1.3.6 Sample Outline


Sample Outline for the Position Paper


  1. OPENING STATEMENT: How much control should a government have of its citizens? This has been a question that people have asked for generations with many answers.
  2. SOURCE DESCRIPTION: One perspective is that "the authority of the government must stop at its citizen's skin," or in other words, there should be limited government with little power over the rights and freedoms of individuals.
  3. LINK SOURCE TO POSITION: Although there are arguments to support limited government control over the actions of an individual, in some circumstances, governments need power over people.
  4. THESIS: Governments should not have the power to control the actions of citizens except where one person's freedom infringes on that of someone else.
  5. MAIN ARGUMENTS: Historically, authoritarian governments have oppressed people and limited severely their fundamental freedoms. People who live in nations where they experience a great deal of personal freedom and self-expression are wealthier and have more control over their own lives. However, a certain degree of government control is needed when people infringe on the rights of others.


  1. ANALYZE THE PERSPECTIVE IN THE SOURCE: Individual rights and freedoms are key components of liberalism, and the perspective revealed in the statement "the authority of the government must stop at its citizen's skin" is one of extreme lindividualism. According to this perspective, people should be completely free from any government interference in their personal affairs.
  2. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE: Authoritarian governments have oppressed people and limited severely their fundamental freedoms
    • Historically - Nazi Germany
    • Contemporary - North Korea
  1. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE: People who live in nations where they experience a great deal of personal freedom and self-expression are wealthier and more content with their lives.
    • Principles of Liberalism
    • Fighting for freedom in the French Revolution
    • United States - wealth, opportunities
  2. SUPPORTING EVIDENCE: The only time a certain degree of government control is needed is when people infringe on the rights of others.
    • Rule of law
    • Right to personal security


  1. RESTATE THESIS: People are entitled to have individual rights and freedoms, and governments should exert control only for safety and security.
  2. SUMMARIZE SOURCE PERSPECTIVE: If history has taught us anything, it is that the authority of government should stop at the skin of its citizens.
  3.  SUMMARIZE MAIN ARGUMENTS: Failure of Nazi Germany and North Korea to meet needs of citizens, historical fight for liberty, wealth, and opportunity in the U.S.; role of government to protect citizens
  4. CONCLUDING STATEMENT: Liberalism has evolved over time to give the average citizen the rights and freedoms now enjoyed in most of the developed world, and these freedoms are necessary for human happiness.