1. Historical Evolution of Congress, 1789-1997
   1. Public Confidence
   2. The U.S. House of Representatives
      1. Directly Elected
      2. Unique Powers (taxes, electing president, impeachment)
      3. Strong Rules (debate, committee assignments, legislative calendar)
      4. Strong Leaders (Speaker of the House)
         1. Henry Clay (D-R, 1811-25)
   3. The U.S. Senate
      1. Indirectly Elected
      2. Unique Powers (treaties, executive appointments, judicial nominations were not that important in 19th century)
      3. Weak Rules (filibuster meant no limits to debate)
      4. Weak Leaders (president of the Senate didn't command majorities in the Senate)
   4. Progressive Reforms
      1. U.S. Senate reforms included
         1. direct elections of Senators (1913)
         2. cloture rule introduced to stop filibusters and allow majorities to vote
      2. House reforms
         1. Speaker was stripped of his powers
         2. Rules Committee
         3. Seniority System
   5. Malapportionment
      1. census
      2. reapportionment
      3. redistricting
      4. gerrymandering

2. Structures of Congress
   1. Formal Rules
      1. debate
      2. calendar
      3. committee assignments
   2. Leadership
      1. House Leadership
         1. Speaker Nancy Pilosi (D)
         2. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D)
         3. Minority Leader John Boehner (R)
      2. Senate Leadership
         1. President Dick Cheney (R)
         2. President Pro Tempore Robert Byrd (D)
         3. Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D)
         4. Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R)
   3. House and Senate Committees
      1. Standing Committees and Subcommittees
         1. Markup
         2. Authorizations
         3. Appropriations
         4. Oversight
         5. "Iron Triangles"
      2. Select Committees
      3. Joint Committees
      4. Conference Committees
   4. Staff
      1. Personal Staff
         1. Legislative Aides
         2. Administrative Aides
         3. Caseworkers
      2. Committee Staff
      3. Professional Staff
         1. Government Accountability Office
         2. Library of Congress and Congressional Research Service

3. Functions of Congress
   1. Lawmaking
   2. Representation
      1. Delegate
      2. Trustee
      3. Politico
   3. Oversight
   4. Investigation
   5. Advise and Consent
   6. Ombudsman
   7. Fiscal Control