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Web Site Address Description
http://www.senate.gov/vtour/index.html Virtual Tour of the U.S. Capitol

Linked from the U.S. Senate home page, this is a terrific site where you can visit several rooms in the Congress Building. You can zoom in and out, rotate around the rooms to get a 360 degree view, and most exciting, there are "hotspots". When you click on a hotspot it brings a specific object into view with a close up picture and a description of the object (examples include a historical gavel and some of the marble busts). You can also link to historical events that occurred in each of the rooms.

 
http://www.polisci.nelson.com/introlegs.html Comparing World Legislatures

Sponsored by the Nelson Thompson Learning College's Political Science Division, this site gives descriptions of legislatures around the world, including Australia, Austria, Chile, France, Russia, Germany, Great Britain, India, and others. Information provided includes how man houses, number of members, leadership, relationship to the executive branch, how elected to office, terms of office, and many other details. Each description includes a link to that countries legislative home page. This site also links to a database search engine which allows the user to look up countries not listed, as well as regions within the country.

 
http://www.senate.gov/ U.S Senate

Official home page of the U.S. Senate, this site provides an assortment of links to a variety of subjects including web pages for each Senator, committee activities, legislative activities, learning about the Senate and it's history and art, daily activities on the floor, and a listing of recent and past roll-call votes. There is also an interesting section entitled "Art & History" with several significant events that occurred on this particular week in history and links to further details if desired. You can also review the historical events of the Senate in a Timeline format.
http://www.aoc.gov/

Detail of 1859 architectural drawing of the dome and rotunda

The United States Capitol

A government sponsored site that describes the construction of the capital building, it's history, the architectural features, works of art, growth, current projects, and visitor information. A good site for those who have older computers without virtual reality capability.
http://www.census.gov/population/ Computing Apportionment Using the Census

Sponsored by the U.S. Census Bureau, this site describes the five methods of apportionment used by the bureau since the first census in 1790. It also gives details on the present method, Equal Proportions Method, with diagrams and examples.
http://www.census.gov/population/apportionment. Census 2000 and Congressional Appointments

Another Census Bureau subsidiary site explaining the fundamental reason for the census, links to other Census Bureau sites, the present Hose of Representatives and the 1990 results. It explains why the census is taken every ten years, how long it has been done, who's counted, how it is counted, and the 2000 results.
http://www.house.gov U.S. House of Representatives Home Page

This government affiliated web page features many links, for example, everything you've ever wanted to know about the 108th Congress, how to search for a specific bill, the weekly schedule, Committee schedule, and links to Representatives home pages on the internet. Great overview!
http://www.thecapitol.net/ TheCapitol.Net is a non-partisan firm that provides legislative, budget, media, testifying and writing training and information for government and business leaders. This site lists congressional pay, benefits, staff, franking privilege, expense allowance, and foreign trade benefits for members of Congress from 1789 to the present.
http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeff1020.htm A University of Virginia web site that gives Thomas Jefferson's views on why the Constitution should be interpreted from a strict constructionalist standpoint.
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/ National Debt Clock

This is the site that I've mentioned in class. As of 11/7/03 the national debt is over 6.8 trillion dollars - let's see how long it takes to hit 7 trillion.

There are also several interesting links to articles about the debt and the web master offers ideas on how you can become part of the solution to the balancing the budget problem.
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.htm

http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/constpap.htm

 The Avalon Project has a  fantastic website with an abundance of interesting information.  If you need a historical document this is the place to start looking!

The second address is a sub-site of the Avalon Project that focuses on the Constitution. My favorite pages contain copies of the handwritten notes taken by the framers at the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philly. There are notes from Edmund Randolph (author of the Virginia Plan), William Patterson (author of the New Jersey Plan), Rufus King, Alexander Hamilton, and (of course) James Madison.
http://www.politics1.com Politics 1

A very comprehensive, bipartisan website that covers all aspects of politics. Links include news, magazines, special interest websites, think tanks, political campaign platforms for every candidate, and official state election sites.  Links range from radical to reactionary and almost every controversial political issue is listed with numerous links for each.
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/fyi/sb/06/21/youth.vote/ Never Mind for Now

This CNN article discusses several reasons behind low voter turnout rates for young Americans. The article suggest s that this lack of participation is countered by a higher rate of community service.