Government by Committee: Balancing Act: National vs. Local Priorities
Members of Congress are often asked about the role their constituents play in the decisions they make, as if the issues lack complexity and their constituents speak with one voice. Legislators are elected, in part, to exercise wise judgment when fac...
Government by Committee: Congress, Traditional Yet Changing
Many aspects of Congress are the same today as they were 100 years ago: the dominance of congressional committees, the importance of seniority, controlled access to the floor by the House Rules Committee, the threat of filibuster in the Senate. But ...
Government by Committee: Interest Groups and Professional Lobbyists
Every member of Congress is besieged by interest groups and professional lobbyists whose job it is to provide information about legislation that will support their causes. Members of Congress, legislators agree, need to listen to competing sides of ...
Health of the Nation; Health of the Planet: Controlling Consumption and Conserving Scarce Resources
In recent years the demand for affordable energy has reached crisis proportions. One way to approach the problem is to probe for new sources; the other way is to initiate conservation measures and cut back on consumption. The need to invest in infra...
Government by Committee: Forming Coalitions
Getting enough votes to pass legislation is challenging, particularly when the partisan margins in the two chambers are Members of Congress need to know how to craft coalitions to either pass or block legislation. They also learn to trade votes, sup...
Government by Committee: Decisions, Decisions!
In any given year an average of 2,000 bills will make it through the various committees to the House and Senate floors. Jim McDermott, Loretta Sanchez, and Mickey Edwards talk about the strategies they have employed to help them make intelligent dec...
Balancing Act: In Economic Terms...
In 1998 revenues from taxes equaled expenditures and the United States had a balanced budget for the first time since 1969. Only a small portion of the federal budget is really discretionary. When the country is in a deficit rather than a surplus si...
Balancing Act: Nation's Fiscal Policy, A
One of the ways that government stabilizes the economy is through its fiscal policy, the amount of money it spends in comparison to the taxes it collects. Although no one likes taxes, the U. S. is one of the least taxed countries in the western worl...
Struggle for Equality, The: Advances Against Discrimination
Professors William Julius Wilson and Gwendolyn Mink (daughter of the first woman of color elected to Congress) and Representative Loretta Sanchez from California's 46th district talk about the advances that have been made in the struggle against rac...
The First Branch: Motivation to Run for Public Office
What motivates a person to run for public office? Three people who have served in the House of Representatives--Mickey Edwards, Jim McDermott, and Loretta Sanchez--talk about the factors that caused them to compete for a Congressional seat. Fifty ye...