Description
Part 1: Contacting your representative is one way to engage in politics, but many Texans are unsure how to get in touch with their representatives or how to make their wishes known. This assignment is designed to allow you the opportunity to walk through the process of contacting a representative in the Texas Legislature. You will walk through the process but you are not required to actually call or email your representative. However, if you do reach out to your representative, please include the outcome.
You may want to first explore the optional documents below to help with your research. Once you have done the research, answer the following topics within your paper.
- Directory For Texas State Senators (Links to an external site.)
- Directory For Texas State Representatives
- LegiScan (Links to an external site.)– a database of bills and issues before the Texas Legislature
- Contacting Your RepresentativeLinks to an external site.
- Sample TemplateLinks to an external site.
- Sample Template 2Links to an external site.
The Questions:
- Select an issue that you are concerned about. Explain in one paragraph why you are interested in this issue and what you believe should be done about it.
- Research your issue and explain if and when this has come before the Texas Legislature in the past. If it has not, explain why you think it has not yet come before the legislature.
- Pick a representative to write or call about your issue. Explain why you picked this specific representative and what you might ask them to do to support your convictions in this area. Include the contact information for your representative. Explain how you would contact them (email, letter or phone call) and why you selected that method.
- Include the script you would use to contact your representative. Feel free to use the templates provided.
- Evaluate the process of contacting a representative. Did you actually make the call or send the letter? Why or why not? Would you be able to do this in the future? If you did contact your representative, report back on the experience.
The rules: Remember, this needs to be at least two pages of solid, thoughtful material in order to even be considered for full credit. No cussing or slang, use proper grammar and proof-read before
Do not put a heading at the top of your paper, as it does not count towards your page minimum. I know my name, the class and the date. If you have a title you want to put up there then please do, but then start writing.
All must be double-spaced, with normal margins and a 12-point font
Part 2:
This discussion board topic is on the powers of the Texas Governor. While the Texas governor has more limited powers than 48 of the remaining state governors, that does not mean he is powerless. What powers does the Texas governor enjoy? Are these significant powers? Do his actions have an impact on Texans? Lets see what you think!
The Questions:
Identify and define three powers of the Texas governor. (Note: Look them up but explain the concepts in your own words. Do not just repeat the definition.)
Which one of the three powers you identified do you believe to be the most significant and why?
Identify a power of the governor that could impact your life and explain why.
After looking over the governor’s powers and Initiatives Links to an external site., explain one area where you think the Governor is doing a good job and one area you’d like to see improvement. (Do not say all initiatives are either all good or bad. I am looking for an objective evaluation and critical thinking.)
NOTE: In answering your question, use the materials below and your own research as necessary to back up your opinion.
Handbook of Texas Online: GovernorLinks to an external site.
The Qualifications and Roles of the Texas GovernorLinks to an external site.
Duties, Requirements, and PowersLinks to an external site.
What the Governor is Working on?Links to an external site.
The rules for assignment credit:
Your answer needs to be no less than 300 words. You must answer all questions completely.
Students then must post thoughtful replies to two other student’s posts (100 word minimum for each of the 2 student response posts). When you post your reply to the 2 other students, I want you to use the 3CQ model. What does this mean? It means that each response should include a compliment about the student’s post, a comment about the student’s post, a connection to something external to the discussion (such as a comment on your own experience/thoughts on the issue), and a question that will prompt further discussion.
