There are two intentions behind getting you to write a paper in this course: (1) to give you a practical understanding of the intellectual process of drawing conclusions from cross-national comparison; and (2) to allow you to read and write about countries which are of particular interest to you. The attempt is to show you the benefits and problems of systematic comparison while allowing you the discretion to choose your own countries of comparison.
First, pick two countries which you would like to learn about. You have complete freedom of choice here. But you should bear in mind the availability of sources, and also that it is often easier to compare like with like. Hence two countries from the same area of the world and at the same stage of development will probably (though not necessarily) yield the most fruitful results.
Then select one topic covered in the course and compare it in these countries. For example, you may choose a particular social group, an ideology, or a political institution. You should use thie exercise not just to describe differences but to point out wider features of the political system you choose.
The paper should be around 7 to 10 pages. You should use sources other than the required texts, such as journals, newspapers, original sources, and relevant books. Nagle provides a very helpful bibliography. In addition, the Internet provides access to a tremendous amount of information, and much of that information is more current than is usually available through normal channels such as the library. One uses "search engines" to find material on the Internet. Some good ones to use are:
Yahoo: http://www.yahoo.com
Digital: http://www.altavista.digital.com
Excite: http://www.excite.com
Opentext: http://www.opentext.com
Magellan: http://www.mckinley.com:8080/mckinley-cgi/iops1.pl
Infoseek: http://www3.infoseek.com/MS/Query
There are also some sites to visit for basic information. I recommend that you check the CNN page regularly for an update on the news. Its address is:
CNN: http://www.cnn.com
One can also access the New York Times on-line edition. There is also a page devoted to journals in international relations. The address of the Electronic Newstand is: http://www.enews.com/politics/international.html
You can also access on ongoing project at Mount Holyoke College on cataloging Internet resources relevant to the study of International Relations and foreign languages which is funded by the Hewlett Foundation. The address for that site is:
Hewlett: /cgi/SubIndex?root=/acad/intdept/Hewlett/cat
You will be graded according to (1) the strength and organization of the analysis; (2) the variety of sources you bring to bear; and (3) the care in presentation and writing. Please avoid sweeping generalizations and simple assertions of opinion not supported by evidence.