A complete, professional resource for writing an effective paper in all subfields of political science, Diane Schmidt's 25th anniversary edition provides students with a practical, easy-to-follow guide for writing about political ideas, events, policies, passions, agendas, and processes. It offers additional formats and guidelines focusing on the growing use of social media and the need for professional communication in blogs, tweets, forums, media sites, lectures on demand, and postings on websites. A collection of student papers shows students how to write well for better grades.





After reading Writing in Political Science students will know how to:








choose and narrow a research topic;
formulate a research agenda;
quickly locate reputable information online;
execute a study and write up findings;
use the vocabulary of political science discourse;
follow the criteria used to evaluate student assignments when writing;
apply writing skills to an internship, civic engagement project, or grant proposal; and
manage and preserve achievements for career development.








New to the Fifth Edition








Locating Research Materials: Updated links to all sources, expansion of appropriate sources to include mobile sources available through tweets, blogs, forums, and other informal communication; expansion of tools to include database searching; use of smart phone technology; and evaluation of source reliability to include commercial sources, Wikipedia, media sites, social media, and lectures on demand.