Lawmaking and Congress
Essential Questions:
- How is each house of Congress different from the other?
- What are the powers and functions of the legislative branch of the U.S. government?
- What are the strengths and limitations of the legislative process?
- How does the law making process work in the U.S. government?
- Where in the legislative process do individuals get to exert their greatest influence?
- What role do lobbyists and interest groups play in the legislative process?
- What role do citizens play in the legislative process?
- How does gerrymandering impact the power and structure of Congress?
Outline:
1. Structure of Congress
- The Senate
- The House of Representatives - apportionment
- Party structure - leadership
- Committees: importance and types
- Gerrymandering
2. Congressional Powers
- Delegated powers
- Implied powers and the elastic clause
- Limits on Congressional powers (Executive and Judicial)
3. Legislative Process
- Introduction of legislation
- Committee hearings
- Debating legislation
- House and Senate action
- Conferencing stage
- Presidential action
- Congressional Earmarks
- Special Interest Groups
- Lobbyists
4. Legislative Issues
- Advantages of incumbency
Questions to consider:
What often-conflicting influences must congress members consider when they make decisions? What is the most important influence, and why?
Identify the five main areas in which Congress has the expressed power to make laws, and give an example of each.
Identify the five categories of congressional committees, and explain why Congress works through committees.
Describe each of the six steps that a bill usually goes through before it becomes a law.
Why do voters usually re-elect incumbents?
Constituent
Interest Group
Political Action Committees
Lobbyists
Oversight function
Census
Apportion
Redistricting
Bi-partisan Redistricting Committee
Gerrymandering
Franking Privilege
Immunity
Terms
Qualifications
Size
Continuous body
Partisans
Salary and Benefits
One Person, One Vote
Congressional Districts
Demographics of Congress
Impeach
Term Limits
Quorum
Incumbent
Majority Party
Minority Party
House / Senate Leadership
Speaker of the House
Floor Leaders
Party Whips
President Pro Tempore
Censure
Expulsion
Bill
Appropriations
Standing Committee
Subcommittee
Select Committee
Joint Committee
Conference Committee
Rules Committee
Committee of the Whole
Committee Report
Referral Power
Discharge Petition
Seniority
Instructed Delegate vs. Trustee
How a bill becomes law
Hearings
Markup
House Floor Rules - open, closed, modified
Senate Floor Rules
Filibuster
Cloture
Roll-call vote
Line-item veto
Veto
Special Interest Groups
Home Districts
Pork-barrel Spending /
Congressional Earmarks
Necessary and Proper / Elastic Clause
17th Amendment
27th Amendment
Caucus