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| Chapter 9: Congress |
| Questions for Discussion and Thought |
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| 1. Assume you are a member of the state legislature and now must cast the deciding vote on a very controversial issue. If you knew that your personal position was contrary to that held by the majority of the people in your district, would you vote in accordance with your beliefs or their interests? If you were able to vote anonymously, would this change your vote? |
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| 2. Why does the U.S. public have such a low opinion of Congress? Less than one-quarter approve of the way Congress does its job, although nearly 60 percent approve of how their individual member of Congress is doing. How can this contradiction be explained? |
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| 3. The text asserts that the impeachment process used against both President Andrew Johnson and President Bill Clinton was highly partisan and political. Do you agree? Do you believe President Clinton’s actions reached the standard of “high Crimes and Misdemeanors”? Explain. |
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| 4. How representative is Congress? Most legislators are white, upper-middle-class males, although this group is a very small part of our entire population. What impact does this skewed representation have in terms of liberty, equality, and democracy? Can these people really represent women, minorities, poor people? Realistically, could a poor person ever get elected? What would be the benefits of a more diverse legislature? |
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| 5. If you were to run for Congress, what would be your three most important campaign issues? Why would you select those issues? Whose interests do those issues reflect? What could you do that would make a difference in solving these issues? |
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| 6. The House of Representatives is the chamber of our legislature that was intended by the framers to represent local interests. Because the number of congressional seats has been fixed at 435 since 1929, congressional districts are now approximately 650,000 people. How will the size of congressional districts affect the ability of members to represent their constituents? Should the government increase the size of the House of Representatives? Why? What affect will this have on the electoral college and presidential elections? |
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