Representatives and Senators

I. JOB SUMMARY

Main Topic: Human Geography
Secondary Topic: Places and Regions

Overview:  Representatives and Senators are elected by the general public to represent their constituents at a higher level of government, their constituents being a state in its entirety, districts within states, and cities. They work to bring issues that might be of interest to their constituents to the table. One can be a Representative or Senator at the state level, or at the federal level. A more local version of this would be a city council. They work to create legislation, votes over the creation or updating of laws, and other political procedures. Since a Representative or Senator’s main job is to represent a specific population or subset of people of a certain geographic location, it is imperative for them to have a geographic background to fully understand the place and populations in which they are representing and how their voting actions would be in the best interest of their specific geographic location.

Geographers at work: Human Geographers, cultural geography, Geographers that specialize in specific countries or regions, population geographers, political geographers, economic geographers

Recommended College Courses: Human Geography, Introduction to Cultural Geography, World Geography, Location Analysis, Regional Geography, Geography of the United States and Canada, Geography of Texas, Economic Geography, Political Geography, American Ethnic Geography

Skills: Human geography, cultural geography, interpersonal skills, communication skills

Occupation Group: Government and Politics

Learn more about Representatives and Senators, and other Political Scientists from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S. Department of Labor: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/political-scientists.htm

https://www.senate.gov/senators/qualifications_termsofservice.htm

https://borgenproject.org/how-to-become-a-representative-for-congress/

https://history.house.gov/Institution/Origins-Development/Constitutional-Qualifications/