How Did Your Representative Vote?

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Overview

This lesson examines some of the things that influence legislators to vote for or against bills. Students will research how their representative voted on a specific issue and discuss what might have influenced their representative's decisions.

 

Grade Levels

9 – 12

 

Objectives

Students will:

• identify some influences that affect how a Member of Congress decides to vote on a bill;
• determine how their representative voted on a specific bill; and
• identify some of the influences that may have affected how the representative voted.

Estimated Time

2 days

 

Materials Needed

• Interactive Learning Module: How a Member Decides to Vote
• Internet-enabled computer with Macromedia FLASH ® installed
• Projection device
• Paper and pencil

Equipment Needed

• Access to a computer lab for the Day 2 activity

Procedure

Day 1

1. Have students read the Effective Student Government proposed bill. (Note: the wording of this proposed bill is actually the adopted position on student government of the National Council for the Social Studies. As an alternative, teachers may choose write their own proposed bill on another topic of interest to students.) Students will be asked to decide whether this bill should be passed or defeated. Have them assume that the Effective Student Government bill was being considered by their state legislature.
2. In a class discussion have them list the special interest groups that would try to influence the passage or defeat of this bill and state their rationale for listing the groups.
3. Discuss with students whether they think the media would provide coverage of the bill, and if so, which specific provisions would generate the most coverage.
4. Ask students to write three questions about the bill that could be part of a public opinion poll. In drafting their questions, have them consider which data would be most useful for a legislator to gather in making his or her decision.
5. Have students read their questions to the whole class. Discuss how students think other community members (other students in the school) would respond to the poll. Do they think other students would support or reject the proposed bill?
6. Lead students in a discussion around the following questions.
   • If you were a legislator representing your community, how would you vote if the polls and most of the interest groups supported the bill but you personally opposed it? What if the opposite were true?
   • What factors would you consider when making your decision?
7. Address the conflict that all legislators face: namely, that they have two roles as a legislator. They were elected to serve their constituency on the one hand, but they were also elected to be leaders. Ask students: How would you decide which role to take if she/he were a legislator? Would the role vary with the issue?

Day 2

1. Use a school computer lab or other arrangement that will give students individual or small group access to Internet-enabled computers. (Note: As an alternative, you can complete this activity as a whole class, using the classroom computer and projection device. Select several bills and see how your legislator voted, responding to the same questions as in the primary activity below.)
2. Have students access the Thomas Web site at http://thomas.loc.gov/ and choose one bill to study. Make sure students select a bill that has already been voted on.
3. Then ask students to visit the C-SPAN Congressional Vote Search at http://capwiz.com/c-span/dbq/issuesdbq/votesearch.dbq and find out how their representative voted on the chosen bill.
4. Have students formulate a list of things that may have influenced their legislators to vote for or against the chosen bill. Encourage students to think about the constituents their representative serves and the demographics of the areas the representative serves. Students should also consider their representative's party affiliation.
5. If time permits, allow students to share their conclusions.

Extension Activity

Discuss public opinion polls and make sure students understand that public opinion polls measure the attitudes or opinions of a given population. Ask students how legislators, politicians, and presidents use public opinion polls. Explain to students that some critics say that public opinion polls make elected officials too responsive to the momentary whims of the public and discourage legislators from thoughtful deliberation. Critics also say that the public is not necessarily well informed on an issue but give their opinion to a pollster anyway. Have students write a paper that discusses whether or not they agree with these criticisms.

 

Assessment

Basic Concepts and Processes

Ask your students to respond to the following requests for information and assess their knowledge of key concepts taught in this lesson.

1. Name at least three influences that affect how a Member of Congress decides to vote on a bill.
2. Describe some of the influences that may have affected how your representative voted on a particular bill.

 

Lesson Plan Feedback

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