Politics Discussion Question
Please watch the Congress video, review the text, and respond to the questions below:
After completing the questions, you will be posting your responses as your initial discussion post. Students may NOT edit initial posts once posted. Discussion scores will be based on the original post.
Your initial post should be a minimum of 8 lines in length and be written in sentences (rather than just listing the letter, or a short phrase).
Before Sunday 11:59pm, please respond to two other classmates’ initial posts (not follow-up posts) for Question #5, Part 2, with meaningful responses that address the substance of their post. Each of these follow-up posts should be a minimum of 4 lines in length.
1. What type of service was former Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia talking about in this excerpt from a speech at Marshall University?
a. Casework
b. Patronage
c. Pork-barrel legislator
d. Franking
2. Which feature of congressional behavior is most evident in these remarks from former Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia?
a. Distributive tendency
b. Party discipline
c. Logrolling
d. Agency loss
3. The committee system of Congress features a set of organizational principles. Which one is most likely the root of the former West Virginia senator Byrd’s success in securing funding for his state?
a. Jurisdiction
b. Gatekeeping authority
c. Oversight
d. Seniority
4. In addition to the service activity performed by Senator Byrd, as illustrated in the video, identify/describe other forms of service activities that legislators perform for their constituents that are discussed in the text.
5. Former West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd highlights the length of time he spent on Capitol Hill. How does experience, or seniority, work in Congress, and how might it lead to success in the types of activities Byrd is describing here?
Part 2. Do you think this is a positive attribute of Congress? Why or why not? (You could also organize this into a pro/con of seniority system.)