Political Science 311
Legislative Process
March 26, 2008

Paper #2

This week’s assignment requires you to analyze the content and legislative history of a bill that the House and Senate approved. Use this information to answer 3 questions about the legislation:

1.        Who are the supporters and opponents of the bill, both inside and outside Congress?  Consider coalitions based on region, party, institution (House versus Senate), or any other relevant factor.
2.        Are the benefits of the bill public or private?  The costs of the bill?
3.        Over the course of the legislative history of the bill, how did the supporters and opponents of the bill attempt to manipulate these costs and benefits in order to further their position in the debate over the bill?

One of the hardest parts of this assignment is choosing appropriate legislation.  Make sure that you use a bill that was introduced in 2005 or 2006 (i.e., in the 109th Congress).  Also, both the House and Senate should have approved a version of the bill (although not necessarily the same version).  Avoid bills that are commemoratives, private bills, or designation of post offices or other federal buildings; these bills are often routine and do not lend themselves to interesting analysis (nor good papers).  Also, try to avoid budget, appropriation, or authorization bills, which are largely too complicated for this assignment.

A central part of the assignment is the distinction between public and private costs and benefits.  Public benefits are freely available for anyone's consumption; public costs are born by everyone.  Private benefits are available only to small set of individuals or groups; private costs are born only by a small set of individuals or groups.  This distinction between public and private resembles a continuum.  The public benefits of national defense lie at one end; at the other lie the private benefits of a federally-funded recreation center in a single neighborhood or a tax break targeted to all owners of NBA teams based in North Carolina (i.e., Robert Johnson, the owner of the Bobcats).  Most bills provide benefits and costs that lie between the ends of the public/private continuum, but closer to one end than the other.

For certain bills, it is relatively straightforward to determine whether costs and benefits are public or private.  For other bills, it is more complicated.   Begin the assignment by thinking about what kinds of legislation would fall into the former category (i.e., clear public or private costs and benefits).  Then, attempt to find this type of bill among the legislation that has passed the House and Senate.  When you find a piece of legislation with apparently clear public or private costs and benefits, investigate the legislative history of the bill.  Figure out whether certain groups or coalitions received disproportionate costs and benefits under the bill, and whether their actions involving the bill reflect these costs and benefits.  For evidence on these points, you can turn to roll call votes on the bill, as well as news stories about the bill.

To obtain a list of bills that passed both the House and Senate in 2005 or 2006, you can search the Thomas data base of pending legislation, maintained by the U.S. House of Representatives.  This site can also provide the legislative history of the legislation.  Alternatively, you can find its legislative history by turning to Congressional Universe in Lexis-Nexis.  At this site, choose the tab for "Search by Number". When a new window appears, you will have two sets of fields to complete. In the first ("Select Task"), click on the drop-down menu, and choose "Find a legislative history by number". Fill in the second set of fields, and click on the red "Search" button. The legislative history that appears will tell you exactly what happened to the bill, but only in very brief terms.  You may also have to turn to news accounts, particularly those around the time of major developments in the bill's history (such as committee or floor votes).  CQ Weekly (available electronically through the library's web site) often has detailed information on legislative developments, often on a weekly basis.  The news stories can provide an understandable account of the bill’s evolution. 

The first page of your paper should contain only identifying information (i.e., your name, etc.); this information should not appear on other pages of your paper. The second page of your paper should contain the text of your essay. The paper should contain appropriate in-text citations for any sources used; the detailed bibliographic information for these citations should appear on the third page. If tables or figures help support your argument in the text, you can include these tables or figures on additional pages (with clear references in the text of your essay). Your paper should be typed, with 1-inch margins and a font no smaller than 10 point.  The paper can be either single- or double-spaced.  The maximum length for the text of your essay is one page; when grading, I will not read any material past the first page (except tables or figures and citation details).  The paper is due at the start of class on April 9.  Papers turned in 10 minutes after the start of class will be considered late.  Paper grades are lowered by ten points (out of 100 total points) for each 24-hour period (after the start of class) that they are late.  Finally, the Honor Code covers this assignment; make sure that you pledge your work.