1. CONGRESS

2. In this unit we will cover… Powers of Congress Incumbency and Congress Organization of Congress Responsible Party Model

3. Powers of Congress Tax and Spend deficit Lawmaking Declare War Regulate Commerce Oversight Create Courts Make all laws "necessary and proper" to carrying out the enumerated powers

4. Projected Budgets

5. The Reality: Are Congressional Elections Competitive?

6. Percentage of Votes Congressperson Received 39% 41% 20%

7. Incumbents winning with more than 60% of the vote have 5 times more money Incumbents winning with less than 60% of the vote have 1.8 times more money When Challengers win incumbents have 1.2 time more money Campaign Finance Institute Increasing Difference Between Incumbent and Challenger Are Elections Competitive?

8. B. Does gerrymandering reduce competition? The Reality: Are Congressional Elections Competitive?

9. Gerrymandering –Redrawing Congressional district lines to benefit one party over the other –Reapportionment of Seats after every census Principles: compactness, equal population & contiguity The Reality: Are Congressional Elections Competitive?

11. C. Name Recognition –Franking privilege –Media exposure D. Constituency Service The Reality: Are Congressional Elections Competitive?

12. E. Poor Quality of Challengers F. Committee Appointments The Reality: Are Congressional Elections Competitive?

13. The Reality: Does the Majority Party Organize the House of Representatives? Steering Committee

14. Party Unity has been increasing since the 1970s The Reality: Do Party Members Vote with Their Party?

15. Presidential Success with Congress –In Unified and Divided Government The Reality: Do Party Members Vote with Their Party?

16. The End