Course overview:  This course is an intermediate/advanced graduate-level instruction on the American Congress as the major law-making and representative arm of the American state. It offers a broad discussion on the structure and organization of Congress, its constitutional powers, the electoral system, its role in agenda-setting and policy making, and its representative function on behalf of respective constituents and interest groups. Furthermore, the course weighs rather heavily on the style, nuances and pragmatism of Congressional politics and its historical and future implications for American representative democracy.

Instructional outcomes / learning objectives: A student who successfully completes this class, should be able to: acquire an integrated understanding of the nature and responsibilities of the American Congress as an institution; understand its functional and political relationships with the executive, the courts, interest groups, and the public; understand the role of Congress as a central actor in the checks and balances that characterize American government; understand the role of institutions, interest groups, and other publics as participants in the democratic process; evelop an analytical frame of mind and a critical assessment of congressional politics and its implications for representative democracy; and acquire adequate foundation to take other higher-level courses in American government and politics.

Basic course outline:

(1) The U. S. Constitution and the Foundation of Congressional Power

(2) Preparing for Elections: What Motivates Legislators?

(3) The Electoral Basis of Congressional Structure: Incumbency and Nationalizing the Vote

(4) The Committee System: Workhorse of Congress

(5) Congressional Lawmaking: How a Bill Becomes Law

(6) Congressional-Executive Relations and the Courts

(7) Congressional Decisionmaking and Policy Preferences

(8) Interest Articulation and Lobbying Fundamentals

(9) Congressional Role in Domestic and Foreign Policy: Credit Claiming and Pork barrels

(10) Parties and Partisanship in Congress

(11) Congress and Political Change: Modernizing Trends

Email registration to kalu.kalu@uta.fi by October 15 essential

Learning diary, seminar participation and discussion, written exam