Becoming an Informed Voter – Researching Your Congressional Delegation

The research paper has 2 steps. First, you will analyze the background of your congressional district and your U.S. Representative. Second, you will analyze the political background of your state and 1 of your U.S. Senators. You may choose which senator to study; however, if one senator is newly elected and does not have interest group ratings, choose the other one. Note that these are United States Representatives and Senators. Do not use members of your state legislature.

Begin by reviewing the presentation on “Becoming an Informed Voter.” The example of Congressman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia is used. If you live in the Sixth Congressional District of Virginia, you will have to adopt another Virginia congressional district as your temporary home and write about that one, since you have already been given some of the information on Bob Goodlatte. If you have a newly elected representative who has not yet received interest group ratings, get the interest group ratings of a representative from a neighboring district.

After reviewing the presentation, you will write an essay with 2 parts. The first part will deal with your congressional district and congressman; the second part will deal with your state and senator. As explained in the presentation, interest group scores may be found at