The U.S. Congress is really two things in one. On the one hand, it is America's national legislature, a collective body making laws. On the other hand, it is a representative institution, with individuals from many districts and states bringing diverse viewpoints and interests to Washington. The story of Congress is how these distinct and often opposed aspects are (if possible) reconciled.
The course also includes (a) the creation and early history of Congress, and (b) analysis of how Congress makes policy. Each student completes a paper of 10-15 pages' length, analyzing the policy process as it applied to a particular measure from the last session of Congress.
The American Congress is offered every two years. It fulfills the "advanced American politics" requirement for the Political Science major. It also may be used for a major in American Studies, and for secondary school teaching endorsement in American government. It is a Writing Emphasis course.
The Library of Congress's Thomas
page, good for searching for information on bills
Over a hundred years of congressional
voting data assembled by Keith T. Poole and Howard Rosenthal (Univ.
of Georgia)
So you can use these data: a Stata tutorial (Princeton
Univ.)
Metavid: searchable C-SPAN
archive at University of California-Santa Cruz
Data on congressional district characteristics from U of Colorado
CQ
Weekly: Coe's Stewart Memorial Library subscribes to this
service,
which can be accessed from any computer on campus. It has the
text
of the current issue, as well as an excellent search engine for issues
back to 1983. If you're not at Coe right now, too bad! Get
your library to subscribe to CQ.
Newspapers with searchable archives: Washington Post and New York Times. You need to
register but it's free. Times
is slightly easier to use. In both cases you have to pay for archived
articles, unless you would happen to have microfilm editions of the
newspapers on campus. Coe has the Times but not the Post.
Searching for current magazine articles: Article
First
from OCLC
Another good site: Congressional Universe, including information on past and current bills, "Hot Topics" links to current news articles, supposed links to National Journal articles but I can't find them
Comprehensive budgetary information from the Congressional Budget Office
American Conservative Union ratings of members
Americans for Democratic Action, a liberal group, also rates members
Historical/biographical information on members past and present
MLAcitation
guide from Purdue University
REQUIRED TEXTS (FALL 2013)
Alan I. Abramowitz, The Disappearing Center: Engaged Citizens, Polarization, and American Democracy (Yale, 2010)
Morris Fiorina with Samuel J. Abrams, Disconnect: The Breakdown of Representation in American Politics (Oklahoma, 2009)
Ralph Ketcham (ed), The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates (New American Library, 1986)
Sean M. Theriault, Party Polarization in Congress (Cambridge, 2008)
CLASS SCHEDULE AND READING LIST
Course introduction
I. CREATION OF THE U.S. CONGRESS
Congress in the Constitution: Ketcham pp. 1-20
Framing the Constitution--Selection and Representation I:Ketcham, pp. 49-58, 89-92
Framing the Constitution--Selection and Representation II: Ketcham, pp. 92-109
Framing the Constitution--Congress in Government I:Ketcham, pp. 58-62, 86-89
Framing the Constitution--Congress in Government II: Ketcham, pp. 114-120, 125-127
Opposing the Constitution--Brutus: Ketcham, pp. 324-335
Opposing the Constitution--Melancton Smith: Ketcham, pp. 336-356
Defending the Constitution: Federalist 52, 54-56
Defending the Constitution II: Federalist 62-63
EXAM I
II. A TANGENT ON VOTERS
Congressional polarization today: Abramowitz preface & ch 1
Engaged citizens: Abramowitz 2
The big sort: Abramowitz 3
Social groups: Abramowitz 4
Voting: Abramowitz 5
Legislative responsiveness: Abramowitz 7
Conventional wisdom is wrong: FA 3
Institutional imperatives: FA 4
The big sort: FA 5
Political adaptation: FA 6
Considering disconnect: FA 7
EXAM II
III. POLARIZATION IN CONGRESS
Intro to argument: Theriault 1
Congressional polarization through history: Theriault 2
Explanations for congressional polarization: Theriault 3
Hypothesis--redistricting: Theriault 4
Hypothesis--public polarization: Theriault 5
Hypothesis--activists' extremism: Theriault 6
Hypothesis--legislative responsiveness: Theriault 7
Hypothesis--institutional imperatives: Theriault 8
Polarization and the two houses: Theriault 9
Polarization and congressional procedure: Theriault 10
EXAM III
Next Course: The American Presidency
Last Course: Political Parties and Elections
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updated 6/14/13