Homework
Length: 3 to 4 pages.
Your task for this homework is to apply what we have learned about Congress to analyze the behavior of a particular member of the House of Representatives, including his or her policy activities, constituency service, and public relations efforts. Your first step will be to choose a member of the House of Representatives. The information provided there, the course materials (lecture and the textbook), and extra information about the representative and district available through the Almanac of American Politics will provide all of the information for the paper.
Some questions your paper should address include:
I. What are some basic background facts about your representative (e.g., What party does the representative belong to? How long has he or she been in office? Did he or she win the last race by a close margin or was it a landslide?) and his or her district (e.g., Is the district urban or rural? Relatively racially/ethnically diverse orhomogenous? Rich or poor?, etc.)
II. On which committees does your representative serve? What issues fall within these committees' jurisdictions? What sorts of issues does the representative introduce and cosponsor bills and resolutions about? Is there correspondence between committee homeworks and the content of his/her activities? Do these homeworks and activities seem to match up with issues of particular relevance to the constituency?
III. Does the Congressperson's website describe his or her constituency service? What types of things does the member do for the district?
IV. How do these activities map on to the general strategies of advertising position-taking, and credit-claiming?
V. Based on the various standards discussed in class, is the member "responsive"?
VI. Evaluate the member using your research, and justify the response using ideas from class.
Format your homework according to the give formatting requirements:
1. The answer must be double spaced, typed, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the homework, the course title, the student's name, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The references and Citations should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.