POLS W3322: The American Congress
Prof. Gregory Wawro
Columbia University
Fall 2011

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. A comprehensive site with congressional publications; legislative histories, bills & laws; information about members and committees; regulations; daily Congressional Record & Rules; political news/hot topics (including searching the archives for The Hill, Roll Call, and The Washington Post).
  • HeinOline A wide range of historical and contemporary congressional documents.
  • National Journal
  • House Race Dashboard
  • Senate Race Dashboard
  • 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.

    • "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
  • The Campaign Finance Institute

    • Other sites of interest:

  • CQ Press State Stats. "The State Stats database provides data coverage of the 50 states from more than 80 different government and non-government sources. The data encompasses more than 2,000 current and historical data spanning 15 years. The data coverage include Federal, State, and Local Government Finances, Defense, Population, Employment and Labor, Energy and Environment, Health, Transportation, and more."
  • Elements of Style