Category: Essays on Controversial Topics
Browse our collection of essays on controversial topics. Each topic in this category represents a controversial issue and thus is a good choice if you are looking for argumentative or persuasive essay topics. When writing an argumentative essay or a persuasive essay you should focus on picking a topic that is current and relevant to society and can be argued logically.
While a strong interest in a topic is important, it’s not enough to be interested. You have to consider what position you can back up with reasoning and evidence. It’s one thing to have a strong belief, but when shaping an argument you’ll have to explain why your belief is reasonable and logical. As you explore the topics, make a mental list of points you could use as evidence for or against an issue.
One of the more notable events in U.S. history with regard to the status of African Americans was the 1896 Supreme Court ruling Plessy v. Ferguson. It legitimized African Americans’ subordinate status in society, and cast segregation as a fundamental law of the land and made constitutional what …
Pluralism refers to theories and practices that favor the inclusion and tolerance of human differences. These differences could involve politics, religion, ethno-racial identity, cultural tradition, language, or something else. The study of pluralism varies with academic discipline. Political scientists describe pluralism as a feature of an open, democratic …
Police forces are agencies empowered by some level of government—local, county, state, or federal—to maintain social order through legal means, coercion, or use of force. Police serve as the enforcement arm of the criminal justice system, which consists of police, the judiciary, and corrections. Unlike many other countries, …
Continual exposure to sudden life-and-death experiences, human suffering, and the frustration of strictly codified responses to violence, injury, and insult creates a unique set of potentially debilitating psychological stimuli often referred to as “police stress.” During everyday activities, whether on duty or off, the police officer is exposed …
Emerging from the tradition of locally organized police forces in the United States, community policing is a philosophy of police administration that focuses on cooperation and empathy between local police forces and communities. This style of policing embraces visible policing practices like foot or bike patrol and interactions …
Strategic policing refers to proactive measures that police take to prevent crime, control disorder, improve citizens’ quality of life, and resolve community problems. To achieve these goals, the police employ tactics within a general, community-oriented strategy commonly known as “community policing.” While community policing is the dominant paradigm …
Political action committees (PACs) are organizations dedicated to fundraising and supporting the election or defeat of specific political candidates. Their existence traces back to 1944, when the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) supported efforts to reelect President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. To avoid violation of the Smith Connally Act …
Political fragmentation, the existence of multiple units of government in urban and surrounding suburban areas, is not new. It has existed in the United States since the late 1800s, when people began to move away from urban areas and establish independent suburban communities. Political fragmentation also occurs through …
Most researchers studying the intersecting and influence of Christianity and politics on one another frequently quote Matthew 22, in which Jesus, in response to the Pharisees’ question about the legality of paying taxes to Caesar, says, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God …
The 1870 U.S. Census enumerated the elderly— people 65 years of age or older—at about 1.2 million people (3 percent of the total population of 40 million). However, during the 20th century, with industrialization and changes in fertility and mortality patterns, a new age structure emerged for the …
The modern expansion of human numbers began in the late 18th century in Europe and North America. Since then, population growth has spread to all continents and has accelerated: the first billion was reached in 1800; the second, third, fourth, and fifth billions took 125, 35, 14, and …
Pornography or sexual materials are seemingly a part of human culture. From antiquity to the present, many societies have employed forms of sexual materials in writing, images, song, or dance for entertainment and/or sexual enjoyment. Not all cultures approve of such material, nor is there societal consensus regarding …
Child pornography, which is illegal in the United States, refers to images, literature, or other materials that depict a child (any individual under the age of 18) engaging in sexual activity or that portray the child in a sexually explicit manner. Child pornography may involve either the creation …
With the invention and extensive dispersion of the Internet since the 1990s, pornography distributed via the World Wide Web has become a widespread social phenomenon. Some of its popularity stems from the fact that the Internet, like VHS tapes and DVDs, allows people to view pornography in the …
Technological advances in the 19th and 20th centuries gave rise to industrialism and improved the overall quality of life in the United States and most of Europe. With the general rise in income came an increasing demand for services to sustain this higher standard of living: improved education, …
Postmodernism is a complex term, and it is important to define its boundaries as it concerns social problems. Generally speaking, analysts examine the postmodern world with a focus on four areas: the self-concept; moral and ethical discourse; art and culture; and globalization. In the context of social problems, …
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder that may develop after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic, violent, or life-threatening event. Traumatic events may be natural or human caused. Natural events may include earthquakes, hurricanes, or medical illnesses; human-caused events may include military combat, child sexual or physical …
Poverty is one of the world’s most costly and serious social problems. It represents the vast unused and underused potential of millions of people; it costs societies in lost revenues, in lost productivity, in ill health, social dysfunction, and environmental degradation and in vast sums that must be …
According to the UN Children’s Fund, worldwide, about 1 billion children currently live in poverty. Of these children, 674 million are living in absolute poverty. Further, the International Labor Organization estimates that 218 million children engage in some form of illegal, hazardous, or exploitative child labor. The Joint …
Power lies at the heart of a political system. According to Max Weber, power is the ability to exercise one’s will over others. To put it another way, whoever can control the behavior of others is exercising power. Power relations can involve large organizations, small groups, or even …
