Social policies are enacted to address particular social problems

SWRK1310 – Fall 2021 – L. Larios Guide to Ideological analysis (Final Paper Worksheet) Step 1: Learn about your policy – Read the policy document itself, or parts of it – Look on gov’t websites, media, academic articles – Note the things that stand out to you – What social problem is it meant to address? – Be sure to reference all of your sources appropriately Step 2: Identify ideological elements (e.g. human nature, society, etc.) – Go through the list of ideological elements one -by -one and consider, based on what you learned about the poli cy, what does it assume about each element? – Be sure to identify examples and quotations from the text in order to back up your claims – Offer careful explanations of each element when you introduce them in your essay – Be sure to reference appropriately when e xplaining each element Step 3: Identify the underlying ideology (e.g., neoconservatism, liberalism, etc.) – For each element, consider which ideology it aligns you (even if you already have an idea, you will need to demonstrate this through the analysis you did in Step 2) – Be sure to reference appropriately when explaining the ideology you’ve selected You may find a chart like this a helpful way to organize your thoughts and analysis: Ideological Element What is assumed in the text “Evidence” fro m the text (Examples/quotations) Underlying ideology Step 4: Reimagine your policy – Now that you’ve identified the underlying ideology of your policy, “reimagine” what it would look like if an other ideological perspective were taken to address the social problem your policy is meant to address – Go through each element again – Be sure to refe rence appropriately when explaining the second ideology you’ve selected and it’s elements