Political Science

The Swedish governments development cooperation agency (Sida) is revising its policy on governance and development, regarding a development issue of your choice (you are free to choose a development issue that is linked to the course content).

Sida has asked you to summarise three important messages/findings from recent research (use your three additional articles for this) on the politics of development that can underpin Sidas elaboration of a new policy. Sida finds it useful to get to know about theoretical academic debates on the politics of development but also brief empirical examples from recent research, illustrating the more general messages provided. However, Sida does not ask you to spell out concrete action recommendations, which the agency prefers to do itself on the basis of what you provide.

Your paper is to be based on the readings of the course, out of which you have to engage with all books and at least 7 articles, and in addition 3 articles that you identify yourself through search. These 3 articles should be carefully selected in order to further underpin what you choose to focus on. Good examples of journals in which to search for articles are Development, European Journal of Development Research, Journal of Development Studies, Third World Quarterly and World Development.

The paper should have an introduction presenting its purpose, material and structure. The discussion should proceed through a clear structure throughout the main text. It should end with a section with conclusions. The paper should have a front page containing your name, course, date, and a word count. It does not need to have a title, contents page or abstract. The paper must use a coherent referencing system (preferably employing the Harvard system) and contain a bibliography. Further writing advice is given in The Art of Writing and Speaking (a link to this document can be found on the course homepage).

Think about the following:

that your purpose is well presented and that the conclusions mirror the purpose

that the selection of your own articles is well thought through

that you pursue an independent nuanced argument grounded in literature and in the development topic of your choice

that you wrap together the discussion in your conclusions and put your example in broader perspective

that you make explicit and active use of the academic literature

a clear structure and disposition of the text

correct language and grammar and no spelling mistakes

correct references according to academic style (see The Art of Writing and Speaking).

consistent and clear layout

The paper should be maximum 4000 words (not significantly shorter/longer), excluding the reference list. (There is no +/- 10% rule.)