The Success of Democracy in the United States

PSCI 600
RESEARCH PAPER: COMPARATIVE APPROACH ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
OVERVIEW
Comparative politics is concerned with the important quest to understand why things are the way they are. For example, we seek to discover why ideas and cultural values have the impact they have, why some nations prosper, and others do not, why some countries enjoy liberty and others do not, and countless other "why" questions that help explain the dynamics of human governance. As with all inquiry, the conclusions drawn are only as good as the methodology employed to produce them. In this Research Paper: Comparative Approach Assignment, we will begin our exploration of comparative politics by examining the comparative approach that provides a starting place for any scholarly inquiry addressing these important questions.
INSTRUCTIONS
You are required to write a short research paper evaluating and analyzing the comparativeapproach introduced in your textbook readings. Your readings in this module addressed various ways of approaching comparing and analyzing aspects of political systems. For this Research
Paper: Comparative Approach Assignment, assume that you are preparing to begin a project that attempts to explain the success of democracy in the United States. Specifically, your
Research Paper: Comparative Approach Assignment should: 1) Describe in detail how the  comparative approach described in the Dickovick and Eastwood textbooks might apply to this  question; 2) Explain which prominent questions might be addressed, what kinds of facts and evidence might be useful and which kind(s) of comparison(s) would be beneficial; and 3) Explain what role prevailing worldviews might play in the presumptions of a comparative approach and what role a Judeo-Christian worldview might play in one’s approach to this project.
 The text of this Research Paper: Comparative Approach Assignment must be 5–7 pages (not including title page, reference page, and any appendices).
 This Research Paper: Comparative Approach Assignment must be in current APA format.
 You must include citations to a sufficient number of appropriate scholarly sources to fully support your assertions and conclusions. Each paper must contain citations to a minimum of 3 scholarly sources not including the course textbook, assigned readings, and the Bible.
Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin Plagiarism tool
The Book To Read
Successful completion of this assignment requires that you carefully read and understand Chapter 1 of Dickovick and Eastwood’s "Comparative Politics: Integrating Theories, Methods, and Cases." (Chapter 1 of the companion Dickovick and Eastwood reader and Chapter 1 of Martin are also assigned.) Third, the central focus of the assignment is a detailed discussion of the specific elements of comparative approach discussed in Chapter 1 of Dickovick and Eastwood’s "Comparative Politics: Integrating Theories, Methods, and Cases" (2019) and how these elements would apply to a project attempting to explain the success of American democracy. In other words, focusing on the approach – or method – laid out in Chapter 1 of Dickovick and Eastwood’s Comparative Politics: Integrating Theories, Methods, and Cases how would you go about conducting a research project analyzing the success of democracy in America? What questions would you ask? What types of arguments would you utilize (i.e., normative and/or empirical)? What concepts would you focus on and how would you operationalize and measure these concepts? What would be your independent and dependent variables? What research design would you use (i.e., most-similar-design and/or most-different-design) and why? What role would comparative checking and within-case comparison play in your research design?