A dissertation proposal of not less than 2,000 words (including footnotes). The dissertation proposal must include the following:
(a) A clear, law-related research question or problem that will be addressed;
(b) A review of the literature addressing the question or problem (including any relevant literature from other disciplines, such as economics, sociology, or history) that demonstrates an ongoing debate among scholars, policymakers, or other professional groups on the proposed question, or a lack of recognition of, or attention to, the problem;
(c) An explanation of the methods, theories, or approaches to be used to answer the question or resolve the problem and, if an empirical or comparative project, a discussion of the kind of evidence to be produced that will answer the question or resolve the problem; and
(d) An explanation of the expected contribution of the independent research project to the scholarly literature.