Proposal Assignment What is a Proposal? AIn business and government, a proposal is a persuasive document that sells a law, product, strategy, or service you are proposing. Proposals may be unsolicited or requested (i.e., an RfP Request for Proposal). A goal or objective is not a proposal. You need to be clear on what actions will be taken to achieve the goal. You have received an RfP for a project or potential law for the government to undertake or work on in the next legislative session, or if in California, potentially a ballot proposition for the voters to consider. You can choose any level of government, Federal, State, local, including even SCC, but you can only dictate what ONE governmental entity can do. So, you can mandate CALIFORNIA, but not each state independently. Texas, for example, would be able to do something different. If you want ALL states, then it must be a Federal mandate. You can mandate Fairfield, but you can’t mandate ALL cities. If you want ALL cities, it would need to be at state or federal level. Etc. This comes into play for things like prison related topics (most inmates are in state prisons, not federal), education (most education rules are set on state/local level) etc. Pick a ROLE and PLAY it. You can be a citizen, a businessperson, a congressperson, an executive, a member of a non-profit or Political Action Committee…Anything you want. Then assume that persona for your style and approach. Pick a topic from anything that you would like to see the government do or law that you would like to see passed. Topic selection is part of the grading criteria. If you pick something overdone (2nd Amend, abortion, marijuana, gay marriage) that is fine, but expect to be graded more stringently for plagiarism. You will also have a higher standard for research and creative/new ideas and approaches. BE PRECISE with your Proposal. Tell me EXACTLY/SPECIFICALLY what action you are proposing to do. This is NOT a paper to “talk about” an issue, or explore possible paths, or only discuss pros and cons. For example: Bad – “Lets talk about speed limits and traffic fatalities” Good: “This is a proposal to decrease speed limits on all interstate highways to 35mph.” Proposal statement itself must be in BOLD type. Ex: “Traffic fatalities are increasing to an unacceptable rate, therefore, This is a proposal to decrease speed limits on all interstate highways to 35mph.” DO NOT bold everything, just the statement. Standard for all work is typed, double spaced, 12 point, Arial or Times New Roman Font (this is to give a standard idea for how much a “page” is, mostly just needs to be readable size and font). Abstract is single spaced. Please “Justify” your text ( Select all, then Ctrl-J -this makes is look more professional). Total text (What YOU write) should be 3000 words or more. Turn in as attachment only (no hard copy required), in Canvas. Internal Citations/footnotes and Bibliography required – details below. You MUST cite ALL graphs, etc. IN your paper’s text, but then ALSO in Bibliography. In MSWord, right click on your Chart and use “Insert Caption” Please take advantage of SCC Writing Center for help DO NOT EXPECT to pass if you do not properly cite You MUST use MS Office or Open Office, PDF or Google Docs (Do not require me to sign in to Google docs or get permission to access. DOWNLOAD it into Canvas so you can see it properly attached. You can download OO free https://www.openoffice.org/ ). Recommend saving file as a PDF and submitting that. This helps with retaining margins and page breaks and makes paper look more polished. DO NOT ZIP FILES! DO NOT SUBMIT .pages files! Include the following Roman numeral elements. Label them and start each new section on a new page: I. Title page (feel free to be creative here with design. You want something attractive to draw in potential readers) Title of proposal Name of organization, writer, writers, submitting proposal (You can be ANY level of government you want, from Solano ASSC to US Federal) Date on which the proposal is submitted II. Table of contents Provide complete, clear listing of contents with page numbers. Do not include title page List of illustrations, charts, etc. III. Abstract (or summary) No more than 1 page – no more than 3 paragraphs, single spaced. Submit (copy and paste) a “sample”/rough draft abstract as a progress check on the project, then include in final paper as well. Needs to be an abstract not an intro: A summary, condensed statement of what you proposal will cover: A. Clear statement of your proposal in BOLD font. Needs specific wording: “I propose that…” or “This is a proposal to…” B. Clear overview of what your paper will cover in order to support the proposal: “In order to support the proposal, this paper will examine…1., 2., 3….” C. Clear statement of expected outcome if proposal goes into effect. “If this proposal is enacted the following outcomes are expected…” Make it easier on yourself (and me to grade) by just using my exact wording. A,B,C, should be their own paragraph even if short. IV. Introduction (Purpose and Problem) 1 page minimum. Double spaced. Purpose tell your readers the reason for your proposal (explain why you are writing and what you hope to achieve); Highlight the importance of your proposal. Include data or anecdote to grab attention of reader. Clearly state the problem (and reveal your knowledge of the situation). Note: Spend more time explaining the problem than on stating the proposals purpose. V. Discussion (the body of the proposal) 5 pages of text minimum suggested (a full page chart does not count as a page). Sell your idea, service, or suggested solution. What will make the reader support or vote for the proposal? Provide any or all of the following components as needed for you specific topic. Examples of what you might include in your discussion, but you may choose what issues and organization you feel is appropriate (#1 mandatory): 1. General discussion A: Analysis of problem – studies, strategies, techniques. A “literature review” similar to our other assignment. B. Details of proposal – How does it work? What would it do? C. Analysis of political climate regarding issue -what are chances it could be done? Barriers? 2. Literature review – review some of the main authors/work that has defined your proposal area in the academic literature. (Prof Bundenthal really likes this idea. If you do it, put it first after your intro.) 3. Budget 4. Who needs to be involved and at what point 5. Options for solutions, particularly your recommended proposal 6. Chains of command (organizational charts) 7. Plan of action with different phases 8. Schedules for implementation 9. Etc. VI. Conclusion/recommendation 1 page minimum Sum up your proposal and provide a sense of closure If appropriate restate the problem, your solution, and the probable benefits VII. Glossary (optional) In a proposal going to a multi-level audience, provide a glossary that explains any technical terms youve included Make sure your glossary is in alphabetical order and is easy to read VIII. Works cited page FULL CITATION for all material used listed here. Any reader must be able to go to your original source and see exactly what you saw. Make sure to use standard citation format consistently and accurately (e.g., MLA citations) Tips: Present the benefits of your proposal or solution Anticipate the probable objections of your opponents and respond to or “preempt” them. YOU MUST INCLUDE A MINIMUM of 5 CHARTS, GRAPHS, MAPS, or PICS in your Proposal. Each one should have a citation for the original source and include approximately 1 paragraph of your analysis/text that explains that Image. Examples of this are seen in the Domhoff article and Letter from Bill Gates linked below. I want this information to DRIVE your body analysis. If you have good data, the text writes itself as you describe and interpret what we see. These DO NOT COUNT as a page so are in addition to the minimums listed above. Do NOT simply cut and paste net info. It is your job to analyze, evaluate, synthesize, apply, and give context. What does that chart/statistic MEAN? Why is it RELEVANT? What questions does it present? What are the answers? Your grade will depend on your value added ie, what analysis, interpretations, perspectives do you make that add to our understanding of the problem area. Insert these into the Text and use text wrap or lines to divide from regular text. If you find good charts/data and explain them, the body writes itself. My expectation is that you will find and properly cite these charts via your research. However, if you have data that is not in chart form, it is quite easy to in MS Office with Excel or Open Office and other programs. If you create your own, please make it clear and I will give you significant bonus consideration. You MUST cite ALL graphs, etc. in the paper. In MSWord, right click on your Chart and use “Insert Caption.” You MUST use MS Office or Open Office, PDF or Google Docs (you can download OO free ). DO NOT ZIP FILES! DO NOT SUBMIT .pages files! Sources: No specific number are required, but a minimum of 10 is expected (but that is a soft number. Quality sources are more important than quantity.). You need to be the expert on your Proposal so you ought to have a background which includes the basic statistics and relevant positions/theories about the topic. You are being graded on this aspect of your overall presentation and selling of your Proposal.! Citations: You must provide an internal citation/footnote for ANY information or quote you get from an outside source. Use whatever official style/system you are comfortable with. Absolute minimum is parenthetical with author last name and page # (Smith, pg 42). Cite ALL GRAPHS, PICS, Charts. Note: Google images is NOT a source. You have to find WHERE the info is from. If it is on a google image, but no source for the actual info, then AVOID IT! BIG rule: Better safe than sorry. When in doubt CITE! This is followed by full citation in the Bibliography. A Bibliography/Works Cited should list all sources in alphabetical order. Sources found/used online MUST have a full/working URL included. I (or any reader) must have enough information that I can easily find the original source. DO NOT ONLY list a web address. YOU MUST have the traditional info – Author, Title, Source, Date, Pg # as well. I do like a specific linked URL/Address instead of just listing “Web”. The links below, especially Purdue OWL help you with that. I also HIGHLY recommend using our Writing Center across from the library if you are new to the citation/works cited process. Hint: Use the SCC library as reference for how to do citations: (Links to an external site.) Hint 2: You may use online sites like EASYBIB (Links to an external site.) and PurdueOWL This is my Abstract that I submitted for my topic selection: Gun violence in recent time has been more highlighted than most other topics in America. This is due to how many mass shootings there have been in recent years than in the past. Although this is true, support for guns has risen even more in the past years. This is a proposal to reform the process to acquire a gun, restricting certain types of guns, as well as require gun owners to acquire a type of insurance.
