Teaching Students to Write for “Real Life”: Policy Paper Writing in the Classroom Bettina Trueb, European Union–Latin America and the Caribbean Foundation ABSTRACT During their time at university, political science students frequently only learn to write for the academic setting. However, not all students will come to work in academia, nor do they want to. When entering the job market, they often do not have the writing skills that are demanded by potential employers and have to learn them “on the fly.” Sim- ulating cooperative policy-writing processes in the classroom not only gives students the opportunity to acquire these skills, but also helps them make important connections between the theory taught in the classroom and the “real-life” policy-making process. Using the practical example of a policy paper-writing simulation, this article illustrates how pos- ing a policy-writing challenge from the field of foreign policy making can equip students with a grasp on theories of policy making, their practical application, and policy writing as a practical skill. T eaching foreign policy making and negotiation in undergraduate courses often focuses on giving stu- dents a theoretical understanding of these pro- cesses. This article argues that students’ classroom experience can be enriched in several ways through introducing a simulation element into foreign policy courses. By accompanying theoretical sessions with a policy-writing assign- ment to be completed during the semester, students not only gain practical insights into foreign policy decision making and nego- tiation that helps deepen their understanding of the theoretical components covered in the course. It also introduces them to valu- able policy-writing skills, which are highly demanded by many political science graduates’ potential employers but seldom taught in the classroom. WHY INCORPORATE A SIMULATION EXERCISE? It is widely known that most undergraduate political science majors will not go on to work in academia. According to the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 60% of political scientists work for the US federal government (US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics 2009). Others may want to work for international organizations, think tanks, political consultation firms and lobby groups, or local and regional public administration. In all these areas, writing skills are required that differ from the type of academic writing students are usually taught during their years of study. In addition, not all students complete internships at institutions of their choice during their studies, especially as many positions are unpaid. In the context of teaching students these sought-after writing skills, authors such as Pennock (2011) have argued for using policy-paper assign- ments in class. What is more, as a result of not being able to gain personal insights into the workings of public institutions, many students are exposed only to theories of policy making and negotiation, never to their practice. Even for those students who do not want to pursue a career that demands the aforementioned skills, expe- riencing a policy-making and negotiation process first-hand bears considerable benefits concerning their deep understanding of these processes and their ability to connect theory with practice. Calls for simulating policy decision-making processes, especially in for- eign policy and international politics, have a long-standing tradi- tion in the literature on academic teaching [for a “seasoned” publication in the field see Louscher and Van Steenburg (1977), for a more recent one see, for example, Loggins (2009)]. In the following text, I outline how the two types of simulation—policy writing, on the one hand, and foreign policy decision making, on the other—can be combined within an under- graduate course by having students write a policy strategy paper on a current foreign policy issue. Students benefit from such an exercise in a three-fold way. First, they obtain an understand- ing of the theoretical toolbox necessary to analyse processes of negotiation. Second, they see the theories covered in the course play out in practice. Third, they acquire practical skills of policy Bettina Trueb was previously an assistant lecturer at the School of Social Sciences of the University of Mannheim, Germany. She has also worked for the German Federal For- eign Office and is now a researcher at the European Union–Latin America and the Carib- bean Foundation. She can be reached at btrueb@eulacfoundation.org. The Teacher ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. doi:10.1017/S1049096512001333 PS • January 2013 137