RESEARCH PAPER: BECOMING AN INFORMED VOTER ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONSOVERVIEWThe

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RESEARCH PAPER: BECOMING AN INFORMED VOTER ASSIGNMENTINSTRUCTIONSOVERVIEWThe purpose of this paper is to provide a practical application of material learned by developingconcepts learned in the presentations. Using these concepts, you will investigate the recentpolitical history of your congressional district and state, the rise to power and voting record ofyour Representative to the United States Congress and one of your United State Senators. Youwill determine if your representatives keep their promises when they go to Washington anddetermine in their voting record aligns with Biblical principles and your own beliefs.INSTRUCTIONSThe body of the paper must be at least 6 pages in current APA format and include level 1, 2, and3 headings. In addition to the body, you must include a separate title page and reference page. Donot submit an abstract with this assignment.Do not write the paper without carefully studying the related presentations. To achieve more thana passing grade, you must demonstrate a mastery of the presentations’ factual information andincorporate those ideas into your paper. Your paper must adhere to the current APA formattingguidelines. Doing the minimum amount of work does not guarantee a perfect score. Pleaseconsult the rubric for an understanding of what will be graded and the point value for content andstyle.Researching your Congressional Delegation will be accomplished in two steps.1. First, you will analyze the political background of your congressional district for the last25 years and your U.S. Representative.2. Second, you will analyze the political background of your state for the last 25 years andone of your U.S. Senators. You are investigating your United States Representative andSenator. Do not use members of your state legislature.Begin by reviewing Watch: Becoming an Informed Voter. If you have a newly electedrepresentative who has not yet received interest group ratings, use the interest group ratings of arepresentative from a neighboring district. You may choose which senator to study; however, ifone senator is newly elected and does not have interest group ratings, study the other one.After reviewing the Watch item the first part will deal with your congressional district andcongressman; the second part will deal with your state and senator. As explained in thepresentation, interest group scores may be found at Vote Smart. They may also be found in theinterest group websites (ACLU, ACU, ADA, CC/FRC) or other cites which compile voting data.A helpful source to find information for this paper is The Almanac of American Politics byRichard E. Cohen and James A. Barnes.Your paper will address the following questions: What is the political history of your district and state for the past 25 years? How has your congressional district and state voted in presidential and congressionalelections for the past 25 years? Does your district or state lean Republican or Democrat?GOVT 220Page 2 of 2 Are the political parties relatively even, or does one party dominate the elections? Does your district and state have a long tradition of supporting one party, or has it beenchanging in recent years? Why? How did your representative and senator come to power? (Briefly describe their politicalbackgrounds.) What are examples some legislation your representative and senator have sponsored orco-sponsored in the last four years? Did your legislators include this legislation in theirplatform when they ran for office? How does this legislation align with biblicalprinciples? Explain use specific verses of scripture. How do the interest groups – ADA, ACLU, ACU, and CC (or FRC) – rate yourrepresentative and senator? (Note: If the Christian Coalition score is not available, youmay substitute the Family Research Council score. Include the exact scores from each ofthese groups.) Based on these ratings, would you classify your representative and senator asconservative or liberal? Justify your answer. In your conclusion explain how your congressional delegation does, or does not, reflectyour values.In answering these questions, please note the following: Do not submit your paper in the form of a series of questions and answers. Organize thisinformation into a standard research paper (paragraph form with level headings) utilizingthe current APA format. You will use at least six different sources for this paper that are not more than two yearsold. You will include at least three complete biblical references with the text of the verses. Consult the grading rubric to make sure that all the necessary information has beenincluded.