Representative

SWK-520FindyourRepresentatives.docx

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Find your Representatives [EPAS 2015 Foundation Behavior 3.1 & 5.1]

This assignment has two sections. The first section you will identify all of your governmental representatives at each level (local, state, and federal). You will then select one of the federal representatives and create a profile which details their stance

Find your representative Source all local, state, and federally elected officials within the student’s constituency, determine the political affiliation of each legislator, and review the main issues each official has chosen to focus on.

Use the internet to find your legislators and answer the questions below. Your answers must be written out using proper grammar and sentence structure. If there is a section where there is no representative (e.g., in the case where a city and county are the same jurisdiction [e.g., Jacksonville and Duval County which is a consolidated city/county government]), make sure that you provide an answer explaining this. Also, be sure to include the APA in text citation from where you retrieved the information. Additionally, be sure to include an assignment title page and reference page for where you sourced your reference. The following sources are appropriate tools for learning how to structure your citations and references:

Be sure to check out Ballotpedia to look up each of your representatives

Legislator Profile

Knowing your audience is another key piece in developing an advocacy toolkit. This is critical in terms of knowing who will support or even oppose any recommendations. Ranking each audience member or organization will help you determine who to prioritize as your target audience. Ultimately, you want the most important and supportive audience in front of you to discuss your policy recommendations.

For this section of the assignment, select one of your federal representatives in congress (house or senate) and research key information that will help you decide if this person will support your cause, oppose your cause, or be indifferent. You will research information about this legislator’s voting record, and stance on major issues.

Specifically, you should look for:

1. Key Votes: What are the key issues they have voted on

2. Voting Record: How did they cast their votes in the past

3. Ratings Advocacy Groups: How do advocacy groups rank the candidates in support of their causes

4. Funding/Support: Who supports the candidate financially through contributions by organization, industry, or PAC

5. Committee Membership: Which committees do they sit on in congress

6. Sponsored Bills: Which bills have they sponsored or co-sponsored

7. Enacted Legislation: Which of their bills were enacted

8. Major Issue Areas: What areas are they passionate about

To help guide you, consider using the following websites (be sure to cite where the information came from):

• Ballotpedia (www.ballotpedia.org)

• Govtrack (www.govtrack.us)

• Open Secrets (www.opensecrets.org)

• Vote Smart (www.votesmart.org)

• Official Website

• Social Media (including Facebook and Twitter)

Rubric: Find your Representatives (p. 1/2)

Unsatisfactory

Marginal

Proficient

Exemplary

Grammar, Spelling & APA

Profile demonstrates none of the following: 1) grammatically correct; 2) no spelling errors; 3) follows APA format for citations & references

(0)

Profile demonstrates 1 of the following: 1) grammatically correct; 2) no spelling errors; 3) follows APA format for citations & references

(1)

Profile demonstrates 2 of the following: 1) grammatically correct; 2) no spelling errors; 3) follows APA format for citations & references

(1.75)

Profile demonstrates all of the following: 1) grammatically correct; 2) no spelling errors; 3) follows APA format for citations & references

(2)

Resources

Paper contains no valid/reliable resources to use as evidence and support content, including: journal articles, books, government data sources, industry data sources, or any other empirical evidence

(0)

Paper contains 1 valid/reliable resources to use as evidence and support content, including: journal articles, books, government data sources, industry data sources, or any other empirical evidence

(1)

Paper contains 2-3 valid/reliable resources to use as evidence and support content, including: journal articles, books, government data sources, industry data sources, or any other empirical evidence

(2)

Paper contains 4 valid/reliable resources to use as evidence and support content, including: journal articles, books, government data sources, industry data sources, or any other empirical evidence

(3)

Local (City & County)

[EPAS 2015 Foundation 5.1]

Answers show evidence that student understands the content, research process, and different levels of government and identifies the 0 of the following: 1) name; 2) district; 3) party affiliation; 4) length of service; 5) issues supported; 6) location where information was found

(0)

Answers show evidence that student understands the content, research process, and different levels of government and identifies 1 to 2 of the following: 1) name; 2) district; 3) party affiliation; 4) length of service; 5) issues supported; 6) location where information was found

(1-2)

Answers show evidence that student understands the content, research process, and different levels of government and identifies the 3 to 4 of the following: 1) name; 2) district; 3) party affiliation; 4) length of service; 5) issues supported; 6) location where information was found

(3-5)

Answers show evidence that student understands the content, research process, and different levels of government and identifies the 5 to 6 of the following: 1) name; 2) district; 3) party affiliation; 4) length of service; 5) issues supported; 6) location where information was found

(9-10)

State

[EPAS 2015 Foundation 5.1]

(0)

(1-2)

(3-5)

(9-10)

Rubric: Find your Representative (p. 2/2)

Federal

[EPAS 2015 Foundation 5.1]

(0)

(1-2)

(3-5)

(9-10)

Representative Profile

[EPAS 2015 Foundation 3.1]

Research provides substantial evidence that the student understands the core elements related to social work advocacy, and includes 0-1 of the following items: 1) Key Votes; 2) Voting Record; 3) Ratings from Advocacy Groups; 4) Funding Supports; 5) Committee Membership; 6) Sponsored Bills; 7) Enacted Legislation; 8) Major Issues areas

(0)

Research provides substantial evidence that the student understands the core elements related to social work advocacy, and includes 2 to 3 of the following items: 1) Key Votes; 2) Voting Record; 3) Ratings from Advocacy Groups; 4) Funding Supports; 5) Committee Membership; 6) Sponsored Bills; 7) Enacted Legislation; 8) Major Issues areas

(1-5)

Research provides substantial evidence that the student understands the core elements related to social work advocacy, and includes 4 to 5 of the following items: 1) Key Votes; 2) Voting Record; 3) Ratings from Advocacy Groups; 4) Funding Supports; 5) Committee Membership; 6) Sponsored Bills; 7) Enacted Legislation; (8) Major Issues area

(6-8)

Research provides substantial evidence that the student understands the core elements related to social work advocacy, and includes 6 to 8 of the following items: 1) Key Votes; 2) Voting Record; 3) Ratings from Advocacy Groups; 4) Funding Supports; 5) Committee Membership; 6) Sponsored Bills; 7) Enacted Legislation; 8) Major Issues areas

(12-15)