作業

綜述

Overview

從各方面來看，即將舉行的國會選舉將舉足輕重且非常有趣，你們必須選擇一廣泛且與國會研究相關的主題，並以2004年國會選舉為背景 ，撰寫一篇12~15頁的專題報告，你們可以選擇的主題包括競選融資的新模式、會員變動、國會選舉區重劃、預測2004大選結果的統計模型的 成效、以及麻州可能出現的特別參議院選舉。更多詳盡的內容將於課程開始後提供。除了書面報告外，尚需簡短上台報告你們書面的內容(六 分鐘)。

The upcoming congressional election will be important and interesting, from a number of perspectives. You will be responsible for taking a broad topic that is pertinent to the study of Congress and writing a 12-15 page paper about it in the context of the 2004 congressional election. Topics you might write about include new patterns of campaign finance, membership turnover, congressional redistricting, the performance of statistical models predicting the 2004 outcome, and the possible special Senate election in Massachusetts. In addition to writing the paper, you will give a brief (6 minute) presentation of your paper's findings to class.

選擇主題

Choosing the topic

你們所選的主題必須先經過我的同意，所以請儘早完成這項程序。如同我在綜述中所提及，你們必須選擇與課程內容相關的主題，並於其 中應用2004年選舉的結果，與其直接相關的主題包括選舉本身，與有關候選人、投票者、競選融資及選區重劃，另外，針對國會內部動態如何 受到該此選舉結果的影響為一較不直接相關但仍然有趣又有意義的主題，這包括改組與任期限制對委員會及政黨領導的影響、政黨的力量與凝 聚力等。

You must run the topic by me for approval, so the sooner you get that taken care of the better. As I say in the overview, I want you to take a topic that we cover in class and write a paper that applies the outcome of the 2004 election to that topic. The most obvious set of papers concern elections themselves - patterns concerning candidates, voters, campaign finance, and redistricting. Less obvious, but still fun and instructive, are topics that focus on how the internal dynamics of the chamber will be affected by the results. This would include things like how turnover and term limits will affect committee and party leadership, the strength and cohesion of the parties, etc.

如果我未在期中考前同意你的主題，我不認為你(或我)會對你的報告感到滿意。

If I have not approved your topic by the date of the midterm, I doubt you (or I) will be happy with the paper you write.

資料來源

Sources

這篇應是傳統的「學期研究報告」，也就是說，我期望你們的資料來源從國會文件到CQ週刊，到書本與期刊文章。每篇報告都會有所不同 。我所寫的課本後面有一篇關於國會研究的文章，可供參考。

I intend this to be a good, old fashioned "term paper." That means I expect you to dip into a combination of sources that range from congressional documents to CQ Weekly to books and journal articles. Each paper will be different in the details. There is an essay at the back of my book about doing congressional research. Consult it.

寫作格式

Writing style

你們的報告應遵守以下三本書所列之格式，在一般用法與格式上，參考Strunk與White的《風格的元素》，至於一篇報告看起來應如何(頁邊 空白、標題等)，參考Kate Turabian的《撰寫期末報告及論文手冊》，(作為未來參考，Turabian的版本為《芝加哥大學寫作手冊》的「學士報告 」版，如果你們打算繼續從事更嚴謹的寫作，我建議你們擁有一本並熟讀。)Turbian書中也提及關於用法的建議。在引用方面，參考《政治學 寫作手冊》，引用規則再版於引用書面來源：政治學寫作手冊。

I expect your paper to conform to three sets of style books. Most generally, on matters of usage and style, rely on Strunk and White's The Elements of Style. For general matters of what the paper should look like (margins, headings, etc.) use Kate Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations. (Just for future reference, Turabian is the "college paper" version of the Chicago Manual of Style. If you intend to continue writing seriously, I'd suggest getting a copy and internalizing it.) Turabian also has good advice on usage. On citations, rely on The Style Manual for Political Science .The citation rules are reprinted at Citing Print Sources: The Style Manual for Political Science.

學術誠正

Academic integrity

自己寫報告非常重要，但尋求一些協助也無傷大雅，指導方針如下：

It is important that the work in the paper be your own. But, it's also appropriate to ask for some help. So, here are the guidelines.

抄襲永遠是最大的問題，抄襲指的是擅用別人的主意或文字並將其當作是自己的，在學術圈中，這是最糟糕的罪行，在某些學校，例如維 吉尼亞大學，只要犯了一次抄襲就會被退學且永遠不得於該校就讀，MIT不會如此處理，但我的規則是：只要你抄襲，就會被當掉。

The biggest issue is always plagiarism. Plagiarism is the appropriation of someone else's ideas or words as your own. Within the academic world, this is the worst offence you can commit. At some universities, like the University of Virginia, one infraction leads to expulsion and banishment forever from that university. MIT doesn't do it this way, but this is my rule: If you plagiarize a paper, you fail the class.

只要懷疑有可能抄襲的時候，就列為資料來源，以下是兩個基本原則：

如果你是逐字逐句引用，就必須清楚表明，或將其加上引號，並提供讀者詳細出處。

如果你的論點並不是常識，就必須提供引用來源。

When in doubt, err on the side of attribution. The two basic rules are these:

If you use someone else's language exactly, you must display it, or put it in quotes, and provide guidance about where precisely the reader can find it.

If you make a claim that is not common knowledge, you must provide a citation to it.

MIT寫作與傳播中心的網站中有幾個非常好的關於如何處理或避免抄襲問題的網站。另一個問題是接受別人的幫助。我可以接受你們將報 告的草稿交給朋友(或是寫作中心)過目，並尋求關於格式與用法的建議，如果你的主意來自於朋友也是可以的，果真如此，確定你是以自己的 文字寫出來。為了安全起見，你必須在第一個註腳或報告最後，即引用出處開始的地方，感謝所有在你寫這篇報告中提供協助的人。參考避免抄襲。

The MIT Writing and Communication Center Web site has links to a couple of very good Web sites that deal with how to avoid plagiarism. Another issue is receiving help from someone else. It is fine with me if you show a draft of your paper to a friend (or the Writing Center) and seek feedback concerning style and usage. It is also fine if you bounce ideas off a friend. If you do, make sure it is your words that go on the page. Just to be safe, you should thank anyone who gave you assistance in writing the paper, in the very first footnote or at the end of the paper, where the citations begin. Check out Avoiding Plagiarism.

第一篇作業

First assignment

下次上課時，準備好介紹你家鄉所在的國會選區以及現任國會議員3到5分鐘。

Come to the next class meeting prepared to give a 3 to 5 minute political introduction to your home congressional district and your current member of Congress.

此報告應包含以下資訊：

The presentation should include information about the following items:

此選區的主要政治特色

The salient political characteristics of the district

地理位置

Geographic location 大城市與經濟區的位置

Location of large cities and economic regions 與政治相關的族群或人群集團

Ethnic or other demographic blocs that are politically relevant 選區劃分歷史

Districting history 現任議員的主要正政治背景

The salient political background of the incumbent

她/他第一次當選為何時以及其政治背景為何？

When was s/he first elected and what was her or his political background? 他有多確定會當選？

How electorally secure is the incumbent? 此現任者的主要政治支持來源為何？

Where does the incumbent's primary political support come from? 誰在2000年與該現任議員打對台？

Who is running against the incumbent in 2000? 此現任者於2000年連任的前景為何？

What are the prospects for the incumbent's reelection in 2000?

[注意：如果此現任議員不競選連任，將這些特徵運用在分析代替他的候選人上。]

[NB: If the incumbent is not running for reelection, adapt these characteristics to the candidates running to replace him or her.]

此選區的政治未來

The political future of the district

哪些政治、經濟或社會潮流可能改變此現任議員在未來的機會？

What political, economic, or social trends might change the incumbent's chances in the future? 明年重劃選區將造成什麼影響？

What is likely to happen with the redistricting that will occur next year?

可以於《美國政治年鑑》或《美國政治》二書的2000年版找到這份作業的最佳資料來源。

The best source of information for this assignment can be found in the 2000 edition of the Almanac of American Politics or Politics in America.

可指出選區位置的直觀教具可能會有用，雖然我們無法假設到時會有足夠經費。

A visual aid locating the district might be helpful, though we can't assume we'll have an overhead by then.