POLS W3322: The American Congress
Prof. Gregory Wawro
Columbia University
Fall 2009

Description

This course conducts inquiry into the dynamics, organization, and policy-making processes of the American Congress. Particular emphasis is placed on the relationship of legislators to constituents, lobbyists, bureaucrats, the president, and with one another.

Additional information

Consult the syllabus for detailed description of course requirements, readings, schedule, and contact information.

Sites with general information on Congress:

CQ.com Congressional Quarterly Online and CQ Weekly . One of the best resources for studying the U.S. Congress.

Online edition of CQ Almanac

Lexis-Nexis Congressional Information .

National Journal

Roll Call is the newspaper of Capitol Hill.

CongressLink : "Provides information about the U.S. Congress -- how it works, its members and leaders, and the public policies it produces."

The Hill "The newspaper for and About the U.S. Congress."

C-SPAN

Washington Post Online The national page of the Washington Post.

CNN Politics.com

Today In Congress The Washington Post's daily summary of the day's activities on Capitol Hill, including schedules for hearings and speakers, as well as the full text of bills.

Penny Hill Press Search for and order publications of the Congressional Research Service (I would use this page to search for documents of interests and then request them from the office of your representative. Providing CRS documents free of charge is one type of constituency service that representatives' offices should provide.)

"Official" congressional sites:

U.S. House of Representatives Home Page

U.S. Senate Home Page

THOMAS Page--legislative information on the internet

The U.S. Legislative Branch--Library of Congress Internet Resource Page

A Century of Lawmaking For a New Nation U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875.

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-Present.

Office of the Clerk of the House "At this site, you can obtain copies of House documents, including public disclosure forms, made available by the Clerk as part of his official duties. You can also find historical information about the House of Representatives and information about its Members and Committees."

Campaign finance sites

Federal Election Commission

CQ Money Line

Other sites of interest:

Elements of Style

Handouts/Slides/Articles:

Candidate Positioning in U.S. House Elections , Stephen Ansolabehere; James M. Snyder, Jr.; Charles Stewart, III; American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 45, No. 1, Jan., 2001, pp. 136-159.

Fig. 2 and Fig. 4 from Ansolabehere et al.

Reelection data for the House and Senate, 1946--2006.