Penn State University Libraries - ECON4 Worksheet

Sources are available through the research guide: Government Policies and their Unintended Consequences

1. Choose your topic. If you already have a topic, skip to #2.
   If you need ideas for a topic
    
   1. Go to CQ Researcher Online.  Use newspapers.  Look at news magazines.  Use Browse by topic to find something that interests you. 
       
      1. Pay special attention to the chronologies in CQ Researcher
          
      2. do they mention specific laws?
          
         
      3. Look for a public law number   (PL ____ - _____)
          
      4. Note dates when major laws were passed?
          
   2. Identify the public law.  Use CQ Almanac or CQ Weekly (depending on the date of your law) to search use name of law, date law was passed to find the P.L. number.
       
      1. Date Passed ___________________
          
      2. Title of Law _____________________
          
      3. Public Law Number            PL ____-____   (e.g. PL 107-240)
          
   3. Is your topic actually part of a larger bill?  (e.g. tax incentives for ethanol research as part of a very large farm bill)
       
2. Outline the piece of the law that addresses your issue.  (i.e. what does the law say).  CQ Almanac is great for this info.
    
3. Explore the policy – gather some information about the development over time of the policy.  Search the Congressional Research Service Reports or Policy File. Questions to think about:
    
   1. What is the “problem” being addressed?
   2. How long has the government been working on the “problem”?
   3. How has it evolved over time?
   4. What are the latest government initiatives?
       
4. Gather the Legislative history. A “legislative history “ is the written record that surrounds the development of a law. It includes the bills (and the various versions), any congressional hearings, Committee reports (House reports, Senate Reports, Conference Reports), debate on the floor during passage (Congressional Record).
   
   Use Lexis/Nexis Congressional click on “legislative histories in the left column. Choose “get a document” and type in the Public Law number.  Many (most) of the documents you need will be available full text in the system.  If not full text online search the cat to find print or microfiche holdings
   
   1. Hearings are where congress gathers information and input from experts or interested groups as they formulate policies.  What were they saying?
      Write down Citation:
       
      
   2. Committee reports – summarize the rationale behind legislation.  These are usually given to congress as a whole before a bill is voted on.  These are the documents courts often rely on to establish legislative intent.  What were they saying?
      Write down Citation:
      
      
   3. Floor debate – in the Congressional record.  What was being said in favor of or against the bill by the members of Congress.  Why did they think the law was needed?
      Write down Citation:
       
5. Explore Outcomes – What has been the result of the legislation.  Has it had the desired effect?  What were the “unintended outcomes”?
    
   1. What do interest groups say about how well the policy has achieved its goals (use Policy File)
       
   2. What do government agencies have to say about the program use:
       
      1. Congressional Research Service Reports
      2. GAO (Government Accountability Office)
      3. Congressional Budget Office
      4. Executive Branch Agencies (e.g. Agriculture for a farm bill and ethanol incentives)
          
   3. What do independent experts (e.g. academic researchers) have to say?  Search for journal articles