Center on Congress Booklets

The Center on Congress produces brochures, booklets and reports that are available for anyone's use. The following may be downloaded in PDF format or you may request the printed materials. If you are an educator who would like to distribute and discuss one of the booklets in your classroom, or if you are affiliated with an organization interested in sharing the booklet with the group's members, contact the Center by writing to congress@indiana.edu or calling 812-856-4706. Booklets are available free in limited quantities; for bulk orders, there is a modest "at cost" charge to cover printing and delivery.

Making Your Voice Heard: How to Work With Congress: aims to help citizens get off the sidelines and constructively express opinions to federal officeholders. The booklet offers practical tips on how to communicate with Congress, with features such as "Ten Ways to Contact Your Member of Congress" and "Making Your Case Effectively: Some Do's and Don'ts." It discusses how citizens can amplify their voice by connecting with interest groups and political parties, and by using new tools of "cyber-democracy" available on the Internet. Sprinkled through the booklet are vignettes on "People Who Made a Difference" — average citizens who got involved in the political process and ended up making a big impact on government policy.

Understanding Congress: A Citizen's Guide: gives citizens the basic information they need to know about Congress. The booklet has four sections: The first, "Representative Democracy," outlines the powers granted to Congress by the Constitution and highlights Congress' vital role in forging compromises among the many conflicting opinions in our large and diverse nation. The second section, "How Congress Functions," gives an overview of the House and Senate and the process by which a bill becomes law. Section three, "How Members of Congress Work," sketches what members and congressional committees do on a typical day. Finally, "How You Participate" emphasizes that Americans must communicate their concerns to Congress in order for the body to respond to the people's needs.

Your Ideas Count: Representative Democracy and You: gauges citizens' knowledge of and attitudes about our system of government. The booklet asks readers to respond to a series of nine questions in a "Your Take on Democracy" personal opinion poll; their cumulative "score" indicates how strongly they feel democracy works for them. Accompanying this exercise is a narrative that calls attention to the difficult task Congress faces in producing laws that reflect the differing desires and goals of the citizenry. The booklet ends with a challenge to citizens to get involved in building relationships of trust with elected officials, so our politicians can find common ground that represents the views and interests of as many people as possible.

Center on Congress Brochure: Learn more about the Center: Our mission, activities, and personnel, in this 12 page brochure.

Public Views of Congress: The results of the Center on Congress at Indiana University's 2004 public opinion survey provide new evidence that citizens have a decidedly negative view of Congress; have a high sense of civic duty, but low levels of civic engagement; and rely mainly on television for their information about Congress. Citizens prefer that Congress and the president share responsibility for handling the nation's problems, with Congress taking a more central role than the president on domestic policy, but not on foreign policy. This report also provides evidence that education influences what people know and think about Congress, where they get their political information, and whether they engage in the political process.