Ethics in Congress

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Overview

This lesson discusses the perceptions people have of Members of Congress. Students will learn about modern ethics rules.

Grade Levels

9 - 12

Objectives

Students will:

• describe at least one ethics rule of the U.S. Congress.

Estimated Time

60 minutes

Materials Needed

• E-Learning Module: Public Criticisms of Congress
• Internet connection with Macromedia FLASH ® enabled
• Projection device
• Copies of the U.S. Constitution

Procedure

1. Use an overhead projection device to play criticisms 1, 11, and 14 in the Public Criticism E-Learning Module. Ask students if they agree with these criticisms.
2. Divide the class into three groups. Assign each group one of the three criticisms to consider.
3. Have each group conduct research and learn about the ethics rules in Congress and general behavior guidelines. The group assigned Criticism 1 should read Highlights of Ethics Rules at the House Ethics Committee Web site and An Overview of the Senate Code of Conduct and Related Laws at the Senate Ethics Committee Web site. Students in this group should then summarize the rules of the House and Senate. Students may want to create a table or chart to make it easier for other students to understand. The group assigned Criticism 11 should read Highlights of Ethics Rules at the House Ethics Committee Web site and An Overview of the Senate Code of Conduct and Related Laws at the Senate Ethics Committee Web site and find out what ethics rules exist to prohibit Members of Congress from accepting bribes. Students in this group should then conduct research to find out what happened to Representative James Traficant of Ohio and Senator Harrison Williams of New Jersey when they accepted money in exchange for official influence. The group assigned to Criticism 14 should discuss whether or not political campaigns are indeed becoming too nasty and learn about any rules that may exist about political campaigns. Students may want to contact their local elections commission and see if a campaign code of ethics exists and what, if any, recent cases it looked at.
4. Allow all the groups to present their findings.

Extending the Activity

Have students read a newspaper and watch the news for one week. Ask them to keep track of the number of times something negative is said about a Member of Congress and the number of times something positive is said about a Member of Congress. Explain that the nature of news means the media look at what is going wrong and not at what is going right. Discuss the role the media have in portraying Congress as a “bunch of crooks.”

 

Assessment

Check your students’ understanding by asking students to provide the following information:

1. Describe at least one ethics rule of the U.S. Congress and/or one ethics case involving a Member of Congress and how it ended.

Lesson Plan Feedback

If you have suggestions for improving this lesson plan, or if you have ideas for others using the module, please let us know. We value your input. Thank you!

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