imagine that you have been commissioned by a client to write a report providing strategic advice and guidance on the topic below

2,000-word Report:
A report is somewhat different to a conventional academic essay. You should imagine
that you have been commissioned by a client to write a report providing strategic advice
and guidance on the topic below:
TOPIC:
1. A woman running for president in the USA wants advice on the appropriate
“gender strategy” to adopt for her campaign. Drawing on the appropriate
academic literature, your report should advise her on how to avoid the pitfalls
facing women candidates, and offer advice on how best to present herself as a
woman running for office. You can use a real or fictional candidate and should
tailor the report to the specific election she is running for, her party and any other
pertinent details.
• Use statistics to support but explain its relevence thoroughly.
• You can choose to focus on the full range of issues or decide to narrow your focus
to a particular area.
• If you choose to narrow your focus, make this explicit so that you are not
penalised for omitting other areas.
How to write the report:
1. The report should provide a clear overview of the information that the client
(ie the candidate, the government or the political party) has requested. You
may use sub-headings to help structure the report. You may find it helpful to
structure the report by acknowledging the current situation, identifying the
options available, assessing the relative pros and cons of these options, and
then making recommendations on how best to proceed.
2. The report should be grounded in, and draw explicitly upon, existing
academic literature, which should be referenced in the usual way (ie
Harvard-style in-text references plus a bibliography). If quoting directly from a
text, you must provide a page number.
3. You should consult a minimum of six academic sources when
researching your report. Although the report is structured differently to a
traditional academic essay, it should still be researched thoroughly.
4. The report may also draw on other relevant reports, both for the information
contained therein and for inspiration on how to structure and organise the
report. These reports will need to be referenced in the usual way. Take care
to ensure that existing work is duly acknowledged and that your own work
does not plagiarise the ideas of anyone else.
5. Your report should identify the pertinent details of the client for whom it is
being written (ie the candidate, government or party), and you should tailor
your report to the needs of the specific client. Your report should provide
credible and realistic advice that will be meaningful to the client. For
example, do not suggest things that have already been done or that are
impossible to achieve.
Marking criteria:
1. The report should be well researched and show clear knowledge and
understanding of the issues at hand
2. The report should be appropriately targeted to the client
3. The report should fulfil the requirements of the task outlined above
4. The report should be clearly structured and well written
5. The report should be fully and accurately referenced
6. The report should not exceed the word limit