Students are to complete a written assignment analyzing a policy (one) advocated by their respective congressional district winner in the US House of Representatives’ 2022 mid-term election that is also supported by their Party. Discuss any differences between the Representative’s position on that policy. This analysis should include discussion of alternative positions on the policy within their own Party and those of other political actors.
Realizing some incumbents only need to be consuming oxygen in order to win reelection, if a candidate does not exist in the student’s district with enough background resources for the student to meet the assignment requirement, then they may choose a replacement candidate of their choosing from a different race. This will be at the instructor’s discretion and should be done early in the course. Waiting till the last minute is likely to result in the request being declined. If they prefer to write about a specific representative other than the one in their congressional district they must request permission from the instructor and explain why they should be given such a dispensation. This too will be at the instructor’s discretion and should also be done early in the course. Waiting till the last minute is even more likely to result in the request being declined. .
The candidate may be from either party. You are writing about the winner and, perhaps, the loser in passing. The student should explain if the winner is the incumbent, a challenger, or an open field without a sitting member running for reelection. The methods for winning support from the constituency on the chosen policy advocated by the Representative. Was the candidate’s stance on the policy popular or controversial in the district?
The student should also analyze the following points:
Name and explain at least one major policy supported by the chosen candidate. Did this impact the decision of the voter?
Name and explain one major policy supported by the candidate’s party. In addition to the student’s chosen race they are writing about, did the policy have a general impact on all party candidates?
How did various interest groups and public opinion affect this policy?
What particular groups and individuals supported or opposed this policy?
This paper should be 3-5 pages in length using standard font sizes and margins (see below). No cover page should be included. It should be submitted in MS Word format. Alternative formats are not allowed. Paper format is 12 point font, double spaced with 1 inch margins. This paper is a written assignment, not bullet point response. Writing style matters. Students are encouraged to use campus resources to help them with writing. You are expected to proofread your paper and pay attention to style, grammar and spelling. Papers with significant readability problems or that are not written as a paper will lose points. More details and the grading rubric will be discussed in class well in advance of the paper.
The paper should use at least three academic sources (the textbook counts as one) and additional acceptable sources. These can include candidate web-pages, policy papers, and reputable news articles but not editorials, opinion pieces, punditry, including similar pieces masquerading as “news analysis,” advocacy group materials. Wikipedia and like sites do not count as an acceptable source.
Reminder that this is a political science paper, not an opinion piece, punditry, or exercise in creative editorializing. Points will be lost for disparaging the candidate, their opponents, or their constituent groups. Including snide and sarcastic phrasing. Your writing style for this paper should reflect the tone of dispassionate analysis. It is however acceptable in your conclusion to make a normative evaluation of the policy’s costs, benefits, and whether this would overall help the country, work as intended, and the like. This should be phrased in an analytical tone – you aren’t writing a press release/issue advocacy paper.
