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Current Affairs, Sample Critical Thinking Questions for SPS.
By Jeremy Lewis.  Revised 20 July 2006.

For each selected type of newspaper or magazine story, here are some sample critical thinking questions to help you analyze the new material.
  • US Domestic Politics article
  • Political Campaign story.
  • Candidate introduction story (often in Aug-Sep)
  • Horse race stories: who's ahead, who's behind (Sep-Oct)
  • How much of the state of the economy or current war (political scientists have found these to be the most significant causes of election results in the past half century) is reflected in the analysis of the causes of the current trends?
  • How much of the story emphasizes the individual candidate or manager as being the cause of winning or losing?
  • Boiler room story: who's the genius behind the candidate, and how do they work? (Oct-Nov)
  • Scandal: verbal gaffe, sexual escapade revelation, alleged corruption stories. (Oct)
  • Air war (advertising, Sep-Oct) and ground war (Get Out the Vote, or GOTV, Oct-Nov) stories
  • Political TV spots are usually portrayed as negative (critical of the opponent) and nasty.  This makes a more exciting story -- but are the ads actually nasty and against the person, or are they fairly critical of the opponent's policy stands?
  • Why is one type of spot fair and another unfair?
  • Are the candidates' spots actually more policy focussed than is the news (which has been often found too horse-race focussed)?
  • Should external organizations be allowed to broadcast political spots during a political campaign?
  • Should political advertising be banned or strictly limited as it is in some other countries?
  • Opinion poll interpretation story (Oct-Nov)
  • Is the poll from a reputable polling organization such as Gallup or Pew?
  • Are the full data provided: sample size, method, question wording, statistics?
  • Have the results been spun by comparing to an unreal standard of expectations?
  • About Nov. 10: exit polls (with huge samples) give the best reading on electoral trends.  Is one party in decline?  Is the president's party suffering the usual mid-term losses?
  • Do poll results actually affect the elections by depressing voter turnout (eg, "Dewey Defeats Truman", 1948)
  • Election result story
  • victory or heartache story -- human feelings as effects of election only -- or analysis of causes of the result?
  • analysis of results: mood for change or stability; previous 12 months of change in economy, 12 months of progress in war?
  • Demographics: which groups (latinos, soccer moms, blue-collar men, retirees) switched their support this time?
  • Turnout: which groups raised or lowered their rate of turnout this time?
  • US average in recent presidential elections has been only 52% turnout
  • Under 29s turnout about 25%; over 65s about 80% turnout.
  • Well educated and wealthy turnout over 60%; poorly educated and poor below 40%.
  • US Domestic Policy article
  • Policy process story (bill progressing through House, Senate, White house)
  • Is the story focussed on the personalities of leaders?
  • Does the story give you a sense of how the floor votes might go?
  • Does the story tell you how the procedure works to pass a bill?
  • Economic Policy story
  • How difficult is it to explain economics in a newspaper or television article?
  • Is the article focussed on individual workers losing their jobs?  If so, does it also reflect broader unemployment figures?
  • Does the article assume the free market is better or worse than regulation?
  • Does the article have a populist bent, attacking large corporations (eg Big Oil) for the failures of part of the economy?
  • Does growth in jobs make as gripping a story as personal losses?
  • Is immigration assumed to be stealing domestic jobs -- or helping the economy by working harder, dirtier and cheaper?
  • US Foreign Policy article
  • Diplomatic story
  • Is the story focussed on leaders (such as Sec. of State Condi Rice; or President Bush) at the expense of covering policy?
  • Does the story give you the analysis of trends over the past ten years, and beyond?
  • Who's work is shown up in a good light -- and should we guess that they were the source for the story?
  • Who is the villain of the story -- and should be guess their opponents leaked the story?
  • US providing relief or aid abroad story
  • Does the story focus on the Americans delivering aid or the condition of the recipients of aid?
  • Do the news media cover routine civil relief as well as they cover wars and disasters?
  • Is the nature of the country's government and economy exlained in the story -- or just the tactics of relief?
  • Is the reporter on the local spot -- or covering the story from a comfortable hotel in the country's capital/
  • Strategic analysis story
  • Does the article give you a clear sense of the interests of the countries involved?
  • Does the article step outside the US mode of thought to explain local peoples' reactions to the US?
  • Does the article give you a sense of the strategic picture of the last ten years or more?
  • Does the article fall into the trap of "fighting the last war" -- eg treating modern Iraq like the old Vietnam war?
  • Recent political history of middle east story
  • trade and international economics story (imports, exports, globalization, outsourcing)
  • War, counterinsurgency, counter terrorism story
  • Progress of war in Iraq
  • Does the article give us more analysis than just a list of bombings and casualties?
  • Does the article give us a sense of the impact of the war on the host society?
  • Does the article give us a strategic sense of the relationship between US interests, terrorist organizations, and middle eastern society?
  • Was the article based on reporting from US government press releases, from a reporter in the safe green zone, or actually from the streets?
  • Does the article convey a sense that the US aim in the war is to build a nation state, rather than just providing security?
  • Well, is the US making progress in the war, and is that on the political front or the military front?
  • How well does the article incorporate the ethnic divisions and economics of Iraq?
  • Progress of war in Afghanistan
  • Is the article based on reporting in remote Afghanistan, a particular challenge for journalists?
  • Does the article convey a sense that the varied and isolated regions of Afghanistan may not be progressing similarly to the capital?
  • Is geography, such as the difficult terrain and the open borders, incorporated into the account of tactical fighting?
  • How well does the article incorporate the tribal and warlord factors of Afghan society?
  • Progress of US's Global war against terrorism (GWOT 2002-2005) or Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism (GSAVE, 2005-)
  • European politics or economics article
  • British politics or economics article
  • House of Commons, Prime Minister's Question Time, broadcast live on C-SPAN, Wednesdays in Oct-July, 6am, and repeated Sundays at 8pm, lasts 30 minutes.  May be shown and explained in class.
  • Who are the Government ministers, and where do they sit?
  • Who are the Opposition ministers, and where do they sit?
  • Who are the minor party leaders, and where do they sit?
  • What is the role of the prime minister -- and the leader of the opposition?
  • What is the role of the speaker (quite different from the US speaker)?
  • To what degree is the debate focussed on the qualities and faults of current policies?
  • To what degree is the debate a gladiatorial contest in which truth is lost?
  • Global environmental story
  • Global warming story
  • Environmental protest story
  • Disappearing Rainforest or species story
  • Shortage of energy or assets story