representation

     In the United States, each elected representative represents a particular constituency. The representative's constituency is made up of all of the people who voted for him or her, or who might have. They live in a particular physical district. The representative runs in an election in which only the people who make up his or her constituency vote. There are other elections happening at the same time, perhaps with different constituencies. It might be useful to think of the constituency as a physical place ( which it is ) or a piece of "turf". When we vote for the president, everyone in the country votes, or may vote, and the "turf" is the United States. When we vote in a gubernatorial election--for the governor of our state--only the people in our state may vote. The "turf" is the state. Pennsylvania is my state. You may live in another state. When we vote for the mayor of Philadelphia, only the people who live in Philadelphia may vote. Philadelphia is the turf. The people in New York have their own mayoral election.
   We all have other representatives. Each state has two senators in the United States Senate. Everyone in the state gets to vote for these. We also have representatives ( congressmen or congresswomen  ) in the House of Representatives in Washington, DC. Everyone lives in a congressional district--the "turf" of a congressman or congresswoman. I live in the United States ( national ) 2nd Congressional District.
   Each of us also has representatives to our state's congress and senate. I live in Pennsylvania's 4th Senatorial District. I also live in Pennsylvania's 198th Congressional or State House district. The representatives who run for election in these state districts represent me in our state's capitol in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I also live in Philadelphia's 8th City Council district. Our City Council member represents our district at City Council meetings, in Philadelphia's City Hall.
     I vote a couple of blocks away, where all of the different representatives may be running in the same election. I have to vote on my own "turf", since local elections may mean that  one representative's "turf" ends at the next street--maybe right in the middle.