In class we have defined political culture as the ties that help keep your polity together and the divisions that pull it apart. For this assignment, you are to select a country of interest and write a short essay of three to four pages in which you identify the single most important factor that helps keep the polity together as well as the single most important cleavage that pulls the polity apart. In addition, a good essay will not only identify the most significant aspects of a country's political culture, but will also briefly describe the formative factors (for example from history, ideology, religion, geography) that influenced it.
This essay should be written in the form of an argument in which you state your position and provide evidence to support it. You might also want to mention the other 'ties' and cleavages that you considered as well as the reasons why the ones you picked were more important.
You may select any country to research except the six case study countries that we have been examining in class.
You should rely on a variety of sources in preparing your essay. Generally, books will be better sources for this assignment than encyclopedias or web-sites. One exception are the on-line Area Handbooks that are maintained by the Library of Congress. Each of the 101 country studies contain useful information. Whatever the sources you use, I expect the essay to be fully and accurately documented. Make sure your references are complete and follow a standard format. Note that I will factor into the grade such elements as overall organization, sentence structure, grammar, and spelling.
I would like the essays typed double-space. Please be sure your name is on every page.
Essays are due on the last day of class. Late papers will not be accepted.