Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005 Chapter 11 CONGRESS

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005 The Dynamics and Consequences of 2004 Congressional Elections *In one of the most bitterly partisan congressional election campaigns in recent memory, Republicans increased their majorities by four seats in both the House and the Senate *Such unified party government existed for only seven years between *Campaign spending reached historic levels *Acceleration in the changing geography of representation in the Senate *Transformation of the Deep South from solidly Democratic to solidly Republican *Other notable developments for Democrats *Election of young and charismatic Barack Obama (Illinois) *Defeat of Senate minority leader Tom Daschle (South Dakota)

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005 The Dynamics and Consequences of 2004 Congressional Elections *Incumbents proved to be virtually invincible *Portends an increasingly partisan and contentious political environment *Fewer moderates representatives *More ideologically committed representatives

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005 Constitutional Foundations of the Modern Congress  The framers of the Constitution were ambivalent about democracy and concerned about the possibility of government tyranny.  They wanted an energetic government, with the legislative branch as the center of policymaking.  Yet they also limited Congressional power  bicameralism  bills of attainder  ex post facto laws  habeas corpus  separation of powers  checks and balances

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Representation in Congress  Apportionment  Established through the Great Compromise  Based on population in the House of Representatives and on equal representation of the states in the Senate  Election of legislators

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005 Federalism  In our federal system, some powers and responsibilities are granted to the national government, some are shared, and some are reserved for the states.  It is inevitable that conflicts will occur between state governments and the national government.  Federalism also infuses localism into congressional affairs.

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005 Representation and Democracy  Styles of representation  Edmund Burke described two principal styles of representation in  Delegate theory  Trustee theory  Senators (who have longer terms of office) usually have more latitude than representatives to assume the trustee style.

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005 Race, Gender and Occupation in Congress  Gender  Race  African Americans  Hispanics  Others  Occupation  dominance of law, business, and banking  lack of blue-collar representation  Is it important that Congress be demographically representative of the American people?

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The Electoral Connection  Electoral districts  reapportionment  redistricting  gerrymandering  majority-minority districts  Money and congressional elections  average 5 million for Senate race, 1 million for House  effects of campaign finance reform  sources: individuals, PACs, political parties, candidates

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The Incumbency Factor  extremely high re-election rates  advantages  franking privilege  casework  pork  Implications for democracy

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How Congress Works  Congress remains the most influential and independent legislature among Western democratic nations.  Centrifugal forces

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005 Political Parties in Congress  At the opening of each new Congress, parties in the two houses hold caucuses to organize their legislative business and select their leadership.  Party composition of Congress  Party voting in Congress  increased partisanship over time

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Congressional Leadership  The political parties work through the leadership structure of Congress.  Leaders of the majority political party are also the leaders of the House and Senate.  Leadership in the House  Speaker  whips  Leadership in the Senate

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005 Congressional Committees  Most of the work of Congress takes place in its committees and subcommittees.  Why Congress has committees  Types of committees  standing committees  subcommittees (hearings, markup)  select committees  joint committees  conference committees  Committee assignments  Committee and subcommittee chairs

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005 Rules and Norms  Reciprocity  currently declining in favor of deference to party leaders  Senate  bills scheduled by unanimous consent  filibuster & cloture  House  more rule-bound  more hierarchical

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Legislative Responsibilities: How a Bill Becomes a Law  It is extremely difficult to make law because it is relatively easy to block bills from becoming laws.  Only about 6 percent of all bills that are introduced are enacted into law.

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005  Introducing a bill  Committee action  Floor action  Conference committee  Presidential action  veto  pocket veto

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Legislative Oversight of the Executive Branch  Reviewing the performance of executive branch agencies to ensure that laws are being properly administered and that power is not being abused  An important legislative responsibility of Congress  Primarily managed by the committees and subcommittees  hearings  impeachment

Pearson Education, Inc. © 2005 Congress, Public Policy, and the American People  Congress as Policymaker  Frequent criticisms of Congress  Yet, the evidence is mixed  Congress and the American People  Americans tend to approve of their own representatives and senators, but have low regard for Congress as an institution.