This is a paper that is focusing on the Congressman Bob Goodlatte becoming an Informed Voter. The paper also provides additional questions to use in writing the assignment paper.
Congressman Bob Goodlatte becoming an Informed Voter
Topic: Becoming an Informed Voter – Researching Your Congressional Delegation
The research paper has 2 steps. First, you will analyze the background of your congressional district and your U.S. Representative. Second, you will analyze the political background of your state and 1 of your U.S. Senators. You may choose which senator to study; however, if one senator is newly elected and does not have interest group ratings, study the other one. Note that these are United States Representatives and Senators. Do not use members of your state legislature.
Begin by reviewing the presentation on “Becoming an Informed Voter.” The example is of Congressman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia. If you have a newly elected representative who has not yet received interest group ratings, get the interest group ratings of a representative from a neighboring district.
After reviewing the presentation, the first part will deal with your congressional district and also congressman; the second part will deal with your state and senator. As explained in the presentation, interest group scores may be found at Vote Smart.
A helpful source to find information for this paper is The Almanac of American Politics by Richard E. Cohen and James A. Barnes.
Congressman Bob Goodlatte becoming an Informed Voter
Firstly, what is the recent political history of your district and state?
Secondly, how has your state and congressional district voted in recent presidential and congressional elections?
Thirdly, can your district or state be considered to be leaning Republican or Democrat?
Fourthly, are the political parties relatively even, or does one party dominate the elections?
Also, does your district have a long tradition of supporting one party, or has it been changing in recent years?
How did your representative and senator come to power? (Thoroughly describe their backgrounds.)
Additionally, how do the interest groups – ADA, ACLU, ACU, and CC (or FRC) – rate your representative and senator? (Note: If the Christian Coalition score is not available, you may substitute the Family Research Council score. Also, include the exact scores from each of these groups.
Based on these ratings, would you classify your representative and also senator as conservative or liberal? Justify your answer.
