Government Semester Exam Project
Show me the Money!
1. Go to www.senate.gov.
a. Look up the 2 Senators from the state where you hope/plan to attend college.
b. List the Senate Committee assignments those 2 senators have been assigned.
c. Which groups do you think attempt to influence legislation and contribute the most to the campaigns of your Senators based on their committee assignments.
2. Go to the website of the Center for Responsive Politics. Look up your Senators. List how much each Senator raised to run for their most recent election. How much did their competitors spend?
3. Who are the biggest contributors to their campaigns? How much did they contribute?
4. How much of their own money did they invest in their campaigns? (under “Summary” or “Candidates”)
5. Look up the House of Representative member from your district. Who is the member? List any sizeable earmarks (in “Other Data”) he/she has placed in bills.
6. Look at the heavy hitters listing of the top 100 all time donors. Who on this list is surprising to you? What do you think their specific intent is by donating to these campaigns?
7. Which of the heavy hitters top 100 donates most predominately to the Republican party and which to the Democratic party? How much do they spend?
8. In the 2016 General Election, which party benefited most from 527 groups campaign spending? How much was spent on each side?
9. In the 2016 Election page, find out who won while spending the least amount of money in the House of Representatives. What were the incumbents’ reelection rates in the House and the Senate? How much did the average House race cost the victor vs. the loser?
10. Looking at the personal wealth of the nation’s lawmakers in 2013, who is the richest lawmaker in the Senate, House and Executive Branch? Who is the poorest in the three areas? What stands out the most to you about these listings?
11. MAJOR CAMPAIGN FINANCE CASES – Choose ONE of the cases and complete the following:
a. Case Name / Year
b. Who are the key players in this case?
c. What is the background of the case?
d. What is/are the question(s) before the court?
e. What is the Court’s ruling? Was there any dissent? If so, why?
f. What is the significance of the case?