Policy Research Project
Research in progress for GOVT 2306: Honors Texas Government
Faculty Mentor: Tiffany Cartwright, Ph.D.
Michelle Baker wrote the following research paper as an assignment for my online GOVT 2306: Honors Texas Government class during the Fall 2020 semester. The class assignment helps students begin to formulate a classic policy paper, in which alternative policy options are discussed and analyzed, ultimately leading to a preferred policy option. Students submitted just a few paragraphs of the paper at a time over the course of the fall semester before finally pulling everything together in one cohesive research paper. As Michelle’s paper progressed throughout the term, she continued to build on her research and add her own unique insights. Throughout the editing process for Quest, she continued that progress by fully engaging in the peer review process, and she has turned a simple class assignment into something truly inspiring. The disenfranchisement of felons, the topic chosen by Michelle, has increasing relevance to Texas and the U.S. today, and she beautifully connects the past policy decisions made by Texas to the current conversation about voting rights and race
