1. ASHFORD POL 201 Week 2 DQ 2 Meet Your Rep
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Meet Your Rep. The Constitution states, "The House of Representatives shall be
composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several
States..." (Art. I, Sec. 2). Contrast
this with the original constitutional language for the other house of Congress,
"The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each
State, chosen by the Legislature thereof for six Years..." (Art. I, Sec. 3).
The phrase "chosen by the Legislature" was changed to "elected by the people"
by the 17th Amendment, but not until 1912. In other words, from the beginning
the House of Representatives was intended to be exactly what its name suggests
–representative of the people. (Note that in 2010 the Tea Party, and some
Republican politicians, called for repeal of the 17th Amendment, eliminating the
popular vote for Senators. While most Republican politicians have backed away
from that view, many Tea Party chapters continue to demand its repeal.)
Textbook models suggest how members of the House of Representatives may
fulfill their constitutional duty to "represent" – the delegate model, the trustee
model, the oversight model, and the service model. A weakness of these models
is that they ignore the pervasive influence of interest groups, partisanship, and
political money (campaign contributions) on the behavior of congressional reps.
To what extent do these factors interfere with effective representation? First, get
to know your rep in the U.S. House of Representatives, using the websites listed
in the required resources for this discussion.
Then, in your initial post of at least 200-250 words, identify an important issue
related to your representative's committee or subcommittee work in Congress.
Summarize your representative's position on that issue as described on his or her
website or illustrated by legislation sponsored by your representative. Be concrete
and specific, avoiding vague generalities like "my representative is for jobs" or
"my representative is for national security." With respect to this issue, evaluate
your representative's performance as a representative of the people in your
legislative district. Justify your assessment from two perspectives:
a. How well does your representative's position reflect your district's likely
preferences or broad interests on the issue? Support your inferences about the
district with facts – not just your opinion about the district as shaped by your own
political opinions and ideology.

2. b. Is there any evidence that may raise questions about whether interest groups,
political party loyalty, or campaign money may influence your representative in
ways that weaken his or her effectiveness as a true "representative" of the
district? (Put on your critical thinking cap to respond to this aspect of the
question.)
Fully respond to all parts of the question. Write in your own words. Support your
position with APA citations totwo or more different resources required for this
discussion.
By Day 7, respond to at least two of your classmates' initial posts. Your peer
responses each must be at least 75 words. They must demonstrate critical
thinking (e.g., ask a relevant question about your peer's post while explaining why
your question is significant, or state a perspective that contrasts with your peer's
while explaining or justifying your position).