Evaluation of the Qualifications of House of Representatives, Members: As Legally Provided for and as Perceived and Desired by Voters

Abstract

This study is about the qualifications of House of Representatives' members voters perceived as desirable. It also discusses the history of Congress, and the development of the constitutional qualifications for Congress members, as well as the components of the House of Representatives over the years. The theoretical framework used in this study is H. T. Reynolds theories of voting behavior. A survey and informal interview to respondents coming from four different barangays in District V of Manila was completed to further the objective of this study which is to know what qualifications of House of Representatives' members are considered desirable by voters. A discussion and presentation of the results of the said survey and informal interview using basic statistical measures is also included in this study giving weight to the hypothesis of this research. As the survey and the informal interview results has conveyed, voters do have certain qualifications they consider as desirable that they look for among candidates when voting. Also, a significant factor that influences voters' voting decisions are their personal perceptions of the candidates. Having proved the hypothesis that there are indeed qualifications that voters consider as desirable in a Representative, recommendations on how voters might improve their voting behavior is also included in the end of this study.