User:Nemerson4970/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Civil Rights Act of 1991

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I have chosen to evaluate this article because it was given a 'Start' class on a list of important enactments that are currently being used by my class. My first impression of the article was that although it had some of the important information related to the passage of the Act, it could be significantly improved by the addition of sections related to its legislative history, criticisms it faced, and specific Titles within it.

Evaluate the article
The article’s lead section does well in concisely introducing the topic. However, apart from the ‘Contents’ box, it does not briefly introduce the major sections that will be covered in the article. It does include some information that is not present in the article; for example, it refers to President George H. W. Bush’s hesitation to use his veto power on it, which is never referenced again.

With respect to its content, the article includes information that is germane to the topic. While the content is up-to-date, there is a significant lack of information that would be important to include in order to understand the legislative history of the Act. It seems to put too much weight on the changes made to the Act, while neglecting to include information about its effects on the Acts that it amended.

The article appears to come from a neutral point of view, and does not include claims that are heavily biased toward or against a particular position. The viewpoints that are presented are few, but they are not overrepresented or underrepresented. The article does not attempt to persuade the reader to be in favor or against a particular position.

The facts presented by the article are very rarely backed up by a reliable secondary source of information. The ‘Changes’ section of the article makes numerous claims, yet it does not have a single cited source. The four sources that are linked, while current, do not constitute an accurate reflection of the numerous reliable, peer-reviewed resources that have been published in relation to the Act. However, the links on the page do appear to work correctly.

The article appears to be free of any spelling errors. However, some of the sentences are unnecessarily verbose. The article, while well-organized in its current state, requires additional sections related to its legislative history and effects.

There appear to be no ‘behind the scenes’ conversations going on related to this Act on the Talk Page of the article. This article has a ‘Start’ class rating, and it is part of two WikiProjects: WikiProject Law and WikiProject United States. Both of these WikiProjects have marked the Act as having a Low Importance on their respective scales.

Overall, I believe that the article has a few strengths and weaknesses. While it provides a good starting point for people attempting to learn more about the Civil Rights Act of 1991, the fact that it includes very limited sources and does not have more sections related to the legislative history of the Act and its subsequent effects makes me believe that it is poorly developed. It can be improved through the addition of more viewpoints from peer-reviewed sources. Furthermore, if some of the more verbose and overly complex sentences were rewritten or removed, it could provide a more concise overview of the most important aspects of the Act.