Congress Do Little
Critical Analysis
According to the note in the chart above, what exactly is a substantive law?
According to the data from the chart above how many substantive laws were made under the 101st Congress (1989-1990), and how many substantive laws were made under the 116th Congress (2019-2020)?
Identify one trend in the amount of substantive laws made by Congress between 1989 and 2020.
What is the best explanation for this trend?
What is one consequence of this trend?
Based on the trend you identified in the chart above, how many substantive bills would you expect will pass the 126th Congress (twenty years from now) will pass?
The majority of both houses of the current 117th Congress is Democratic. The POTUS is a Democrat. How do you think this will impact the amount of legislation from the 117th Congress?
Over the time period covered by the chart above, congressional incumbents have been reelected at an increasingly higher rate (almost 90% currently) and Congress is making less substantive laws Does that mean that the average American does not want Congress to make laws?
We live in a country governed by federalism (a division of power between national and state government). How do you think the falling number of bills passed by the national government impacts the number of bills passed by state governments?
Make a claim explaining whether Congress should generally pass more laws:
Learning Extension
Read this Pew Research Report about the productivity of the 116th Congress.
Action Extension
Contact your Congressional representative with your explanation of whether they should make more or less laws: