Lawmakers and Legislatures

Do You Have What is Takes to be a Successful Legislature? Do you have a burning desire to serve the people and a willingness to work long hours doing the public’s business? Are you prepared to apply common sense and sound moral judgment to the issues of the day? Do you value compromise? Are you brave enough to vote your conscience, even if it means going against the wishes of your party or the voters who elected you?

Must continuously be re-elected. Must be charming, at ease speaking to crowds, willing to tailor you views to match the results of the public opinion polls

Must be able to raise money to finance your election campaign

You must become skilled at playing political games

When seeking reelection, you must show that you were able to bring taxpayer- funded projects back to your home district or state.

Formal Qualifications Resident in the state which elected US citizen for at least 7 years (House), 9 years (Senate) 25 yrs old (House), 30 yrs. Old (Senate)

Informal Qualifications College Degree Background in business or law

Incumbents Congress member seeking reelection Since 1945 incumbents have been reelected by 90% in House and 80% in the Senate Higher name recognition More resources to keep them in touch with the public Usually have more campaign contributions Can give specific examples of their work

What’s up with the Pork? Pork is a term used to describe the money or projects a member of congress secures for their home districts. (money for roads, bridges, defense contracts) The money comes from the federal “pork barrel” or treasury Legislatures who secure large amounts of money for their home districts are said to be “bringing home the bacon”

Pork-barrel spending "pork-barrel" - a container for unwanted extras from slaughtered pigs. Pork-barrelPork-barrel - a political candidate would climb on an inverted pork barrel on the street corner by the local general store to address the crowd. He would shout and wave his hands and make extravagant promises about all the benefits he would send back home if he were elected. The term "pork-barrel spending" came to mean unnecessary government expenditures that were allocated for political reasons.

Earmarks The term "earmarks" originally referred to tags put on the ears of cattle so they could be readily identified. Once elected, a politician would tag special spending provisions in national legislation so that they were designed to benefit his constituents back home.

Logrolling Logrolling is a sport that originated in the lumberjack tradition of the northeastern United States and Canada. It involves standing on a log that is floating in a river and spinning it with ones feet, either to cooperate with, or to try to throw off another competitor.

Legislative Logrolling logrolling is exchanging of favorsIn legislative circles, logrolling is exchanging of favors such as trading votes to gain passage of actions of interest to each legislative member. A politician would be obligated to vote for other legislators' earmarked legislation if they voted for his--and, more importantly, to agree to greater spending measures than he would otherwise approve of. In other words, if everybody cooperated and "rolled the log" together, then nobody fell off

Leadership Roles in the House Speaker of the House ▫Nominated by the majority party and voted on by the entire House ▫Presides over the house ▫Assigns bills to committees ▫Appoints members to special committees and commissions ▫Decides what bills will be debated by the full House and when.

Majority and Minority Leaders Elected by the party Manage legislation on the floor Majority leader is the second in command Minority leader is the minority party’s overall leader and main strategist

Majority and Minority Whips Responsible for ▫keeping the leadership informed ▫Persuading party members to vote along party lines Term Whip – first used in British Parliament, a whip is the person who keeps the dogs under control during a fox hunt

President of the Senate Vice President of U.S Only appears on the Senate floor for ceremonies and to break a tie vote President of the Senate Pro Tempore Senior Senator of the Majority Party Presides over the Senate when the Vice President is not there “Pro Tempore” means “for the time being”

Majority Leader Serves as the spokesperson for the party that holds the most seats in the Senate Must work with members to move legislation forward Minority Leader Helps shape minority party policy Devises strategies for stopping majority- sponsored bills.

Majority and Minority Whips To stand in for the leaders and act as assistants to the party leaders.

Congressional Committee System ( 5 types of committees) Standing Committees Subcommittees Select or special committees Joint Committee Conference Committee

Standing Committees Permanent committees that handle most legislative business. Study legislation of a particular area (homeland security or foreign affairs) Gather information through hearings and investigations. SubcommitteesSubcommittees – Do all of the work for standing committees ▫Review proposed legislation ▫Most bills die in this committee

Select or Special Committees Temporary Assigned to investigate specific problems Make recommendations to Congress based on their investigations. Joint Committees Made up of members of the House and Senate. Deals with issues of interest to both chambers Conference Committees Temporary Formed to iron out differences between two versions of a bill passed by the House and Senate. Both chambers must pass identical versions of a bill for it to become a law

How Congress Checks the Other Branches Oversight – they oversee executive agencies to make sure they carry out the laws as passed. Confirmation – must confirm key officials appointed by the President Impeachment – House can impeach a federal official, Senate conducts a trial Ratification – must approve all treaties negotiated by the president. Override – Can vote to override a veto Amendment –can propose an amendment to the constitution, even if it means reversing a ruling of the Supreme Court