Description
Research Component
Each student will submit an 1,800 word paper. The paper is due Sunday,
December 4 at 11:55 pm, Central time.
Paper topic:
You are a 40-year veteran of Congress, having served as a Senator from
California. You have been invited to deliver a lecture to Oxford University,
reflecting on your distinguished career, the changes in Congress over the last 40
years, and the ways in which the United States Congress is different from the
British Parliament. Please include citations and a bibliography with your lecture.
Please write the paper as if it were an actual lecture.
Papers must refer to the class textbook, Congress and its Members. (Of course,
other sources are encouraged as well.) Papers will be evaluated on the basis of
grammar and composition as well as content.
I would like to thank the Right Honorable the Lord Patton, Vice Chancellor Richardson,
Pro-Vice Chancellor’s, and the pupils of the University of Oxford for having me here today
(University of Oxford, 2016) . It is a great honor and privilege. I come here today as a member of
a political body that is similar to that of your own. As a Senator in the United States Congress, I
can attest to the fact that it is not always an easy place to work. It is, on the other hand, very
rewarding work that I have been able to do for so many years. My story starts some 40 years ago,
as young emboldened dreamer from Southern California. I was looking to enter the political
ballgame to create some sort of change, and in my way I have been able to do just that.
Having just graduated law school in the 1950’s I was witness to the growing need for
those looking to make a change in society. I first ran for political office in the 1961, during this
period in United States election history, a large majority of Representatives and Senators were
reelected and are still reelected (Davidson, Oleszek, Lee, & Scickler, 2016) . In a majority of
United States elections, you can say that the incumbent is heavily favored. As luck would have
it, the seat that I ran for was newly created due to political redistricting that occurred in the State
of California after the 1960 US census.
To put the idea of redistricting into prospective, especially during the 1960’s, when state
legislatures and the governors of the specific state attempt to redraw a congressional voting
district. During this process congressional seats are up for the taking, so many Representatives
and Senator will play their part to ensure that the redrawn district keeps them in office
(Davidson, Oleszek, Lee, & Scickler, 2016) . This process becomes a battle that I took part in
many times, though as a Senator I didn’t have to worry about it unless my political party was
going to loose seats in the House of Representatives.