Welcome to The Dirksen Congressional Center's "Communicator" - a web-based e-newsletter providing educators with news and ideas to enhance civic education and improve the understanding of Congress -- http://www.webcommunicator.org

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NEWS FROM THE DIRKSEN CENTER
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Congratulations!

The Dirksen Center congratulates the 2003 Congressional Research Awards recipients for receiving grants to study such topics as congressional intervention in defense budgeting, congressional oversight of the executive branch, and campaigns for the U.S. House. In addition, historians will explore the culture of violence in Congress in the antebellum years and the influence of incumbents in selecting congressional candidates at the turn of the 20th century.

Recipients this year include Ph.D. candidates and faculty from the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, North Carolina State University, Yale University, the University of Iowa, and Michigan State University, among others.

The Dirksen Center will distribute $35,862 in Congressional Research Awards to eleven projects in 2003. Since 1978, The Center has awarded over $585,000 to more than 315 research projects.

A complete list of this year's Congressional Research Award recipients is posted at http://www.dirksencenter.org/grantcongresearchaward.htm

Family Site of the Day

World Village has cited Congress for Kids as the Family Site of the Day -- http://www.worldvillage.com/sitereviews/family.html?id=2059

THE ORGANIZATION OF CONGRESS

The Reapportionment Act of 1929 fixed the number of members of Congress and recognized that adding more seats to the House as the population grew would make it unwieldy. Resources posted on The Dirksen Center's Web suite - http://www.dirksencongressionalcenter.org - will help your students learn more about the organization and leadership of Congress.

Every ten years, after each federal census, adjustments are made in the number of congressional districts - a process known as redistricting and reapportionment. Our CongressLink featured lesson plan will teach students about a census, help them understand the constitutional basis for it, learn how the census relates to congressional reapportionment process, and will help them understand and evaluate Democratic and Republican census proposals. Find The U.S. Census: Enumeration and Representation at: http://www.congresslink.org/lessonplans/census.html

State legislatures usually draw congressional district lines, but federal courts sometimes draw districts when the original plans lose a constitutional challenge. The majority party, to maximize the chances for its candidates to win elections, often draws the boundaries. Governor Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts approved a bill in 1812 creating such an oddly shaped district that his critics called it a "gerrymander." Learn more about gerrymandering and how it relates to the reapportionment and redistricting of congressional seats by completing the printable worksheet posted on Congress for Kids. Find Congressional Districts: 108th Congress at: http://www.congressforkids.net/games/houseofrep/2_legislativebranch.htm

Members of Congress represent their constituents in different ways once elected to office. Some see themselves as delegates, obligated to vote the way the majority of the people in their districts want. Others consider themselves trustees, taking the views of their constituents into account but using their own best judgment or their conscience to vote. How do members of Congress make decisions about the votes they cast? To answer this question, CongressLink presents an interactive exercise using vectors that illustrates the process of congressional decisions. Find the PowerPoint presentation, Understanding Congressional Decisions Through Vectors at: http://www.congresslink.org/sitefeatures.htm#decision

In elections, members of Congress have a clear advantage over challengers who want to unseat them. Do your students know why sitting members of Congress are almost always re-elected? Have them visit our AboutGovernment hot link of the month to learn why. Find Why Are Sitting Members of Congress Almost Always Re-Elected? at: http://www.aboutgovernment.org/legislativebranch.htm

The composition and powers of Congress and the qualifications necessary for election are set forth by Article I of the U.S. Constitution -- http://www.congresslink.org/article1.htm Yet there is no legal or constitutional job description for a member. Each one defines their individual duties and priorities. Find What Members of Congress Do at: http://www.congresslink.org/WhatMembersDo.htm

Newly elected members of the House of Representatives meet at the beginning of each two-year congressional term to organize and select their leaders. Members of both parties hold organizational meetings where they elect their own leadership, adopt internal rules for how their party will operate, and draft their version of the institutional rules for the House. Find Congressional Leadership Information at: http://www.congresslink.org/leadershipbasics.htm Teachers, you may want to show your students what challenges congressional leaders face by using the CongressLink lesson plan, Making Congress Work Through Leadership. Find this lesson at: http://www.congresslink.org/lessonplans/FMldr3.html

Featured Project

Our featured project this month is a $5,500 Michel Civic Education Grant awarded to Susan Potter on behalf of the Washington State Historical Society, the Olympia School District, and the Washington State Redistricting Commission. Susan's project, Redistricting and Reapportionment: Curriculum Guide and Apportionment Game is designed to teach legislative and congressional redistricting and reapportionment to students in grades 4 - 12 by developing a curriculum guide, a board game, a Web site featuring a virtual game, and a video that addresses the complex issues of redistricting and reapportionment. Learn more about this project and others at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/grantmichelciviced.htm#2001

Do you have a project? Submit a grant proposal! For more information about how to submit a Robert H. Michel Civic Education Grants proposal, please visit: http://www.dirksencenter.org/grantmichelciviced.htm Final proposals for our next round of competition must be received by May 1, 2003. If you have questions about the Robert H. Michel Civic Education Grants, contact Frank Mackaman at fmackaman@dirksencenter.org

Learning Legislation Lingo

1. The U.S. states of the Southwest and West have gained representatives, and those of the Northeast and Midwest lost them, through the process called _____ that followed the last few federal censuses.

2. True or False: The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that states may not place a legal limit on how many terms their elected congressional representatives may serve.

3. Gov. Elbridge Gerry signed into law an 1812 elections bill that included a salamander-shaped congressional district sure to elect Republicans to office. As a result, strategically designed election districts are now called _____s, and the act of drawing such districts is called _____ing.

4. A representative who considers it his or her job to express the district will of voters back home is often called a _____, whereas one who emphasizes his or her own best judgment is often called a _____.

Answers to February's issue of Fun, Facts, and Trivia link here: http://www.webcommunicator.org/funfactstrivia0203ans.htm

That's it for March! Spring is here! Encourage your colleagues to subscribe to the Communicator. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, contact Cindy Koeppel at ckoeppel@dirksencenter.org Your feedback makes a difference!