Can anyone suggest a good advanced "How Congress Works" book?

[demdiva]

Maybe a good overview book for grad students or more advanced grad students??? I need to hone my knowledge a bit but I don't need to start at the beginning of everything.

Thanks!
DemDiva

[kenny blankenship]

1. Anything by Mario Puzo

[Old and In the Way]

2. It doesn't.

All you need to know now is that Bush is the decider. That pretty much is how our Congress doesn't work today.

[demdiva]

5. LOL

[KansDem]

11. What this Congress does can be written in a matchbook...

"The Matchbook of US Congress"*



What do we do?...details inside!

__________
*Jerry Ford matchbook used for illustration only.

[CPMaz]

3. How about...

"Advanced Male Bovine Bio-Fertilizer Disbursement" by Stinky Spade, PhD*

OK, so you probably weren't looking for a wisea$$ answer. I couldn't help myself. :)


* = Piled High and Dry

[tridim]

4. There's a good Simpsons episode that explains it

"Mr. Lisa Goes To Washington"

Lisa wins an essay content with her paper "The Roots of Democracy" and changes it after seeing how D.C. really works.

http://www.snpp.com/episodes/8F01.html

[demdiva]

6. I'm glad you all are having so much fun with this!

Have a happy Memorial Day.

[Bossy Monkey]

7. I'm sure you're not appreciating the flippant answers much, but the truth

is that there hasn't been time since Bush's executive branch takeover for textbooks to have been updated. Although you can read up all you want on legislative procedure, it's little better than studying ancient history. Congress may still provide fig-leaf cover for the Bush/Cheney coup, but only barely.

That said, I'll see what I can find. Best may be the higher end periodicals.

[demdiva]

8. Well the flippant answers are making me laugh

What true democrat wouldn't appreciate them? Keep posting them ...
Although I would appreciate any REAL suggestions as well.

[Bossy Monkey]

10. Not a textbook, but interesting

The guy's a Republican, but not a total idiot. It's about how pork barrel bills work currently:
http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1412&fuseaction=topics.publications&doc_id=181379&group_id=180829
assuming the link works.
Holler if this helps at all. I'm not quite sure what you're looking for, and don't know where to look for specifics on procedure except, say, Robert's Rules of Order.

Edit: Hey, look! The House of Representatives' How Congress Works page: http://www.rules.house.gov/ (starts halfway down)

[demdiva]

12. Well that's probably b/c I don't know know what I'm looking for

But it looks like a good place to start.
Thanks so much!

[spuddonna]

9. "America" by Jon Stewart?

:evilgrin:

[demdiva]

13. ahhh ... already own it

[Coexist]

14. is this the type of information you are looking for?

http://www.house.gov/house/Tying_it_all.shtml

http://thomas.loc.gov/home/lawsmade.toc.html

http://www.thecapitol.net/Publications/congdeskbook.html

http://www.sig.msstate.edu/congress/Congress_files/frame.htm


http://www.thecapitol.net/Publications/

[demdiva]

15. umm...kind of

First, thanks so much for posting. I think it's also a good place to start, although I guess I'm thinking more impact of rules, changing rules / procedure ???Maybe this stuff would be more in a law book...

[Coexist]

16. I updated it with some books from thecapitol.net

http://www.thecapitol.net/Publications/congdeskbook.html

this might help.

[demdiva]

17. Oh cool ... thanks

Am I a dork or what????

[Bossy Monkey]

18. PS: MIT still has all the lecture notes & syllabi for every course online

Even Political Science:
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Political-Science/17-261Fall-2005/CourseHome/index.htm
Ought to be something there.

[OneBlueSky]

19. "My Pet Goat?" . . . n/t

.

[eppur_se_muova]

20. Well, for relaxation, you can read Caro's "Master of the Senate"

the third volume in his series "The Years of Lyndon Johnson". It's not a reference book, but you learn one helluva lot about *real* Senate procedures by reading it. Some of LBJ's dirty tricks were executed so masterfully you almost can't help applauding.

[Sir Jeffrey]

21. Two books I read as an undergrad in a 500 level class...

"Congress and its Members"

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1568026498/002-1811683-2660062?v=glance&n=283155

"Unorthodox Lawmaking"

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1568025106/qid=1148698249/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-1811683-2660062?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

The first book is a bit tedious at spots, but if you read both of them back to back (or in tandem) you can compare how the "textbook" method of lawmaking morphs into the weird shit in the second book.

[CPMaz]

22. A good book, though more as a supplement

to an actual text, is "The George Magazine Book Of Political Lists".

Lots of info, especially about scandals, as well as lists of things like all of the Speakers of the House, and so forth.

It's about 10 years old now, but still really valuable.

And given the number of Congressional scandals through the years, it really highlights how little things have changed over the years.