Welcome to The Dirksen Congressional
Center's Communicator - a web-based e-newsletter providing
educators with news and ideas to improve the understanding of
Congress -- http://www.webcommunicator.org.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. Civil Rights Documentation Project -- COMPLETE!
2. How Our Laws Are Made
3. Campaign Finance
4. Congressional Research Awards
5. Constitution: Powers of the Federal Government
6. Postscript Information
1. CIVIL RIGHTS DOCUMENTATION PROJECT --
COMPLETE!
The new CongressLink feature -- The Civil Rights Documentation
Project -- http://www.congresslink.org/civilrights/index.htm --
is now complete!
The landmark civil rights legislation of the mid-1960s has attracted
considerable scholarly attention, deservedly so. Much of the
analysis of this legislation has centered on the social and cultural
conditions that gave birth to such laws as the Civil Rights Act
of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
As valuable as the emphasis on the civil rights movement has
been, an equally vital chapter has been neglected -- the story
of the legislative process itself. The Civil Rights Documentation
Project provides a fuller accounting of law-making based
on the unique archival resources housed at The Dirksen Congressional
Center, including the collection of then-Senate Minority Leader
Everett McKinley Dirksen (R-IL), widely credited with securing
the passage of the bills.
Intended to serve the needs of teachers and students, The
Civil Rights Documentation Project demonstrates that Congress
is capable of converting big ideas into powerful law, that
citizen engagement is essential to that process, and that the
public policies produced forty years ago continue to influence
our lives.
The project takes the form of an interactive, Web-based presentation
with links to more than 100 digitized historical materials and
other Internet-based resources about civil rights legislation
created by museums, historical societies, and government agencies.
We hope to provide resources teachers can use to create lesson
plans and materials to supplement their teaching of the legislative
process, of recent American history, and of the civil rights
movement, among other social studies topics.
Take a look and please contact Cindy
Koeppel if you have any ideas or comments about this new
feature. We always value your feedback.
2. HOW LAWS ARE MADE
Anyone may draft a bill; however, only members of Congress can
introduce legislation. Learn more about how the House and Senate
make laws in thirteen steps. Find How Our Laws Are Made at: http://www.congresslink.org/print_basics_lawsmade.htm.
3. CAMPAIGN FINANCE
Do you know how much it costs to get elected to Congress? How
much it costs to make a race close? Campaign Finance Institute
has put several campaign finance tables and charts on its Web
site. Find Campaign Finance Institute at: http://www.aboutgovernment.org/print_elections.htm.
4. CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH AWARDS
**Congressional Research Awards Announcement**
DEADLINE: All proposals must be received no later
than February 1, 2006.
The Dirksen Congressional Center invites applications for grants
totaling $30,000 in 2006 to fund research on congressional leadership
and the U.S. Congress.
The competition is open to individuals with a serious interest
in studying Congress. Political scientists, historians, biographers,
scholars of public administration or American studies, and journalists
are among those eligible. The Center encourages graduate students
who have successfully defended their dissertation prospectus
to apply and awards a significant portion of the funds for dissertation
research.
The awards program does not fund undergraduate or pre-Ph.D.
study. Organizations are not eligible. Research teams of two
or more individuals are eligible.
There is no standard application form. Applicants are responsible
for showing the relationship between their work and the awards
program guidelines. Applications are accepted at any time. Incomplete
applications will NOT be forwarded to the screening committee
for consideration.
All application materials must be received on or before February
1, 2006. Awards will be announced in March 2006. Complete
information about eligibility and application procedures may
be found at The Center's Web site: http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_grants_CRAs.htm.
Frank Mackaman is the program officer -- fmackaman@dirksencenter.org.
The Center, named for the late Senate Minority Leader Everett
M. Dirksen, is a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit research and
educational organization devoted to the study of Congress and
its leaders. Since 1978, the Congressional Research Awards (formerly
the Congressional Research Grants) program has paid out $650,000
to support 337 projects.
5. CONSTITUTION: POWERS OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
Try this fun Congress for Kids activity to learn about
the powers granted by the Constitution to Congress -- http://www.congressforkids.net/games/powersfedgov/1_definitionlist.htm.
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