Assignment: Congressional Profile (2 Sitting Members, My State Is Louisiana)
A research paper is due the last day of class, not the day of the final exam.
This paper will be from 6 to 8 pages in length.
Specifically, each student is required to complete a Congressional Profile describing two sitting members of the U.S. Congress and will be composed of the following components:
Brief biography, stressing his/her political "resume." Included must be past and present Congressional committee assignments and leadership positions (if any).
An analysis of his/her last two campaigns, both primary and general election campaigns. Who were their opponents, what was the percentage of vote each received, what were the major issues, how much money was raised by each and from whom were the contributions received?
A description of the demographics of his/her district/state.
A summary of his/her voting record during their career including voting-record analyses done by interest groups such as the NRA or labor organizations. Twointerest group summaries of the Congressperson and senator must be included.
Included also must be an analysis of two bills sponsored/introduced by each with the outcome of the legislation.
Finally a summary of his/her utilization of Congressional earmarks should be included with specifics of amounts of project descriptions.
Procedure for selecting subjects for profiles:
Each student will draw the name of one state from which one U.S. Senator is selected and one U.S. Representative is selected for each profile. He she must be a sitting member of the Senate or House. The actual person to be profiled is the student's decision but it is recommended that the persons must have served at least two complete terms. States with only one House member will be excluded. State names will be drawn during the second week of the semester.
The paper must be typed and double spaced. References following accepted citation styles must be followed for sources used, and reference must be made to the sources from which the material is cited. A guide to sources for learning about Congress will be distributed the day states are selected. It should only contain the student's analyses and no "cut and pasting" from any websites such as the Congressperson's website or interest group websites.
The profile is due the last day of class, not the final exam day, and extensions will not be granted. The assignment must be submitted through D2L and may not be submitted as email attachments or in print.
Students must submit their selection for the paper by mid-term from the suggested topics on page 11. The form (to be distributed in class) must include thetopic and at least five research sources on him/her.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also Include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.