Model Congress gives students a chance to engage in a role-playing simulation of the United States Congress. Such events are hosted by the Congress itself, Rutgers University, American International College, Columbia University, Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, Yale, The College of William and Mary and Harvard.
These simulations range in complexity from the government-sponsored Model United States House of Representatives, hosted on Capitol Hill and featuring six Congressional committees to Harvard's simulation featuring both the House and Senate, various committees therein, the Supreme Court, and offshoots in San Francisco, Europe and Asia. North Carolina has a program similar to Model Congress called North Carolina Youth Legislative Assembly, and Arkansas has one called the Arkansas Student Congress on Human Relations. The mock assembly models the North Carolina General Assembly and Arkansas General Assembly but also uses parliamentary procedure and Robert's Rules of Order.
Awards are available for outstanding delegates, both in committee and in full session. Often, debaters call winning the highest award in a committee or full session "gaveling", and some exceptionally skilled debaters may "double gavel", or win the top award in both committee and full sessions.
American International College's Model Congress Program is the longest-running program of its kind in the United States.
The University of Pennsylvania hosted the first ever intercollegiate Model Congress conference on November 6–7, 2010. Yale University soon followed with a conference on April 23, 2011. The circuit is gradually expanding. World Youth Model Congress, organized by college and high school students from South Korea, is the first of its kind to be held in North-East Asia.
Read more about Model Congress: High Schools, Intercollegiate
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