Compare the number of bills introduced during periods of major conflict to peacetime periods. Compare the number of days members work in Congress to the number of days students are in school or at work. Investigate the workload of a state legislature. Determine what historical events could impact legislative productivity. Investigate the correlation between election years and legislative productivity by any of these measures.
Analysis Determine the average number of bills passed by each chamber in each decade.
Analyze some of the factors that might account for different levels of productivity between the House and the Senate. Identify historical forces that might account for differences in workload from Congress to Congress. Classify congressional sessions in terms of party control of each chamber and the political party controlling the White House. Hypothesize why the 89th and the 97th Congresses have been viewed as productive but have a low ratio of bills passed into law. . Bar graphs Historical timeline to correlate events with different Congresses Synthesis Design a new workload measure for legislative activity and explain how it would add to understanding the work of Congress.