Your assignment must meet all of the following criteria:
Includes your name and student ID number in the header
Be word processed
Be double-spaced
Be submitted electronically via eCampus
Have a minimum length of 800 words (excluding cited text/direct quotations & Works Cited/bibliographic info) saved and submitted as a .doc or .docx file
Be presented in paragraph format featuring complete sentences
Includes at least two formal citations from a credible journalistic source, government website, book, or peer reviewed journal utilizing APA formatting (Your textbook can be used as a supplementary source, but it would not count towards this requirement.)
Follow all of the conventions and rules of Standard Written English
For this writing assignment you will be required to closely follow the instructions.
Do not skip steps!!!!!
The purpose of this assignment is to allow you to identify one of your elected federal-level legislative representatives and the issues they have prioritized as your representative, then compare the work they are doing with your personal political beliefs. Do you care about the same issues that they do? This assignment will be scored out of 100 points, and will constitute 10% of your final grade in the class.
Step 1: Go to GovTrack Congressional Member Finderto input your address and determine who your elected federal-level legislative representatives are. You must choose to write on either your member of the US House of Representatives or one of your members of the US Senate. You must submit the name of your chosen legislator to me via e-mail
Step 2: After selecting one of those federal-level legislators, click on his/her name. On that next page, you will find varied information about your legislator, including links to other websites you can use for research, as well as the link to his/her official website, which is found on the upper-right of the page.
Step 3: Go to VoteSmart List of National Interest Groups to locate an interest group that lobbies on behalf of an issue you care about. This can be any issue, from abortion to tax relief, as long as it is an issue that interests you. Navigate on the page to find an issue category (like “Campaign Finance and Elections” or “Foreign Aid”) that you are interested in. Then, under that category heading, select one of the particular groups in that category to research. {Those particular groups are located on the far right under the “SIG Name” heading.} You must select and submit the name of your chosen interest group to me via e-mail
Step 4: Respond to the following list of questions in sequential order. Each question should be answered completely and numbered accordingly in separate paragraphs.
NOTE: This is not a position paper. You do not need to offer or support a thesis, but your answers are required to be submitted in complete sentences, and in your own words. DO NOT copy and paste from any of the websites you will utilize during this assignment. Part of the challenge of this type of assignment is to strengthen your ability to discuss political issues using your unique ‘voice’.
Question 1: What is the name of your chosen federal-level legislator and what is his/her office? What is his/her race/ethnicity, gender, and religious affiliation? What political party does s/he belong to? Does s/he share your preferred party preference? How long has s/he been in office?
Question 2: On the www.govtrack.us website for your legislator, there will be a section labeled “Bills Sponsored”. Click on “View All” to see a list of that legislator’s list of sponsored legislation. Select and describe two pieces of legislation sponsored by your legislator during the most recent regular legislative session. (If your legislator has not sponsored a bill before, you should describe his/her two most recent co-sponsored bills).
Question 3: Compare and contrast the mission and goals of your chosen interest group with the political beliefs and legislative priorities of your chosen legislator, providing AT LEAST two specific examples of either agreement or disagreement between them. Has your chosen interest group endorsed your elected legislator? What, if any, role do you think this interest group had in getting your legislator elected?
Question 4: Why do you think your chosen legislator was able to win their most immediately recent general election? In order to answer this question, you must include a description of the demographic makeup of your district (if you are writing about your US House member) or state (if you are writing about your US Senator). That demographic makeup should include race/ethnicity, gender, and the level of voting turnout. Was your legislator an incumbent officeholder prior to his/her most recent election, and was this a factor in getting elected? This information could be located on the web page of your chosen legislator, but might need to be gathered via other appropriate sources (see requirements above regarding citation sources).
Question 5: Now that you have this information, (please assume/pretend you are eligible to vote) are you more or less likely to vote in the next election? Why? Would you vote to keep this legislator, or would you vote for his/her opponent? Why? Would your cultural and family background affect your vote for this legislator? Why?
*Failure to submit your chosen representative and interest group to me by the required deadline will result in an automatic 10-point deduction for each.
