Congressional Digest provides reliable, nonpartisan research material at a time when it’s hard to know whose opinion or what information to trust.
While our research provides some of the most valuable and trustworthy reference material for colleges and universities, Congressional Digest, Supreme Court Debates, and International Debates are useful for high school students and teachers as well!
Whether you’re teaching Government, Civics, Economics, AP US Government and Politics, AP Comparative Government and Politics, AP US History, AP Modern World History, or any other class dealing with national and international issues, Congressional Digest provides the perfect source for understanding the pros and cons of today’s most important debates.
How?
When presenting contemporary and controversial issues to your students, it can be hard to know which sources to use without exposing the class to biased opinions and misinformation. Congressional Digest offers a full explanation of the pros and cons of the debate, enabling your students to compare and contrast the arguments as they develop and apply critical thinking skills.
Here are a just a few ways to use Congressional Digest’s PRO&CON® Debates with your students:
1. Start at the beginning. Each Foreword begins with the Seneca quote, “He who decides a case without hearing the other side . . . Though he decide justly, cannot be considered just.” Do you believe this is a valid statement? Why?
2. Predict. After reading the Foreword, write what you expect to be the arguments for one side. When reading the PRO&CON®, put a check mark next to each argument that matches your own.
3. Discuss biases in the media. Before reading the issue, have students write down what they know or think about the topic. After reading the issue, have them identify any inaccuracies in their perceptions and from where those inaccuracies may have come.
4. Teach some new vocabulary. Learning the jargon of persuasive (or not persuasive) rhetoric is useful to strengthen students’ own arguments. Have your students identify the logical fallacies in the debater’s position: reliance on emotion, hasty generalizations, begging the question, straw man arguments are just a few.
5. Color code to identify the mechanics of an argument. Read each article using one color highlighter to mark referenced facts and a second color to mark opinions. Compare the number of facts to opinions.
6. Put it in historical context. Assume the role of a historical figure (Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., Susan B. Anthony). How would they decide on this issue? Why?
7. Discuss the political, societal, and economic effects. What are the costs of the proposed legislation? Should it be enacted? Do both sides admit to them? Which political party would benefit most? Identify the potential long- and short-term consequences.
8. Engage on a larger scale. Write a letter to one of the senators or representatives whose debates we feature, telling them why you agree or disagree with their position.
9. Discuss counterarguments. How does each article address counterarguments? Is this tactic persuasive? How can you use them in your own papers or debates?
10. Examine how the debaters manipulate terminology to make their case. What’s the difference between “pro-choice” and “anti-life,” for example? Compare these terms and try to find a neutral or more accurate terminology to use.