Are There 100 Acts of Congress Everyone Should Know?

• In Event: Information Technology and Politics; Formal Theory; and American Political Thought Virtual Poster Session
  In Virtual Poster Session: American Political Thought Virtual Poster Session

Abstract

Studies of Congress tend to examine electoral behavior or the legislative process; when the products or outcomes are assessed, it is usually in the context of public policy of some sort or another. Instead, taking my title from a recent constitutional law textbook by law professors Randy Barnett and Josh Blackman ("100 Supreme Court Cases Everyone Should Know"), I examine the substantive products of the legislative process taken in themselves. Results of a survey of scholars of political science, law, and history seeking to identify "100 Acts of Congress" will be reported and analyzed, and the argument will be made that recovery of the co-equal place of Congress among the branches of government and of "the dignity of legislation" depends on a renewed understanding of what makes legislative acts important or transformative--and that that requires identifying important and transformative acts.

Authors

• James R. Stoner, Louisiana State University

• Hunter Michael Holliday, Louisiana State University