Structure of Government:

A Crash Course in American Government

Or,

How to Understand Government Documents!

Three Branches of Government

Legislative -- makes the laws

Congress: House, Senate

• House of Representatives
• Senate
• How A Bill Becomes a Law
  • Text Version
  • Simplest version
  • Complex version
  • Even more complicated version
• Thomas (from the Library of Congress)
• Bills and Laws
  • Bills (example)
  • Slip Laws (great explanation)
  • Statutes at Large (GPO database)
  • U.S. Code (from the House)
  • U.S.C.A. (example, screenshot from Westlaw)
• Committee & Subcommittee Hearing Records (example from Senate)
• Committee & Subcommittee Reports (example from Senate)
• Congressional Record
• Commissions created by Congress, the material they generate:
  • 9/11 Commission

Executive -- enforces the laws

President, Governor

• White House
• Agency publications (example)
• Regulations (from Agency)
  • Code of Federal Regulations (from GPO)
  • CFR (from Westlaw)
• Executive Orders (Current Administration)
• Federal Register (main) (example of issue) (example of page)
• Agency reports and analysis (example)
• Agency research (example)

Judicial -- interprets the laws

Supreme Court, Appellate Courts, District Courts; state court system

• Supreme Court
• Case Opinions -- Case Law; carry same legal weight as Laws and Regulations
  • Search archives, 1937-1975 (search here to find the Brown v. Board opinion text that was highlighted in class)
  • Judicial Resources from GPO Access
• Case Dockets (search)

Statistics

• Statistical Abstracts (electronic) (archive)
• From Agencies (example)

FOIA (from Department of Education)

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