Chapter 11: Congress

The Origin and Powers of Congress The Great Compromise Representation in the House is based on population Each state has two senators (equal representation for small states)

The Origin and Powers of Congress Duties of the House and Senate The House of Representatives Initiates impeachment proceedings against a President or other government official Originates revenue bills The Senate Votes to convict impeached President or other officials Must approve major presidential appointments Sole power to affirm treaties

Electing Congress The Incumbency Effect Incumbent: a current officeholder Incumbents have a very high reelection rate Yet the public does not hold Congress in very high esteem Voters seem only to be satisfied with their own representatives

Electing Congress The Incumbency Effect Redistricting Gerrymandering: redrawing a congressional district to intentionally benefit one party May be done to benefit incumbents

Electing Congress The Incumbency Effect Name Recognition Recognition increased by being member of Congress Franking privilege: the right to send mail free of charge

Electing Congress The Incumbency Effect Casework Casework: solving problems for constituents, especially problems involving government agencies Structure of congressional offices is built around casework

Electing Congress The Incumbency Effect Campaign Financing Incumbents have significant advantage in fundraising PACs have strong preference for incumbents

Electing Congress The Incumbency Effect Successful Challengers The opposing party and sympathetic PACs may target vulnerable incumbents, thus giving a challenger a better chance to succeed Vulnerable incumbents bring out higher quality challengers

Electing Congress The Incumbency Effect 2002 and 2006 Elections Off-year election: the congressional election between presidential elections Traditionally not good for party holding the White House 2002: only 3rd time since the Civil War the President’s party has gained House seats at midterm

Electing Congress Whom Do We Elect? Most members of Congress are professionals Women and minorities have long been underrepresented, but numbers are increasing Descriptive representation: a belief that constituents are most effectively represented by legislators who are similar to them in such key demographic characteristics as race, ethnicity, religion or gender Voting Rights Act of 1982 provided support for descriptive representation

Electing Congress Whom Do We Elect? Racial gerrymandering: the drawing of legislative districts to maximize the chance that a minority candidate will win election Shaw v. Reno (1993) deemed racial gerrymandering unconstitutional Supreme Court modified this position in 2001, saying race could be a consideration in drawing congressional districts

Not Exactly a Vote of Confidence

How Issues Get on the Congressional Agenda Agenda: the broad, imprecise, and unwritten agenda comprising all the issues an institution is considering Many issues have been on the agenda a long time Other issues emerge suddenly, often due to technological change

How Issues Get on the Congressional Agenda Issues may reach the agenda in many ways A highly visible event (like Sept. 11th) draws our attention to a problem Presidential support Congressional party leaders and committee chairs Interest group efforts

The Dance of Legislation: An Overview Series of specific steps, but legislation can be treated differently at each step Introduction  Assigned to committee  Assigned to subcommittee Subcommittee may hold hearings; bill is modified or revised; if passed is sent to full committee Bill approved by full committee is reported to the entire chamber Chamber may debate, amend, and pass or defeat

The Dance of Legislation: An Overview Bills coming out of House committees go to Rules committee Rules committee attaches rule to the bill that governs floor debate On major legislation, rules can be complex Senate does not have comparable committee

The Dance of Legislation: An Overview Senate and House versions have to be reconciled by conference committee Compromise version has to go to both houses for a vote If both chambers approve, bill goes to president

The Dance of Legislation: An Overview President’s action Sign Veto Neither sign nor veto within 10 days  bill becomes law Neither sign nor veto within 10 days but Congress adjourns  pocket veto Content of bill can be changed at any time in legislative process

The Legislative Process

Committees: The Workhorses of Congress Committees develop and use expertise in specific areas Committee types Standing Joint Select Conference

Committees: The Workhorses of Congress Congressional Expertise and Seniority Influence on committees grows formally with seniority Influence on committees grows informally with increased expertise Senior member of the majority party usually becomes the committee chair

Committees: The Workhorses of Congress Public policy decision-making takes place in committees Committees hold hearings Markup sessions: the meetings at which committees debate and amend legislation

Committees: The Workhorses of Congress Oversight: the process of reviewing the operations of an agency to determine whether it is carrying out policies as Congress intended Oversight has become more difficult Congress has added resources to perform the oversight function Majoritarian and Pluralist Views of Committees

Leaders and Followers in Congress The parties’ leadership hierarchy Rules of Procedure Amendments House: amendments must be germane Senate: non-germane amendments are generally accepted Floor debate House: Rules Committee governs floor debate Senate: Debate governed by unanimous consent agreement

Leaders and Followers in Congress Norms of Behavior Unwritten codes of behavior to keep things running Members show respect for their colleagues Members should be willing to bargain with one another Some norms have changed in recent years

The Legislative Environment Political parties Have limited, but important, resources to influence members of Congress Party leaders can help or hinder rank-and-file members in many ways Partisanship is rising

The Legislative Environment The President Presidents capitalize on nationwide popular election Public expects president to be legislator-in-chief Hundreds of legislative liaison personnel work for executive branch

The Legislative Environment Constituents Constituents: people who live and work in a government official’s district Members have to think about what the voters at home want

The Legislative Environment Interest groups A way for constituents to influence Congress Sources of useful information Recent scandals raise concerns about conflicts of interest

The Dilemma of Representation Presidents and Shopping Bags Members of Congress live in two worlds Washington: dealing with great issues of national concern Back in the district or state: meeting with constituents, giving speeches to local groups Legislators work hard to keep in touch with constituents

The Dilemma of Representation Trustees or Delegates? Trustee: a representative who is obligated to consider the views of constituents but is not obligated to vote according to those views if he or she believes they are misguided Delegate: a legislator whose primary responsibility is to represent the majority view of his or her constituents, regardless of his or her own view

Pluralism, Majoritarianism and Democracy The Dilemmas of Members of Congress If legislators act as delegates, policymaking is more pluralistic If legislators act as trustees, policymaking is still not guaranteed to reflect majority interests True majoritarianism requires paramount role for political parties

Pluralism, Majoritarianism and Democracy Parliamentary Government Parliamentary system Fit the majoritarian model of democracy to a much greater extent than does Congress

Pluralism vs. Majoritarianism in Congress Congress’s inability to reduce the budget deficit reflects the pluralistic nature of congressional policymaking Growing partisanship represents trend toward majoritarianism