles as introductions to the subject of study that invite you to go further and refine your research abilities by discovering other sources. Each of your Course Papers must be 2 pages (including bibliography)including a minimum of 2 citations from unique sources. Your Final Paper must be 3 pages (including bibliography)including a minimum of 3 citations from unique sources. If the page length of your paper is below or above the required length, your grade for the paper will be reduced by an additional 1 point (out of 3). You should put your references immediately below the end of your paper rather than on a separate page. Similarly, if the number of citations from unique sources that do not include the course textbook or any articles in the course syllabus in your paper is below the minimum, your grade for the paper will be reduced by an additional 1 point. Each of your papers will be given a grade from 1 point (lowest) to 3 points (highest).
