Town Hall Meeting Assignment #5 – Talking Points Paper

Due by midnight, Monday, October 26
120 points
Creating clear, easily-remembered and well-supported talking points means you always have an
outline to work from when discussing your policy problem and solution at the Town Hall
Meeting. Now that you have identified a policy problem and solution, you can start to develop
supporting material directly aimed at taking action on the policy solution you want, including
identifying the interest groups, politicians, and local government agencies that work on your
issue.
As you are working on this assignment, be sure to consider the feedback you received on
previous assignments and incorporate it. Also, please follow the same formatting guidelines as
Assignment #4. In particular, your paper should adhere to the outline below with bolded
headings sections (A-H). You may want to just copy the sections into your document.
A. Policy Topic
The general policy topic you signed up for this semester.
B. Specific Policy Problem
Restate the specific policy problem within your topic that you think government should address.
You may want to review again the discussion of policy problems in Assignment #3 as well as
incorporate any feedback you received on your previous assignments.
C. Proposed Policy Solution
Restate your proposed solution, i.e., something a lawmaker, administrator, court or other official
or agency of government could do to address the policy problem. Again, incorporate any
feedback you may have received on the previous assignment.
D. Arguments for and Against*
In this section:
• Give the two (2) most persuasive arguments in support of your proposed policy solution. Use
facts, figures and other evidence you have found that support your argument. You may find
good arguments in news articles, from interest groups and in the Backgrounder.
• For EACH of these arguments in support of your solution, give a counter argument. What
might someone or some group say in opposition to your policy solution?
* You may re-use information from Assignment #4 but be sure to incorporate any feedback you
received. Be mindful that this section needs to be addressed to YOUR POLICY SOLUTION. This is not
the space to discuss the importance of your problem or the broader policy topic. It is a space to
defend your policy solution (the impact it might have, the ease of implementation, etc.) and to
counter your potential critics. Arguments are stronger when you acknowledge and have a response
to those with alternative views.

E. Target for Policy Solution*
Identify which government body or agency (e.g., city council, county board of supervisors, local
department, state agency, etc.) you want to consider and adopt your proposal. Who is the target
of your policy? Be sure to explain why.
* You may re-use information from Assignment #4 but be sure to incorporate any feedback you
received.
F. Interest groups
Find and identify two (2) interest groups that might potentially support your policy solution and
help you build support for your policy. Then identify at least one (1) interest group that would
likely oppose your policy solution and mobilize against you. Relevant interest groups may be
identified in your news articles, in the policy Backgrounder, or found by searching the Internet.
For EACH INTEREST GROUP, give the name of the group, its website address, the group’s position
on your policy solution (or policies related to your policy solution), and a sentence or two about
the group’s mission and/or purpose. Then, for EACH GROUP, address a minimum of two of the
following points in your discussion:
• Describe their general lobbying agenda. For example, you might want to describe new or
recent legislative issues/actions the group is advocating on its website. (Most list
something like their policy initiatives or call to action on their websites).
• Describe any recent action this group has taken on this policy issue.
a. For example: Any events, rallies, protests, pressure campaigns, public testimony,
letters to newspapers, petitions (or any other activities described in Chapter 10 of the
textbook).
• Other kinds of actions the group is taking related to your issue area right now.
G. Government Officials and Agencies
Using what you have learned from the policy Backgrounder, your news articles, your interest
groups, and other research, name one government official and one government agency that
work on your policy topic and follow instructions below:
• One elected or appointed government official: someone who is elected or appointed to
serve in government. Make sure this official is useful and relevant to your policy topic,
someone you would contact about your policy topic. Give their full name, title, where they
work, and the level of government in which they work (most likely it would be a local official
at the city or county level or a CSU official, but might perhaps include state or even federal
officials). Are they elected or appointed? Explain why you would contact this official about
your policy ideas. Be realistic about the constraints on the actors you select. For example,
judges cannot be lobbied directly.
• One governmental agency (a bureaucracy): Find and describe a government agency or
commission actively involved in implementing laws or regulating compliance in your policy
area. Make sure this agency is useful and relevant to your policy work—the agency that
might implement the policy solution you propose. Give the full name of the agency, name
of the current administrator at the head of the agency, and the level of government in
which they operate (most likely it will be a municipal or county level office, but could
potentially include a state or even federal agency). Explain why you would contact this
agency about your policy ideas.
H. References
Provide a list of References (a bibliography) at the end of your paper that lists, in alphabetical
order by author’s last name, the sources you cited in your paper. You should use in-text citations
in the paper itself (not footnotes) with the full reference included here in Section H. Be sure to
follow the Chicago Manual of Style guidelines throughout the assignment
(https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-2.html).
Rubric THM #5 – Fall 2020 Value Points
Policy Topic (topic you signed up for) 2
Specific Policy Problem 12
Proposed Policy Solution 12
Argument For 1 8
Argument For 2 8
Argument Against 1 8
Argument Against 2 8
Target for Policy Solution 8
Interest Group Ally 1 8
Interest Group Ally 2 8
Interest Group Opponent 8
Elected or Appointed Official 10
Government Agency 10
References (Follows CMS format, proper use of in-text citations) 5
Writing clarity, grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. 5
Total 120