- Subject:
- Political Science
- Material Type:
- Module
- Level:
- Community College / Lower Division, College / Upper Division
- Provider:
- Ohio Open Ed Collaborative
- Tags:
- License:
- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0
- Language:
- English
- Media Formats:
- Text/HTML
The Legislative Process - Bill Introduction
The Legislative Process - Committee Action
The Legislative Process - Bill Scheduling
The Legislative Process - House Floor Action
The Legislative Process - Senate Floor Action
The Legislative Process - Unique Senate Powers
The Legislative Process - Resolving Differences Between the House and Senate
The Legislative Process - Executive Action
Congress: Course Map & Recommended Resources
Overview
Congress
The resources included here are intended to map to the following learning objectives for an American Government Course:
- Discuss the theoretical ideas that shaped the structure of Congress.
- List the constitutional powers of the legislative branch.
- Differentiate between the rules of the Senate and the House and how those rules affect legislative outcomes.
- Describe the three major policymaking functions of Congress.
- Discuss external and internal actors that influence the policymaking process
- Explain the process of a bill becoming a law.
- Describe the role of the committee system in the legislative process.
- Investigate the tension between the goals of individual members of Congress and the goals of Congressional parties and Congress as a whole.
Recommended Textbooks
Text: American Politics and Government in the Information Age
Chapter 12: Congress
Text: American Government - Lumen Learning
Module 11: Congress
Text: Boundless Political Science
Web-Based and Multimedia Resources
Web-Based Resources
Multimedia Resources
Discussion and Key Concepts
Discussion Questions
Discuss the differences between the House of Representatives and the Senate and how they’re each organized, including the key leadership positions.
Discuss the difference between the delegate model of representation and the trustee model of representation. Does each model work best in both Houses or is each model better aligned with one House over the other? Explain. What’s the politico model of representation?
Discuss incumbency reelection rates (especially for the House of Republicans) and the various reasons why those rates are so high (> 90%).
Who is the Speaker of the House of Representatives? What are functions of the Speaker? How does one become the Speaker of the House? How can the Speaker influence the rules of the house?
Distinguish among the law making, representation, and oversight functions of Congress.
Describe the process of how a bill becomes a law. Describe how accurate you think Schoolhouse Rock’s description is.
Key Terms
Reapportionment
Redistricting
Gerrymandering
Majority-minority districts
House Rules Committee
Filibuster
Bill sponsor
Cloture
Conference Committee
Joint committees
Select committees
Standing committees
Pocket veto
Veto
Supreme Court Cases
Baker v. Carr (1961)
Wesberry v. Sanders (1964)
Reynolds v. Sims (1964)