Legislative Tracing and Policy Analysis

Legislative Tracing and Policy Analysis

Your assignment is to develop an understanding of the complexities of policy creation in a “bicameral” legislature by performing a legislative tracing and policy analysis on a law. A bicameral legislature is a governing entity comprised of two houses, that is, the US Congress consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The introduction and passage of legislation is complex in that proposed legislation might be incorporated into another piece of legislation so that it will be passed. Tracing and analyzing the law from multiple levels helps to understand its purpose and application.
Details
Select ONE of the following laws
National Cybersecurity Protection Act of 201

Go to http://www.house.gov/content/learn/legislative_process (Links to an external site.) to review the legislative process
Go to congress.gov, (Links to an external site.) select “all legislation,” and enter the name of the law that you have selected. On the left side of the page, select Status of Legislation, and only select the link that states “Became Law”.
When you have found the law, read all of the following “informational tabs”: Summaries (all available), Text if available, Titles, Actions, Amendments, Cosponsors, Committee information, related bills, etc.
Lastly, write an essay detailing what you have learned using the information provided in the scoring rubric! *Note that your essay must also be in APA format, NOT the format used in the rubric*
APA 7 Student format is required throughout the essay
Suggested Essay Length: 1350-2000 words plus an APA 7 Student format reference page.
Scoring Rubric
Points (10)
Intro Paragraph – Provide an overview of the law chosen from the ones listed in the assignment page.
· National Cybersecurity Protection Act of 2014
·
1
Body Paragraphs – Legislative Tracking
Describe the following…
1. The legislation as it is presented in the all the “informational tabs”;
2. Who proposed the legislation in the House of Representatives and Senate;
3. The purpose of this legislation
4. Any outcomes of this legislation and whether a government agency has been directed to enact the legislation.
5. The history of the policy from the initial introduction of the legislation through the progress of the policy development, including, amendments, etc, to becoming a law as shown in the “Actions”.
2
Body Paragraphs – Policy Analysis
Discuss the following topics, taking care to organize paragraphs according to claims supported by analysis and examples.
Meaning, clarity, and consistency (1)
1. Is the policy clearly stated?
2. Can the intent of the policy be understood?
3. Are there examples of how the policy will be applied?
4. Is the intent of the policy addressed consistently within the body of the policy?
Interpretation (1)
1. Is the policy ambiguous such that it might be plausibly interpreted in different ways?
2. Does the policy have established parameters?
3. Does the policy pertain to one or multiple topic areas?
Relationship with other policies (1)
1. Does the policy overwrite or contradict another policy?
2. Do you believe there may be contradictions in the policy?
3. Is the policy related to or part of another policy?
Implementation (1)
1. Are implementation methods clearly stated?
2. Is the entity responsible for implementation addressed?
3. Is there a time-frame for implementation of the policy?
Additions and Evaluation (1)
1. In your opinion, is the policy complete or does it require additional components; what do you believe should be added?
2. How will the effects of the policy be evaluated?
3. In your opinion are there any ethical implications associated with this policy? **

5
Conclusion
1. Discuss the aspect(s) of this legislation and the legislative process that were interesting and/or new to you.
2. Summarize what you have learned, observed and/or concluded through your reading and analysis of this law.
1
Adhere to formatting and structuring guidelines, including…
· APA 7 Student format ( ex. title page, page number in header, double-space, etc.)
· a reference page
· Introductory, body, and conclusion paragraphs
· MS .doc or .docx file
· Limited spelling and grammar errors
· 12-point font
Each major error is worth .25 of a point.
1