All roads lead to Congress

de Costas Panagopoulos

This text drives students through one piece of legislation--the surface transportation bill--showing the maneuvering and negotiating that go on among members of Congress and their staffers as they haggle over a huge pot of money. The bill provides an example of both sides of the domestic legislative coin, as members of Congress formulating the bill fight over both policy issues (mostly along party lines) and money (mostly along regional lines). While working on the Hill, the authors were able to follow the path of this legislation from inception to law, observing firsthand the twists and turns of its journey. In recounting that journey, this book also explains the various rules that structure legislation, the leadership styles and strategies at play, the tensions among levels of government, and the impact of the executive.