Spring Semester –
American GovernmentList of Readings
The readings and assignments for each date are to be done by class time on that date. You might have a short reading quiz at any time. These assignments are also listed on my Web site at www.tcamb1.com
MAG = Magruder's American Government
RWH = The Road to the White House 2000
Feb. 4 – Introduction/Magna Carta MAG pp. 26-47
Feb. 6 – Declaration of Independence MAG pp. 48-61/ p. 47 do # 5 and 6 in complete paragraphs
Feb. 11 – Articles of Confederation/Northwest Ordinance MAG Chap. 3 (63-85)
Feb. 13 – Rules for Mock Convention/ The Amending Process Do research for debate
Feb. 18 – Issues during the Constitutional Convention Study for test/Research debate
Feb. 20 – TEST #1 MAG Chap. 10 (260-287)/Hand in resolutions at beginning of next class
Feb. 25 – Mock Constitutional Convention MAG Chap. 11 (288-317)
Feb. 27 – Mock Constitutional Convention Convention write-up is due in one week
Mar. 4 – Mock Constitutional Convention Convention write-up is due March 6
Mar. 6 – Introduce Committee Task/Congressional Committees and Officers MAG Chap. 12 (318-347)
Mar. 11 – Congress: Structure and Powers/Federalism MAG Chap. 5 (116-145)
Mar. 13 – How a Bill Becomes a Law MAG Chap. 16 (444-465)
Mar. 18 – Check and Balances/Impeachment Study for test/Committee Task write-up due March 20
Mar. 20 – TEST #2
Apr. 8 – Introduce Budget Simulation MAG pp. 352-367
Apr. 10 – Budget Simulation MAG pp. 368-385
Apr. 15 – Budget Simulation RWH pp. 17-20, 319-326
Apr. 17 – Budget Simulation Budget write-up is due April 22
Apr. 22 – The Presidency: Powers MAG Chap. 14 (388-411)
Apr. 24 – The Electoral College MAG p. 408/ #4
Apr. 29 – The Electoral College MAG Chap. 7 (176-205)
May 1 – Presidential Primaries and Conventions RWH pp. 32-45, 117-134, 185-189
May 6 –Campaign Finance MAG Chap. 8 (206-233)
May 8 – Campaign Finance/ Introduce Election 2000 Simulation RWH pp. 232-241, 241-248
May 13 – Election 2000 Simulation MAG p. 221/ #14 (at least several sentences for each question)
May 15 – Election 2000 Simulation Work on election simulation write-up
May 20 – Election 2000 Simulation Election simulation write-up is due May 22
May 22 – Special Interest Groups MAG Chap. 9 (234-257)
May 27 – The 2000 Election RWH pp. xix-xxvii
May 29 – The 2000 Election
June 3 – Review
Constitutional Convention of 1787
New York – Asha Virginia – Michael and Adam
Massachusetts – Alan and Robby Delaware – Sonya
New Hampshire – Bridget and Brian Connecticut – Runa and Chris
Maryland – Kathleen and Paul Georgia – Rachel and John
New Jersey – Zuri and Joseph Pennsylvania – Bobby and Julian
Rhode Island – Kate North Carolina – Ian and Leigh
South Carolina – Jennifer and Carmen
For this Constitutional Convention, we will be using parliamentary procedure and Robert’s Rules of Order. Attached is a sheet that summarizes such procedures. Get to know it well. You can sometimes get what you want or avoid getting what you don’t want through deft handling of parliamentary procedure.
Here are some of the issues you should begin investigating. Try to figure out how your state probably would have voted given your state’s geography, population, location, constituents, or political inclinations. Keep notes for you to refer to during the convention. (I will collect your notes.) Do some research. You must turn in notes (and not just printouts) with your final report. You are free to address or bring up any other issues not mentioned here too that have to deal with creating a new national government.
Your grade is based on how well you represent your particular state, how successful you are in getting your desired proposals into the new constitution, how effectively you are able to work with other delegations, and how good and thorough your write-up is. The final constitution hammered out here does not need to bear any resemblance at all to the actual document that was developed in 1787.
q Should the national legislature have one house or two?
q Should representation in the national legislature be done by population or equally by states or some other way?
q For the purposes of representation, should slaves be counted?
q Should national legislators from each state be elected by the people of the state, elected by certain people of the state, chosen by the state legislature, chosen by the state’s governor, or selected by some other means?
q How long should the term of office of national legislators be?
q What should be the qualifications for becoming a national legislator?
q Should the powers of the national legislature be enumerated (clearly itemized in the constitution) or kept more general?
q If the powers should be enumerated, what specific powers should the national legislature have? What powers should the states keep?
q Should the national legislature have the power to veto or declare national laws unconstitutional? What about vetoing or declaring state laws unconstitutional?
q Should there be a single national executive or a plural executive?
q What should be the qualifications for becoming the national executive?
q What should the length of the national executive’s term of office be?
q Should the executive be eligible for re-election? If so, how often?
q Should the powers to the national executive be enumerated? If so, what powers should the executive have?
q How should the national executive be elected? Should it be based on total votes cast in the nation (if so, who should be eligible to cast those votes) or winning a majority of the states (each state receiving one vote) or some other system? Who should be able to vote for this person?
q What if no candidate receives a majority of votes?
q Can the national executive be removed from office before his or her term is up?
q Should there be a vice-executive? If so, what should his powers be?
q How should the national judiciary (judges who deal with national issues and who are located in each state) be appointed?
q Should there be a supreme judiciary? How should this be appointed?
q How long should the terms of the judiciary be for?
q Should there be a Council of Revision, composed of the executive and judges, that can veto statutes?
q What powers should the national (and supreme) judiciary have?
q Who should be eligible to become a member of the national judiciary?
q Can members of the judiciary be removed from office before their terms are up?
q Should there be a policy toward slavery in this document?
q Should there be a policy towards western lands and the possible creation of new states in this document?
q Should economic issues, such as taxation and spending, be addressed in this document?
q Should there be a military or foreign policy in this document?
q What should be the procedure for amending this constitution?
q How many states’ ratification should be required for this constitution to take effect?
q Once a member of the confederation, can a state then secede from the united country?
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION RUBRIC
These three areas refer to your work during the convention in class
QUALITY OF YOUR ARGUMENTS
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
* Strong understanding * Good understanding * Some understanding * Little understanding
of your state’s positions of your state’s positions of your state’s positions of the positions
* Excellent arguments * Good arguments * Adequate arguments * Weak arguments
* Excellent proposals/ideas * Fine proposals * Decent proposals * No proposals offered
SPEAKING SKILLS
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
* Always speaks very clearly * Usually speaks clearly * Sometimes speaks clearly * Hard to understand
* Works effectively to * Usually focuses on * Offers a few persuasive * Doesn’t try to
persuade others persuading others arguments persuade others
* Shows excellent poise * Good poise shown * Sometimes shows poise * Unimpressive poise
* Speaks up often enough * Speaks up fairly well * Occasionally speaks up * Rarely speaks
POLITICAL SKILLS
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
* Excellent political instincts * Good political instincts * Decent political instincts* Poor political instincts
* Clearly knows when & * Usually knows when & * Sometimes know when & * Rarely knows when &
how to compromise and how to compromise and how to compromise and how to compromise & build consensus build consensus build consensus build consensus
* Obviously well prepared * Seems prepared to work * Somewhat prepared * Sort of winging it
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
* Very fine working notes * Satisfactory working notes * A few working notes * No working notes
* Research and proposals * Research and proposals * Research and proposals * Research and proposals
strongly evident generally evident somewhat evident not really evident
* Multiple sources used * Several sources used *Only one source used *No sources listed
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
* Very well-organized * Good organization * Decent organization * Poor organization
* Strong reasons are given * Good reasons are given * Adequate reasons are given * Poor reasons offered
for proposals for proposals for proposals for proposals
* Excellent explanations *Good explanations * Adequate explanations * Poor explanations
GRAMMAR AND SPELLING
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
* Excellent grammar and * Good grammar and * Adequate grammar and * Poor grammar and
spelling spelling spelling spelling
Class work: TOTAL POINTS OUT OF 50: _______
Paper: TOTAL POINTS OUT OF 50: _______
Overall project score out of 100: _____
Simplified Parliamentary Procedure
IN ORDER
MOTION WHEN ANOTHER MUST BE DEBAT- AMEND- VOTE CAN BE
HAS THE FLOOR SECONDED ABLE? ABLE? NEEDED RECONSIDERED?
Main motion No Yes Yes Yes Majority Yes
(“I move that...”)
Amend a Main Motion No Yes Yes No Majority Yes
(“I move that we amend
the motion to say that...”)
Withdraw/Modify a Motion No Yes No No Majority Negative
-- to withdraw or modify a motion that you yourself made vote only
(“I move that I be allowed to change [or withdraw] my motion to read...”)
NOTE: A person can ask the original motion-maker to accept a “friendly amendment” to her motion
Division of a Question No Yes No Yes Majority No
-- to consider parts of a long motion separately
(“I move to divide the resolution to consider separately...”)
Rescind or Amend a No Yes Yes Yes 2/3 vote Negative
Law Passed Already vote only
(“I move that we amend the law to say...” OR “I move that we rescind that law we passed”)
Limit Debate No Yes No Yes 2/3 vote Yes
(“I move that we limit debate to five more minutes {or two more speeches, etc.] ...)
Previous Question No Yes No No 2/3 vote Yes
-- to immediately end debate on a motion
(“I move the previous question”)
Postpone Indefinitely No Yes Yes No Majority Affirmative
(“I move that we postpone or table this motion indefinitely”) vote only
Reconsider No Yes Yes No Majority No
-- to bring back for further consideration a motion that’s already passed or failed
(“I move that we reconsider the vote on...”)
Point of Information Yes No No No Not voted on No
-- clarification of a point or motion someone has made
(“Point of information! Can the chair explain...”)
Point of order Yes No No No Chair makes No
-- when you think the rules have been violated a ruling
(“Point of order! We should not be voting on this because...”)
Convention Write-up
Suggested length: 3 pages, double-spaced, 12 pt. font, 1” margins (plus handwritten notes and computer printouts)
Due date: Thursday, March 6
Counts: 50 points of the 100 points for the project (see the rubric I gave you already)
You are going to write a paper based on how your state fared during our mock Constitutional Convention. You will also turn in all of your research notes . If you were part of a pair representing a state, the two of you need only turn in one paper and one set of notes ( or you can write separate papers).
The paper should focus on how successful your state was in getting the issues discussed to go the way your state would have wanted in 1787 (even if your state was not the one that brought the issues to the table). For example, how successful was your state in getting the structure of Congress that it probably would have wanted? What issues were probably most important to your state? Were they discussed at all? How did your state feel about the issues that were discussed and other issues that were not discussed during our convention? For issues where you could not directly discover how your state would have voted in 1787, how then did you take a position on those issues? What reasoning did you use? BE SPECIFIC!
Talk also about your level of participation in the debates. Were you effective as state representatives? Why or why not? (Be honest!) Discuss how particular issues were debated. What strategies that people used for debates were effective and which strategies were not effective in getting results? Which types of arguments were most effective? Were you able to use parliamentary procedure well? Did you work with other states behind the scenes to make deals?
There are several keys to writing a good paper:
q Have a good introductory paragraph.
q Each subsequent paragraph should have a topic sentence and be well organized. Have a good overall organization to the paper.
q This is VERY important: provide lots of examples and details when you make a general statement. For example, if you say that a certain debating strategy was effective, give specific examples to prove your point.
q Draw some good conclusions.
q Proofread your grammar and spelling!
Remember to turn in your research notes too. You don’t have to type them. Just include all notes you used (you should have both handwritten notes and printouts).
Congressional Committees and the Legislative Process
This assignment is due Thursday, March 20. It involves some Internet research and some write-up of your work. The answers to the questions below should be in complete paragraphs, not just lists. You will be graded on the quality of your answers, included proper grammar and spelling. I will highlight the items that need to go in your written report.
Go to the CongressLink Web site: www.congresslink.org. On the left-hand menu, click “Features.” Under “Congressional Procedures,” read “How a Bill Becomes a Law – Short version.” Even though we will review this in class, read this carefully and understand it.
#1: Summarize in a paragraph (in your own words) how a bill becomes a law. Don’t use bullets or lists.
Notice the important role that Congressional Committees play in this process. Public attention usually focuses on the debate over legislation that occurs on the floor of the House and Senate, but in order for a bill to reach the floor on either side, it must first be approved by a committee, which can also amend the bill to reflect its views on the underlying issue. Congressional committees, in other words, largely control the legislative process by deciding which bills come to a vote and by framing the language of each bill before it is debated.
Go to www.congresslink.org/legis/comm1.html. Read this site. There you will learn about the role and types of committees. Although I am providing you with an overview (below), make sure you read the above Web site. Overview:
#2: How many committees and subcommittees exist in Congress? What are some reasons that the committee system developed, since it is not mentioned in the Constitution?
#3: What are some of the general purposes of committees? What are some ways committees go about gathering information?
#4: What are the three major types of committees, what are the differences between them, and what is one example of each type of committee?
#5: How many committees and subcommittees does the typical Representative or Senator serve on? What powers does a committee chair have?
If the committee has voted to approve the bill, it will report the measure to its branch of Congress, usually with a written report explaining why the measure should be passed. Once a bill comes to the floor of the House or Senate, the committee that reported it is usually responsible for guiding it through debate and securing its passage. This can involve working out parliamentary strategies, responding to questions raised by colleagues, and building coalitions of support. Likewise, if the House and Senate pass different versions of a bill, the committees that reported each version will take the lead in working out a compromise through a conference committee.
You are each going to be assigned the role of a member of the House of Representatives (end of this handout). At www.congresslink.org/informationcenter.html, go to “Guide to Congress.” Under “Member Name Search,” type your representative’s name to find out all about him or her.
#6: In a paragraph, and in your own words, summarize the background of your Representative. Name each committee assignment your Representative has, and identify each committee as which one of the three types of committees (see question #4 above). Also, find one subcommittee your representative is serving on.
Step 3. A Report on His or Her Work.
Select one committee your representative is serving on. On the page above that describes your Representative is a listing of his or committees and a Web link to each committee. Each committee has a Web site. Go to that Web site. Now you are going to find a piece of legislation currently before that committee. You may have to check out the Web site a little to find a piece of legislation your Representative is considering.
#7: Discuss in your own words a particular bill being considered by your Representative’s committee. What does the bill seek to do? What sorts of laws will the bill make? What is the current status of that bill in the committee (for example, are they just beginning to talk about it, are they holding hearings, are they ready to vote on it)?
#8: Now, after you understand the bill, write an email to your Representative. (The Rep’s email address should be located back on his biography page.) In an email of at least three complete paragraphs, identify yourself and take a position on this bill. Explain, with some detailed reasons, why you are in favor of or opposed to this bill. Send the email to your Representative, and print out a copy to attach to this assignment.
#9: Write a paragraph explaining why committee work is as important as voting on the floor of the House or Senate. Use examples for support. Why might a representative’s vote on a committee be more influential than his or her vote on the floor of the House or Senate?
House of Representatives:
Bobby – A Smith of WA Sonya – B McCollum of MN
Alan – H Waxman of CA Robby – S King of IA
Julian – F LoBiondo of NJ Jennifer – N Lowey of NY
Michael – M Berry of AR Leigh – L Davis of TN
Bridget – P DeFazio of OR Chris – A Mollohan of WV
Kathleen – J Biggert of IL Ian – R Alexander of LA
Paul – M Castle of DE Carmen – T Baldwin of WI
Zuri – J Marshall of GA Asha – B Sanders of VT
Joseph – C Smith of NJ Brian – E Pomeroy of ND
Rachel – K Granger of TX Kate – J Davis of VA
Runa – G Brown-Waite of FL Adam – B Beauprez of CO
John – B Carson of OK
Debtbusters 2007
It is late September 2002. Each of you will assume the role of a Congressman or Congresswoman assigned to represent a particular district. Remember that not only are your constituents demanding that you balance the budget, but they are also demanding that you fight to protect their favorite programs. At the same time, you are up for re-election. Decisions you make might well influence your chances of being re-elected in the six-week campaign that lies ahead. As a representative of a particular district, you must fight to save any programs that your constituents would logically expect from you. Outside of that obligation, you may vote as your personal convictions lead you.
Group 1 – Andrew I, Rachel, Sara, Abi, Schuyler, Nirupama
1. Rep. __________ You represent several counties on the Gulf coast of Florida, and tourism is a major industry for your district. There are also large populations of senior citizens in your district. They tend to live on a fixed income, and they vote!
2. Rep. ____________ You represent a district in Washington state. This district is in the northern part of the state and includes areas in which military bases and defense contractors dominate. Many people here have jobs in the defense industry. You also have a number of dot.com millionaires in your district who like the few rules and regulations (as well as the low taxes) of the Internet.
3. Rep. _____________ You represent a large district in southern California. This area includes Los Angeles, with a diverse population and many drivers who use the freeways, since public transportation is poor. You are not inner-city, but a mix of urban and some suburbs. You have a mix of economically lower-class and middle-class people. You were elected by a very thin margin last time around.
4. Rep. _____________ You represent a rural district in North Carolina. Many of your constituents are farmers, including a number who farm tobacco. Geographically, your district is large, since it comprises many small towns. The big businesses in your area are related somehow to agriculture. The weather was not particularly good this past summer for farming.
5. Rep. _____________ You represent a district which includes much of urban Brooklyn. Your constituents represent many races and ethnic groups, and they are economically lower-middle or lower class for the most part. New taxes would be hard for them to pay. In addition, many of these people rely on government services to make it economically. Any cuts would affect them significantly.
6. Rep. ______________ You represent a district in urban/suburban Chicago known for its universities. Many of your constituents work in the field of education. Some of them also do government research work at the universities. They themselves tend to be highly educated; they are economically middle and upper-middle class. Since educated voters are very likely to vote, these constituents pay attention to your voting record.
You must write an evaluation (in essay form) of the work you and your group did throughout this budget simulation. My observations of your participation in the group process will count for 50% of your grade. This paper will count for the other 50% of the grade.
(Do you remember how some of you said very little during the Constitutional Convention we had? You were marked down for that. Please, do not make that same mistake again.)
This writing assignment is due Thursday, November 7. It should be about 3-4 pages, double-spaced, 12 pts. font, 1” margin. A suggestion: take notes on your work as a group and do not wait until the last day or two to write this. Do some writing after each day with the group (we will spend three class days in groups). Feel free to show me a first draft early on.
Here are some questions to think about as you write your essay:
· Why do you think your group did or not reach the goal of $500 billion dollars in savings?
· How successful were you in salvaging the proposals that directly affected the voters in your district? Which proposals (be specific)? Why or why not did you succeed in this area?
· How would you describe the working spirit of your group:
Were you all serious and focused during the project?
Were discussions amicable, even when there was disagreement?
Did you take the easy way out sometimes?
Did one or two people dominate the discussion? Why?
Did one or two people avoid discussion? Why?
Were the discussions usually based on emotion or logic?
Was there a willingness to compromise to reach your goals?
Did your group try to understand each issue? Why or why not?
Which group decisions do you regret the most?
· What lessons have you learned from this simulation about these:
Current political issues?
The budget process?
Group dynamics (the way groups work)?
Your own strengths and weaknesses?
