Pols 339 Legislative Politics

Essay Questions

Take Home Essay Question 1
Due Thursday, March 13, 2003 at 12:30 p.m.

You are a newly elected representative from the district (or state) you recently profiled. In a letter to your aged but surprisingly spry college teacher, Professor Freitag, describe your intended approach to representation and the policies you will emphasize to represent your constituents. Address in particular how you will handle the hard decisions that inevitably must be made and that were given special attention by your readings and discussion in Legislative Politics years ago. Discuss further whether, how, and why you might behave differently if you were a representative of the other chamber or in parliamentary system of government.

Take Home Essay Question 2
Due Friday, May 16, 2003 by 1:00 p.m.

Third Millennium, a New York City-based nonpartisan interest group that speaks for Generation X, is sponsoring an upcoming conference, "Creating a Congress for the 21^st Century." As the resident congressional scholar for the Freitag Institute, a west-central Wisconsin-based think tank dedicated to improving the American political system, you have been asked to submit a paper for presentation at this conference. Third Millennium is soliciting papers that evaluate the effectiveness of Congress and propose ways to improve congressional performance. Conference participants are encouraged by the sponsors to define congressional effectiveness and performance as broadly as they wish, including such possible topics as representation, behavior, structure, leadership, and process.

Professor Rodd Freitag Schneider 200E Phone: (715) 836-5044 Fax: (715) 836-2944 Updated: January 14, 2003