I: The Amendment Itself

The amendment itself should make up the first part of your paper. It does not need to be more than 

one page long and should immediately follow your cover page.

II: Explanation Of Why Your Amendment Is Necessary

In the first part of the paper you should explain the problem or issue and illustrate why discussion of 

the issue is important. You should try and use statistics or other types of evidence to support your 

contention that the problem is meaningful enough to merit serious consideration. For example, if your 

proposed amendment has to do with restricting industrial development within 10 miles of land adjacent 

to wetlands, you would discuss how important protecting Florida’s environment (especially the 

Everglades) is and support that with appropriate statistics. The first section of your paper should frame 

the issue for the reader and provide enough information so that the reader has a firm grasp of the issue 

at hand.

III: How Specifically Will Your Amendment Work To Solve The Problem Discussed In Section II

Here is where you discuss exactly what you hope your amendment will accomplish and what overall 

effects your amendment will have. This is basically the nuts-and-bolts section of your paper.

IV: Countering Potential Critics

As we all well know, every amendment has its opponents. In this section you are to discuss and 

attempt to defuse potential valid criticisms of your proposed amendment. In a sense, you must play 

your own ‘Devils Advocate.’ Based on the example mentioned previously, you might bring up the 

potential that real estate development may suffer because of lack of expansion which might slow down 

economic growth, etc… Be sure that you concoct credible arguments and not just ‘straw man’ criticisms 

that can be easily shot down by the application of plain old common sense.

V: Conclusion

In your conclusion you should summarize your main points and once again highlight the strengths of 

your argument to refresh the reader’s memory and tie up any loose ends. Treat this section as if it were 

the text of a speech that you might make supporting your amendment (hold the dramatics, please)…