Six-Page Research Assignment

Pick a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution relating to the powers of Congress or the president.  What is the political motivation behind the proposal?  What are the arguments for and against it?  If you were a member of Congress, would you support it?

Here are some examples from the 114th Congress:

• H.J. Res 1: balanced budget
• H.J. Res. 5: treaties and executive orders
• H.J. Res. 23: corporate regulation
• H.J. Res. 26: congressional term limits
• H.J. Res. 40: single subject requirement
• H.J. Res 53: campaign finance
• H.J. Res. 86:  balanced budget (different version)
• H.J. Res. 89: equal application of the laws
• H.J. Res. 92: state legislative repeal of federal laws
• H.J. Res. 96: recess appointments

Some from the 113th Congress:

• H.J. Res. 15: repeal of presidential term limits
• H.J. Res. 114: length of House terms
• H.J. Res. 126: entitlement spending

Remember: at the start of each new Congress, bill numbers start over again.  H.J. Res. 1 in the 113th Congress might have nothing to do with the same bill number in the 114th.

Each answer must have at least five different sources, two of which must be hardcopy books or government publications. You must go to the library.


Other possible sources include:

• CQ Library
• Law reviews on Lexis-Nexis (click "advanced options" and select "law reviews")
• Congress.gov (http://www.congress.gov/) -- official site for bill summary and status 
• GovTrack (http://www.govtrack.us/) – unofficial site for congressional information 
• ProQuest Congressional (http://congressional.proquest.com/profiles/gis/search/basic/basicsearch ). -- many congressional documents including searchable Congressional Record. If your computer will not accept this URL, go through the library web page (http://libraries.claremont.edu). Click “databases,” then the letter “P,” then “ProQuest Congressional.”) 
• Committee web pages, which usually contain testimony and text of reports. See http://www.house.gov/committees/ or http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/committees/d_three_sections_with_teasers/committees_home.htm
• Sunlight Foundation tools and websites at http://sunlightfoundation.com/tools/

For a good writing model, see here.  (Note that the answers are shorter than I am requesting this year.)

Your sources may include specialized references such as The Almanac of American Politics, but do not cite general-purpose encyclopedias such as Encyclopaedia Britannica and Encyclopedia Americana. And especially do not cite Wikipedia. In your answer, you should not merely identify persons or concepts. You should also explain the subject matter’s political significance.

• Assignments should be typed, double-spaced, and no more than six pages long. Use 12-point type and one-inch margins.
• Cite your sources with endnotes, which should be in standard Turabian format.
• Endnote pages do not count against the page limit. 
• Watch your spelling, grammar, diction and punctuation. Errors will count against you.
• Return assignments to the class Sakai dropbox (in Word format, not pdf) by 11:59 PM, October 14. Essays will drop one gradepoint for one day’s lateness and a full grade for two or more days’ lateness. I will grant no extensions except for illness or emergency.