This paper should focus on the effect that international relations between Latin America and the U.S. Have had on immigration. It should explore existing theories from academic scholars on how things like NAFTA,the Cold War and its end, the war on terror, the war on drugs, and other factors have impacted Latin American immigration. It should then examine data from recent studies on immigration and draw its own conclusion on which factor has had the biggest impact on immigration and why.
A few basic guidelines:
Ideally, in papers, theses, and dissertations, and later in journal articles, one should (1) begin with a brief review of conceptual/ theoretical interpretations or explanations of how some political process or phenomenon works, then (2) show how the prevailing explanation or concept falls short in some way, and finally (3) propose some new concept or refinement of a hypothesis that would better explain the phenomenon. Then one can (4) move to specific, operationalizable hypotheses that can be examined with real data in order to infer the answer to the overarching, broader hypothesis.
