american government essay (influencing congress)

(NO PLAGIRISM)

FOLLOW DIRECTIONS COMPLETELY

Introduction

As you have studied, lawmaking can be a long and difficult process. There are many
different participants in the process. Even when a bill successfully goes through the
committees, the House, and the Senate, there is still a chance that the president may veto
it. Also, as a bill passes through different committees and the Congress holds debates,
there is a chance that amendments may be added to the bill. The final bill that reaches the
president will most likely have been revised many times. Public pressure, lobbyist
influence, party conflicts, and time constraints are all possible roadblocks to the passing
of a bill into a law.

Task

In this assignment, you will design a presentation to show who’s who in the lawmaking
process. The guide will show how different people influence the process. The
presentation can be a diagram, chart, or multimedia presentation. Your design should be
clear and easy to understand and follow all of the procedures listed below.

PART 11. Content: Choose 5 people from the list below:

• representative
  

• Speaker of the House
  

• House minority whip
  

• House majority leader
  

• Speaker of the House
  

• senator
  

• president
  

• citizen
  

• lobbyist
  

Influencing Lawmaking

American Government A
Unit 2: The Legislative Branch
Portfolio

For each person you selected, answer the following question:

• How does he/she support or prevent a bill from becoming a law. In other words,
what role does each play in the law making process?

2. Images: Include an image related to each of the three people you selected. Note: The
image may be of a specific person (ex: the current president or a Congress
member) but it can also be a symbolic image of what the person does in the
lawmaking process.

3. Credit sources: Cite all sources of text and images used in your project.
Part 2

Reflection: Answer each of the following questions in complete sentences on a
separate sheet of paper or Word document:

1. Which person or group do you think has the most influence on legislation? Give
   specific facts to support your answer.

2. What are possible advantages to having so many different groups participate in
   the lawmaking process?

3. What are some of the disadvantages of having so many different groups
   participate in the lawmaking process?

Guidelines

• Include a clear, appropriate title for your project.

• All content should be written in your own words and reflect a clear understanding of the content.

• Information should be laid out in an attractive, easy to follow design. 

• See the rubric for complete grading specifics.

Resources

You may wish to use the following resources to research information to complete the
assignment:

• United States Government: Democracy in Action
  

• Grolier Online®
  

• The Center on Congress at Indiana University (Web site)
  

Grading RubricPart 1: Your presentation or chart will be graded on the following criteria.

Each criterion is worth 1 point. Each person is worth a maximum of 5 points.

Part 2: Your reflection answers will be graded on the following criteria.
Each criterion is worth 1 point. Each question is worth a maximum of 5 points.

Final Score

American Government A
Unit 2: The Legislative Branch
Portfolio