http://www.johnlockeinstitute.com/2018-essay-competition
THE DEADLINE IS 31st JULY 2018.
Purpose
The John Locke Institute encourages young people to cultivate the characteristics that turn good students into great writers: independent thought, depth of knowledge, clear reasoning, critical analysis and persuasive style. The John Locke Institute Essay Competition invites students to explore a wide range of challenging and interesting questions beyond the confines of the school curriculum.
Entering an essay in our competition can build knowledge, and refine skills of argumentation. It also gives students the chance to have their work assessed by experts. All of our essay prizes are judged by academics from the University of Oxford. The judges will choose their favourite essay from each subject category and an overall 'best essay' across the four subjects: Philosophy, Politics, Economics and History.
A small number of exceptional candidates will be invited to Oxford ahead of the awards ceremony for a viva voce interview with a senior member of our faculty. These invitations will be issued after the First Reading, on the same day the Short List is announced, while the judging process is still ongoing.
Entry Requirements
Entry is open to students from any country and any school. Candidates must be eighteen years old or younger on the date of the submission deadline, 31 July 2018.
Submission Instructions
Each essay should address only one of the questions in your chosen subject category, and must not exceed 2000 words (not counting diagrams, tables of data, footnotes, bibliography or authorship declaration). Please submit your essay as an email attachment, saved in pdf format. Both the subject line of the email and the title of the pdf attachment should read SURNAME First Name Subject Category Question Number (e.g. POPHAM Alexander Politics Q2).
Key Dates
Tuesday, 31 July 2018: Submission deadline
Tuesday, 14 August: Short-listed candidates notified
Friday, 14 September: Winners Announced at Awards Ceremony in Oxford
Prizes
There is a prize for the best essay in each subject category, Philosophy, Politics, Economics and History. Each subject prize is worth £100, and the essays will be published (with the authors' permission) on the Institute website. The prize-giving ceremony will take place in Oxford, at which winners and runners-up will be able to meet the judges and other faculty members of the John Locke Institute. Family, friends and teachers are also welcome, subject to capacity constraints.
The candidate who submits the best essay overall will be awarded an honorary John Locke Institute Junior Fellowship, worth £500.
The judges' decisions are final, and no correspondence will be entered into.
Criteria
Essays will be judged on the level of knowledge and understanding of the relevant material, the quality of argumentation, the structure, writing style and persuasive force. Candidates are advised to answer the question as precisely and directly as possible.
2018 Essay Questions
Politics and Law Questions
1. Suppose five years in prison is as effective a deterrent as fifty years. What good comes of imposing a life sentence on a deposed dictator guilty of war crimes?
2. Is the state a universal category or a historically contingent and transient form of human organization?
3. If we know that a statement is both untrue and certain to cause offence, should we make it illegal?
Economics Questions
1. What would be the consequences of legalising all drugs in the United States of America?
2. It has been said that a company may hire a woman for four-fifths of what a man would earn, to do the same job and do it just as well. If this were true, why would any profit-maximising employer choose to hire any men at all? Is there another explanation for the perceived gender wage gap? What are the policy implications, if any?
3. What is education actually for? Are we doing it right?