# POLISCI 158 Final Project — Overview

## The project in one paragraph

You pick a **concrete social or political challenge** and **study AI's effect on it**: its political, institutional, or distributive consequences. The project can be **theoretical, empirical, or argumentative**. It can draw on either course track, the Monday politics track or the Wednesday tech track. The strongest projects usually draw on both. You choose your own topic; `workflows/polisci158-03-choosing-your-design.md` lists some example projects to get you started.

## Working alone or with a partner

You can do the project on your own or with **one partner**. Partners must be taking the course for the **same number of units**.

If you work with a partner:

- **Submit a work-sharing contract with your proposal.** It sets out how you'll share tasks across the project. Use the template in `docs/polisci158-proposal-template.md`.
- **Both of you contribute to every major step**: project formulation, argument or hypothesis design, literature review, empirical work or analysis, and the write-up. Splitting the project so each of you owns separate steps isn't allowed.
- **You're both graded on the full project**, not just your parts.
- **You split the final presentation equally.**
- **Same word counts** as individual projects.
- **Peer reviews stay individual.** Each of you writes your own.
- **If the partnership breaks down**, you're both still responsible for finishing the project, on your own if you have to.

## What a good project looks like

- **A specific question.** Not a topic. "AI and elections" is a topic. "Did the 2024 disclosure rules on AI-generated political ads change how campaigns in state X used synthetic media?" is a question.
- **A clear type of work.** You can say which kind of project it is (see `workflows/polisci158-03-choosing-your-design.md`) and what counts as a good answer for that kind.
- **Feasible in ten weeks.** Use data, tools, and sources you can actually get this quarter.
- **Honest about limits.** Your claims are only as strong as your evidence.
- **Transparent AI use.** Disclosed in an AI-use note (see `docs/polisci158-ai-use-and-disclosure.md`).

## Milestones and deadlines

Deadlines are 11:59 p.m. unless stated.

| Component | Due | What it is | Length (5 units) |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Proposal milestone** | Sun, Oct 11 | Motivate the project; explain feasibility (plus a work-sharing contract if you have a partner) | 300–500 words |
| Peer Review 1 | Sun, Oct 18 | Written feedback on one classmate's proposal | 150–200 words |
| **Implementation milestone** | Sun, Nov 15 | Design and evidence progress: what has *actually* been done | 800–1000 words |
| Peer Review 2 | Sun, Nov 22 | Written feedback on one classmate's milestone | 150–200 words |
| **Final presentation** | Mon, Nov 30 / Wed, Dec 2 | Themed panel presentation and Q&A | 5 minutes; about 5–7 slides |
| Peer Review 3 | In session, Nov 30 / Dec 2 | Structured feedback on a panel peer | 150–200 words |
| **Final submission** | Finals week (exact date on Canvas) | All components integrated, plus attachments | 2000–3000 words |

Deadlines for the final presentations and the peer reviews are firm; late submissions will not be accepted. Other late work loses 0.5 points from the final course grade per day late.

## How it is graded

Weights (5-unit version):

| Component | Weight |
|---|---|
| Final presentation | 15% |
| Proposal milestone | 10% |
| Implementation milestone | 10% |
| Final submission | 30% |
| Peer review (milestone reviews) | 10% |
| *Section activities (not part of the project)* | *25%* |

Rubrics for each graded component are in `docs/polisci158-rubrics.md`.

### If you are taking the course for 4 or 3 units

Your written components are shorter (20% shorter for 4 units, 30% shorter for 3), and you do fewer peer reviews:

| | 5 units | 4 units | 3 units |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proposal milestone | 300–500 words | 240–400 words | 210–350 words |
| Implementation milestone | 800–1000 words | 640–800 words | 560–700 words |
| Final submission | 2000–3000 words | 1600–2400 words | 1400–2100 words |
| Peer reviews | all 3 | any 2 of the 3 | any 1 of the 3 |
| Final presentation | yes | yes | yes |

**You choose which peer reviews to do.** Declare which ones in your proposal (Sun, Oct 11). Once you've declared them, the reviews you chose are required, and their deadlines are firm.

## How the pieces connect

```
Question ──► Proposal (Oct 11) ──► Implementation (Nov 15) ──► Panel (Nov 30/Dec 2) ──► Final (finals week)
   │              ▲                       ▲                          ▲                     ▲
 wf 01         wf 02, 03              wf 04, 05                    wf 06                 wf 07
```

Each milestone builds on the one before it. Nothing you write is thrown away: the proposal becomes your introduction, the implementation milestone becomes your design and evidence sections, and the panel feedback goes into your final revision.

## The files in this package

See `polisci158-README.md` for how to use them, and how to hand them to your AI tool.