INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL STUDIES (POLS1007)

Assignment One: Political Arguments and Political Analysis

Due Monday the 4th of March. The maximum word count is 1,000 words. This assignment is worth 10%
of your overall grade for this course.

Submission Guidelines:

Your assignment must be submitted via Ulwazi. No other mode of submission will be accepted. There is
no need for a cover sheet. All submissions will be checked for plagiarism automatically. The system is set
up to allow for three attempts at submission. Important information regarding extensions and rules and
procedures governing assessment can be found in your course outline.

Assessment Guidelines:

The main goal of your first assignment is to get you thinking and writing about political arguments and
political analysis. What makes a compelling argument? On what basis can we effectively analyse competing
political positions and perspectives? What types of supporting evidence are decisive? How are arguments
put together? How do individual experiences and identities shape how people make their overall case?

Your task is to select between one of two potential case studies. Please don’t attempt both, or attempt to put
together an alternative case study of your own. Once you have selected your case study, you will need to put
together a 1,000 word report which comprises two major sections: i) analysis and ii) evaluation. Both
sections should be clearly identified using subheadings. This is a report and not an essay. You do not
need to include a separate introduction.

Your analysis section should ideally comprise around 800 words, and should offer your analysis of the
main positions and arguments you identify in each of the articles you review within the four pieces
comprising your case study. Your analysis section should not attempt to weight the strengths and
weaknesses of each individual article. Your task is to instead identify the main positions and arguments
which each article seeks to develop (regardless of whether or not you agree with the author). Where
applicable, your analysis of each article should also include material which makes reference to the
supporting evidence used by each author. You will be primarily assessed on your capacity to sucessfully
identity the main positions and arguments which each author employs, and your capacity to present these
positions in the best possible light (i.e. don’t include language which undermines arguments you don’t
personally agree with). It is recommended that you allocate roughly 200 words to each individual piece. The
four pieces which comprise each case study are sufficient for this task. There should be no need for you to
conduct further research, or to track down additional sources. Your task is to read each piece
carefully and to identify and write down the key positions, or arguments, each author(s) make.

The evaluation section is your oppourtunity to both present and defend your own conclusions regarding
which of the articles you have read and analysed is the most persuasive. It is recommended that you allocate
roughly 200 words to your evaluation, which should come at the end of the report (much like a conclusion).
Your evaluation needs to be much more than a statement of personal opinion or preference. You instead
need to be able to effectively justify and defend why you regard specific article, or articles, as more
compelling or persausive than others. This may involve identifying the weaknesses of one article in order
to help make the case for why you prefer one position or approach over another. This means that your
evaluation section can make reference to any or all of the different articles you have analysed.

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If you include material which is drawn word for word from any of the articles you need to make a
good faith attempt to reference/footnote. A Friday lecture will be devoted to explaining how to go about
referencing.

Please select one of the following case studies for your report (all of the articles can be accessed in PDF
form on Ulwazi, and can also be accessed by clicking on the hyperlinks):

Case Study Number One: The 2024 South African Election.

1. Ongama Mtimka and Gary Francis Prevost, “Economic Freedom Fighters became South Africa’s
third largest political party in just 10 years. What’s behind its electoral success”, The Conversation,
October 10 2023, https://theconversation.com/economic-freedom-fighters-became-south-africas-
third-largest-political-party-in-just-10-years-whats-behind-its-electoral-success-213880.

2. John McDermott, “South Africa faces a defining election”, The Economist, November 13th 2023,
https://www.economist.com/the-world-ahead/2023/11/13/south-africa-faces-a-defining-election.

3. Crystal Orderson, “Dream or mirage: Can South Africa’s white-led opposition win in 2024?”, Al
Jazeera, 9 November 2023, https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/11/9/dream-or-mirage-can-
south-africas-white-led-opposition-win-in-2024.

4. William Gumede, “South Africa’s all-to-play-for election in 2024, The Africa Report, January 5
2024, https://www.theafricareport.com/332191/south-africas-all-to-play-for-election-in-2024.

Case Study Number Two: NSFAS and Higher Education in South Africa

1. Patrick Fish and Linda Meyer, “The debt spiral and the survival of public higher education”,
University World News, 7 December 2023,
https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20231206073118437.

2. Enkosi Selane, “Increased registration fees, Nsfas budget cut and accommodation cap a recipe for
#FeesMustFall”, The Citizen, 11 January 2024, https://www.citizen.co.za/news/south-
africa/education/increased-registration-fees-nsfas-budget-cut-and-accommodation-cap-a-recipe-for-
feesmustfall/.

3. Seth Thorne, “Warning over new R3.8 billion fund in South Africa”, BusinessTech, 18 January
2024, https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/743363/warning-over-new-r3-8-billion-fund-in-
south-africa/.

4. Edwin Naidu, “Turmoil over South African student funding as new term looms”, Times Higher
Education, January 24 2024 https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/turmoil-over-south-
african-student-funding-new-term-looms.