Class Notes for the Day:
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Starter: What state will gain the most congressional seats in 2020?
1.How accurate was your prediction?
2.Is this a good system of representation?
3.What would happen if we did not have reapportionment?
4.In our high tech, fast paced world, do you think reapportionment should be done more often than every decade?
5.Can you see any regional geographic patterns in this map?
6.Why do you think areas like the "rust belt" (Michigan, Pennsylvania) are losing population while other areas like the "sun belt" (Texas, Florida) are gaining population?
7.How do you think the shift of population southward impacts US politics?
8.In the past we didn't reapportion seats, we just added members of the House of Representatives. Do you think we should remove the 435 member cap on the size of the House, going back to the old system, or should we continue using our current system of reapportionment?
9.What would our Congress look like without reapportionment?
10.What do you predict this map will look like after the 2020 census?
11.How does reapportionment differ from redistricting?
12.In a recent case entitled Evenwel v. Abbott the Supreme Court decided that in reapportioning seats, states may count all people in a state or only citizens who are eligible to vote. Explain whether you think that undocumented aliens should be counted in the census, and thus being counted towards reapportionment.
Oversight Committee Hearing
For your exam, we will be synthesizing just about everything we've studied in the first semester to see how Congress carries out its constitutional checks and balances over the executive branch. In order to fully investigate the activities of the executive branch, Congress relies on the testimony of government leaders, interest groups, and experts while taking partisanship and public opinion into consideration as well. On the day of the exam, we will simulate this process.
Today we need to select a contemporary crisis/scandal facing the United States, determine which committee would investigate it, and assign roles.
A list of congressional committees can be found here!
Roles:
A list of congressional committees can be found here!
Roles:
- committee members (7); select an actual member of Congress--consider state and political party, majority party will select chairperson
- government officials (2)
- experts in the field (2)
- interest group representatives (2)
- concerned citizens (2)
Committee Members:
- do a little bit of research to get an idea of the topic--does your member of Congress have strong views on the issue?
- write questions that you will ask each witness (8 total)
- consider what methods of oversight would best solve the problem (adjust funding, new guidelines, impeachment, abolish/create an agency, etc.)
- act as your selected member of Congress would!
- heavily research your person's background and positions on the topic
- prepare an opening statement
- prepare "talking points" you can go to if unable to answer a question
- act as your person would (the concerned citizens can create their own persona, but their issues must be relevant to the topic)
Closer: How can Congress attempt to control the executive branch?
- Make a claim here!
- Support your claim with TWO pieces of accurate and relevant information.
- Use reasoning to explain why your evidence supports your claim.
- Respond to an opposing or alternative perspective.