Politics & Power in the “Constitution State”: A Look Inside Law-Making in the Connecticut General Assembly is an Open Educational Resource (OER) textbook written by Interns of the Trinity College Legislative Internship Program and edited by Professor Nhat-Dang Do, Professor Carl Schiessl, and Erin Barbakoff.
The First Edition of free textbook is available HERE.
This book offers an accessible overview of the Connecticut General Assembly’s political and historical development. Drawing on their firsthand experiences, professional connections, and unique access to the state legislature, students in Trinity College’s Legislative Internship Program (LIP) researched and authored its chapters as part of their academic seminar. The manuscript was subsequently edited and revised by a former state legislator, a former Trinity Legislative Intern, and me, bringing together student perspectives, legislative expertise, and academic scholarship.
The result is an open educational resource (OER) designed to make Connecticut’s legislative institutions, political processes, and history more accessible to students, educators, and the broader public. The project was made possible through the generous support of the Connecticut OER Council, whose funding helped bring the book to publication. Published under a Creative Commons license, the book is freely available for others to read, share, and build upon.
My hope is that this book will remain a living educational resource, evolving alongside the institution it seeks to explain. Each new cohort of Trinity College Legislative Interns will have the opportunity to revisit, revise, and expand upon the work of their predecessors, contributing new research, perspectives, and insights to future editions. In this way, the book will serve not only as a resource for understanding Connecticut politics but also as an ongoing collaborative learning project that connects generations of Trinity students to the practice of democratic governance.
