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U.S. Elections & Foreign Policy POLS 3510 - 003

For the 2020 course exercise and projects

Welcome!

The links you need to use are in the tabs.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

Libary Scavenger Hunt

Library Scavenger Hunt Research Prep 2020 – Upload to Canvas by end of Wed. (9/9)

  1. Academic sources
  1. Use Google Scholar, JSTOR, or Academic Search Complete to find a recent (in the last 10 years!) academic article in a political science journal or by a political scientist on U.S. public opinion and the foreign policy issue of your choice. (Make sure that it is something that you will want to read for the Article Analysis assignment in week 3!)
    1. Provide citation using author/date Chicago Style (see link at start of module)
    2. Save article for next week (if you have time, you might start reading)
  1. News sources

Research on news sources using the database Nexis Uni on the Temple library website at: https://library.temple.edu" (note: use author/date Chicago style citation for references)

  1. How many op-ed pieces (opinion or editorial) pieces appeared in the New York Times stories on trade policy ran during the first 100 days of
    1. the Bush Administration?            
    2. the Obama Administration?         
    3. the Trump administration?           
  2. Pick a comparison (regional/national news, U.S./foreign news, conservative-leaning/liberal-leaning news outlet, or t.v. news transcript/print article) and find “matching” op-ed articles on the U.S. withdrawal from Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the "Iran nuclear deal”.
    1. Provide citations for both articles using author/date Chicago Style:
    2. Is it pro-withdrawal, anti-withdrawal, or mixed?                                  
    3. What led you to this determination? (Among other answers, you might think about terms use and the placement of those terms in the title and text.)
  3. Pick a comparison (regional/national news, U.S./foreign news, conservative-leaning/liberal-leaning news outlet, or t.v. news transcript/print article) and find “matching” (not op-ed) articles on the same foreign policy decision from each of the paired sources. Print out and/or save to disk for later class use.
    1. Provide citations for both articles using author/date Chicago Style
    2. Describe how you determined a “match.” Same exact date? Within same time period? Same subject title? ­­­­­­­­­­­­
  4. Find access to your local newspaper and search for the most recent article on the foreign policy of your choice (trade policy, participation in the WHO, North Korea…).
    1. Provide citation (author/date Chicago style) and briefly summarize the point of the article:
    2. Was it an reprint from the AP or from one of the paper’s own journalists?
  1. Use the Census to characterize politically relevant geographical entities
  1. For the following political geographies, find the proportion of bachelor’s degree (and higher) holders to non-bachelor degree holders. Make sure to note state and district below.
    1. Nation: ­_______________
    2. State (_____________): _______________
    3. Congressional District (_____________): _______________
  2. For the following political geographies, find the median household income:
    1. National: ­_______________
    2. State (enter state name here_____________): _______________
    3. Congressional District (enter CD # here _____________): _______________
  3. Bonus questions: roughly what percentage of your state and congressional district earns less than the median national household income?
    1. State (enter state name here _____________): ____________%___
    2. Congressional District (enter CD # here _____________): ____________%___
  4. For the following, list the top 3 industries for employment (by #s employed, not payroll).
    1. For your congressional district: _________________________________________
    2. For your state: ______________________________________________________
  5. For your state (_____________) list the following:
    1. Top 3 exports
    2. Top 3 imports
    3. Top 3 export-destinations (outside of the U.S., don’t look at state to state exports)
    4. Top 3 import countries ­­
  1. Using official government sources such as Congress.Gov or those directly drawing from them.
  1. Find your representatives’ (H.R. and both Senators) vote on the Trade Promotion Authority of 2015 and the US-Korean Free Trade Agreement.
    1. Senator 1 name and vote ________________________­­­­_____________
    2. Senator 2 name and vote ________________________­­­­_____________
    3. HR (district) name and vote ________________________­­­­_____________
  2. Find the number of “Foreign Trade and International Finance” bills were introduced during the 115 Congress (2016-2017). ________________________­­­­_____________

Reference Librarian

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Rick Lezenby
Contact:
rlfile@temple.edu
Charles Library
215-204-4571