Presented by Stephanie Vance, AdVanced Consulting and prepared with a Robert H. Michel Civic Education Grant

Overview

The following materials are designed to help teachers create a simulation of the U.S. House of Representatives floor debate process that can be adapted for use in a variety of middle school, high school, and college classrooms. In general, the simulation seeks to teach lessons about the various issues that factor in to the decision-making process of a member of Congress. Some of the issues woven into the simulation include parliamentary rules and procedures, the role of constituents, competing demands for time, competing policy interests, the role of the press, and political concerns and institutional concerns. The materials include four different established scenarios as well as resources to create a more customized case-study. The explanation and simulation would likely take place over two class periods.

How It Works

Overview from Teacher

The simulation starts with a quick (20 minute) explanation of House floor procedure. Teachers can offer this explanation either through a power point / slide presentation, or by using a C-SPAN tape in the classroom. The explanation should cover only the basics of time management, recognition, general decorum, and the roles of various players (such as the bill manager, the minority bill manager, and the chair). Efforts to explain all the rules of the House (such as the Committee of the Whole, the reading of the legislation, etc.) will detract from the main purpose of the simulation. Following is a brief overview of the critical components that should be addressed.

Time Management: For purposes of the simulation, each side in the debate will have 15 minutes to present their case. These minutes can and should be divided between the 10 students designated as "members". The students designated as bill managers (majority and minority) have responsibility for managing the time.

Recognition: The student designated as the chair (alternatively, this may be a role that the teacher will want to play) has the power to recognize members. Generally, the chair alternates between the majority and minority party when recognizing speakers, unless one side or the other is not prepared to speak when their turn arrives. The chair is the final arbiter of parliamentary questions, as well as the amount of time remaining for debate.

General Decorum: Ladies and gentlemen of the U.S. House of Representatives refer to each other in only the most complimentary terms, even if they disagree. Whenever either bill manager yields the floor to a speaker, he or she will generally refer to that person as "my dear friend, Congressman (or Congresswoman) so-and-so". Any statements that are inflammatory or personally insulting can be struck by the chair on a point-of-order.

Roles of the Various Players: The specific roles for the simulation are outlined in more detail later in this paper. For purposes of the initial explanation, the teacher should focus on the roles of the majority and minority bill managers; members participating in the debate; and the chair.

Teachers may want to consult other sources, too. There are downloadable photos of the House and Senate floors, which are available on the Architect of the Capitol website. In addition, teachers may wish to review information about the rules of the U.S. House of Representatives, which can be found at www.congress.gov. Additional resources on House rules are available at the House Rules Committee website at www.house.gov/rules.

Simulation Process

The simulation envisions several different roles for the participants (floor managers, members, press, staff, clerks, etc.) each with varying levels of responsibility and activity. Students without specific roles are "undecideds". Having a variety of roles helps the more "shy" people participate without having to take on a major task, such as managing the bill. At the same time, asking all participants to explain why they voted the way they did, either as a follow-up written assignment, or in a group discussion ensures that those students who are less actively involved in the simulation still gain something from the experience.

Specific Roles

Chair: The teacher may wish to play the role of Chair, or this role can be assigned to a student. The Chair recognizes members for purposes of making statements, answers questions regarding points of order, and manages the total time allowed for debate. The Chair also makes "national news announcements", as outlined in the instructions, during breaks in the debate.

Bill Managers: Two students will be assigned the roles of "bill managers", one for the majority and one for the minority. They are each given one-half the total debate time to allot among themselves and the other members as they see fit. As the managers are also individual members, they also have the same responsibilities as individual members.

Members: Each of the member roles has specific characteristics, including an overview of the district, percentage of vote in the last election, whether their constituents have been actively involved in the issue, and their views on the issue. Each member must speak out at least once during the debate and must build into their consideration the information and advice from their staff as the debate progresses. In addition, each member must agree to be interviewed at least once by the press. Finally, each member has a responsibility to try to convince the undecideds to vote with them.

Staff: The individuals designated as staff must provide during breaks in the debate new information about the issue, district impacts, etc. as indicated in the simulation instructions. The messages that are delivered to the members from their staff relate to activities in the district. For example, one member might be the target of a phone-in campaign, a major story on the issue might be on the front page of another member's local newspaper, or a totally unrelated event like a major fire in the district may distract the member's attention. Other details that may come up include impacts of a vote on fundraising and re-election, national policy reports that strongly support one side or the other, and the impact of a particular position on this issue at hand on other issues the member might be working on (for example, going against the chairman on this issue may threaten other legislative initiatives). They also have responsibility to advise their member on how to vote and whether they think the new information warrants a revision in the member's position. The staff do not vote in the end.

Press: The press must, during breaks in the debate, interview the members about the debate. They may also interview the undecideds. Proposed questions are included in the instructions, but the press should feel free to ask whatever questions they deem newsworthy. Members of the press do not vote in the end.

Undecideds: Those people without specific roles are undecideds. They must listen to the debate and vote for the arguments they found the most persuasive. In addition, they may be interviewed by the press and approached by other members and staff.

The Debate

To start the debate, the Chair recognizes the majority party for an opening statement. Usually the bill managers make the opening statements. Once the majority has spoken, the minority speaks, and so on until all time is expired. The Chair generally recognizes the bill manager for either side, and the bill manager "yields time" to individual members as appropriate (i.e., "I yield one minute to the distinguished Congressman so-and-so").

The only difference in this scenario from actual House floor activity is that 5 minute breaks are instituted where national news announcements are made, messages are delivered to the members from their staff, and the press sought to interview the members. To give a more "real" feel to the debate, all of these activities could take place without a break, but that can be a bit chaotic for one room.

Voting

Once the debate is over, everyone (except the press and the staff) votes. This can be done by a simple show of hands or, to be more like the Congress, the Chair may wish to call the role. As the sides started out generally even, whoever is most successful in persuading the undecideds "wins".

Learning Outcomes

The purpose of the simulation is to offer students a variety of insights, including:
Selected Parliamentary rules and procedures (being recognized, managing time, debating within time limits, points of order)
Role of events "back home" in decision-making - what your constituents think matters!
Competing demands for time - can't be in two places at once (i.e., giving a press interview, responding to district needs, and debating on the floor)
Competing policy interests - Policies aren't always clear-cut.
Political concerns - re-election, re-election, re-election.
The role of the press.
Institutional concerns - relating well with other members and your chairman.

It is important to note what this simulation will NOT do. As presently constructed, students would not learn about:

The impact of rules and various scheduling "calendars" - while it would be possible to set up a simulation that included information on the Rules committee, and the various scheduling calendars, I think that would muddy the waters. It seems to me that the important points to get across are the factors in legislative decision-making as opposed to archane rules. Again, though, I'm certainly willing to discuss that point.
Five minute breaks - obviously, these are not a standard feature of debates.
The "audience"
The lack of amendments - rather than muddy the waters with second and third tier amendments, and all the voting hassles that go with that, the simulation, as currently constructed, assumes a straight up and down vote on one bill with no amendments allowed.