Congressional Profile

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. Two interest 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 the topic and at least five research sources on him/her.

Papers submitted after the last day of class will be penalized one letter

grade. No exceptions. All research papers and written assignments must be submitted through D2L. No email papers or printed papers are accepted. None are returned after they are graded.

The paper is to be written is to be completed on a word processor in APA with separate cover and reference pages. The cover or title page and reference pages do not count in the number of pages for the required length of 5-6 pages. Type (font) will be 10 or 12 points, double-spaced with 1” margins: left, right, top, and bottom (4) A brief conclusion. It must include at least five references on a separate bibliography page or works cited page. Internet sites cited on the bibliography or works-cited page do count in the requirement of five references but should not be the sole source of sources.