POL 201 week 2 DQ2

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? 

Before writing your initial post, review the assigned resources, which can be downloaded from your online 

course. 

After researching your representative by using the assigned resources, identify one important issue directly related 

to your rep's committee or subcommittee work in Congress. Summarize your representative's position on this 

focus issue as described on his or her website or illustrated by legislation sponsored by your rep. Be concrete and 

specific. Avoid vague generalities like "my representative is for jobs" or "my Congressman is for national 

security."With respect to this focus 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 rep’s position on that issue reflect your district's likely preferences or broad interests 

on the issue? Support your inferences about the district with fact-based evidence – not just your opinion 

about the district or your rep’s position on the focus issue. Demonstrate how your rep does or does not 

reflect his or her constituency on this issue. Consider your rep’s committee memberships and seniority. 

b. Discuss fact-based evidence about how interest groups, political party loyalty, or campaign money may 

influence your representative. Can these influences weaken his or her effectiveness as a true 

"representative" of the district? Consider whether the district is considered a “safe” seat or a competitive 

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. Your initial must be at least 200-250 words. 

Support your position with APA citations to two or more of the assigned resources required for this discussion. 

Please be sure that yyou demonstrate understanding of these resources, integrate them into your argument, and cite them properly

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).