University at Buffalo Normative Theory VS Empirical Theory Discussion
Select one topic in advance of what current affairs you are interested in among the topics. (1. The Debate over IR Theory Sovereignty and Region, 2. Intergovernmental Organization Theory, 3. Post-modern Critical Theory, 4. Normative Theory vs. Empirical Theory. These will be the topic that you write about for your analysis paper. Please be specific as much as you can on presenting the phenomena you have selected related to the topic and what you expect the result of your analysis would be like after applying the theory on the topic.
a. Introduction (0.5 – 1 page) : Describe 1. the issue and the 2. theory that you picked separately (and also together.) * The shorter, the better within the page range. This part will consist of two parts; a) summary of the given news articles, including the main points of the information, and b) the sentence or two that elaborates your argument based on the concepts and theories we have learned so far. The summary part of the critique should include the main components of each theory. These components should focus on the main points of the theory as much as you can.
b. Critique (1.5 – 2.5 page) * The longer, the better within the page range. Based on the concepts or theories you have chosen in the introduction, you should take the critical approach to analyze the given news article or the topic itself. Based on the summary of the issue and the concepts and theories that you have done throughout the introduction part, you are now being critical as much as you can while attacking the issue with your critical perspectives.
c. So what? (1 – 1.5 page) Based on the previous two parts, in this last part, you need to answer the following question of “so what?”. If you did the proper job as expected, you would now have some positive expectations of what you did, such as policy implications. So be creative as much you can but let’s be realistic at the same time.
