Chapter 12: Congress American Democracy Now, 4/e.

Chapter 12: Congress American Democracy Now, 4/e

Congress Where Do You Stand?
How would you rate the overall performance of Congress today? a. Favorably b. Unfavorably c. Neither favorably nor unfavorably Source: “Democratic Party’s Favorables Rise, Congress Still Unpopular,” Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

The Origins of Congress
In structuring the Congress, the framers strove to create a legislative branch that was at once powerful enough to govern and to check the power of the president, and yet not so powerful that the legislature itself would exercise tyrannical rule. The Constitution created a bicameral, or two-house, legislature in which one house, the House of Representatives, would be based on population, and the other chamber, the Senate, would be based on state representation. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

The Origins of Congress
The House of Representatives, with the smallest constituencies of any federal office (currently about 711,000 people reside in each congressional district), is the chamber closer to the people. The framers conceived the Senate to be a more elite, more deliberative institution, one not subject to the whims of mass politics like its lower-house counterpart. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Congressional Elections
House members, as public servants in the legislative body that the framers conceived as closer to the people, are elected every two years, in even-numbered years. But the framers also sought to check the power of the people, who they believed could be irrational and unruly, and so members of the Senate originally were chosen by state legislators. Ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment Constitution in 1913 shifted the election of senators to popular election within the states. Senators serve six-year terms, which are staggered so that one-third of the Senate is elected every two years. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Incumbency In any election year, about 90 percent of incumbent members of the House of Representatives running for reelection win, and about 91 percent of their Senate counterparts do. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Incumbency Why do incumbents so often win reelection?
Stronger name recognition Easier access to media coverage Redistricting that favors the incumbent party Campaign contributions Casework Franking Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Reapportionment and Redistricting
Reapportionment is the reallocation of seats in the House of Representatives on the basis of changes in a state’s population since the last census. Redistricting, the redrawing of congressional district boundaries within a state, is based on the reapportionment from the census. The redrawing of congressional boundaries for the purpose of political advantage is a form of gerrymandering, the practice of drawing legislative district boundaries to benefit an incumbent, a political party, or some other group. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Reapportionment and Redistricting
A majority-minority district is composed of a majority of a given minority community—say, African Americans—and the creators’ intent is to make it likely that a member of that minority will be elected to Congress. The Supreme Court has ruled that such racial gerrymandering is legal unless the state legislature redrawing the district lines creates majority-minority districts at the expense of other redistricting concerns. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Powers of Congress The primary source of congressional authority is the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution enumerates to Congress a number of different powers. The necessary and proper—or elastic—clause In addition to the Constitution, Congress derives power from Supreme Court decisions, the media, and the people. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Functions of Congress The Constitution is far more explicit in defining the responsibilities of the national legislature than it is in describing the function of the other branches of the government. In its shaping of congressional functions, the Constitution’s concerns with limited government, checks and balances, the separation of powers, and the creation of a federal system are all readily apparent. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Representation Comes in Many Forms
Representation traditionally involves a House or Senate member’s articulating and voting for the position that best represents the views of his or her constituents. But sometimes a member of Congress may speak for other constituencies as well. Often, Congress’s policy-making function is at odds with its representation function. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Models of Representation
According to the trustee model of representation, a member of the House or the Senate follows his or her own conscience when deciding issue positions and determining how to vote. Another model of representation is the instructed delegate model, the idea that a legislator, as a representative of his or her constituents, should vote in keeping with the constituents’ views, even if those views contradict the legislator’s personal views. Most analyses of representation indicate that legislators are likely to combine the approaches. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Pork Barrel and Earmarks
Members of Congress also represent their constituencies through pork barrel politics. Pork barrel (also called simply pork) refers to legislators’ appropriations of funds for special projects located within their congressional districts. Members of Congress also use earmarks as a means of representing constituent interests: a designation within a spending bill that provides for a specific expenditure. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Casework A special form of representation called casework refers to providing representation in the form of personal aid to a constituent or a group of constituents, typically by getting the government to do something the constituent wants done. In doing so, they serve in the capacity of an ombudsperson. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Policy Making: A Central Responsibility
The policy making function is the central responsibility that the Congress carries out, and nearly all its other functions are related to its policy-making role. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Oversight: A Check on the Executive Branch
Oversight is the process by which Congress “checks” the executive branch to ensure that the laws Congress passes are being administered in keeping with legislators’ intentions. In carrying out their oversight function, members of Congress use a variety of tools, including: Congressional hearings Confirmation hearings Investigations Appropriations Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Agenda Setting and Civic Engagement
Congress engages continuously in agenda setting: determining which public policy issues the federal legislature should consider. In setting the national agenda, Congress serves as a key agent in molding the scope of civic engagement and discourse, as people learn about, discuss, and form positions about issues. Frequently, agenda setting is itself influenced by public discourse. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Managing Societal Conflict
Congress also has a significant influence in managing the societal conflict inherent in a divided society such as the United States. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

The House and the Senate Compared
The Constitution empowers the House of Representatives, as the legislative body closer to the people, with initiating any bills that result in taxes; whereas it empowers the Senate, as the more deliberative house, to give the president advice and consent on appointments and the ratification of treaties. The electoral and legislative structures are also sources of differences between the two houses. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

The House and the Senate Compared
The differing length of representatives’ and senators’ terms of service affects how members of each chamber of Congress relate to their constituents. Although the House and the Senate differ in their constitutionally determined duties, both must pass any piece of legislation before it can become law. The larger size of the House of Representatives, with its 435 members, necessitates a more formal legislative structure to prevent unruliness. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

The Legislative Process
Five steps to a bill becoming law Introduction Committee review House and Senate approval Conference committee reconciliation Presidential approval Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Introducing a Bill In the House of Representatives, a member of a legislator’s staff drafts the proposed legislation, and the House member puts the bill into the hopper. In the Senate the process is less formal. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

The Bill in Committee Most bills that are introduced “die” in committee. The parties in each chamber decide members’ committee and subcommittee assignments. Committee chairs are often chosen using the seniority system. Standing committees are permanent committees with a defined legislative jurisdiction. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

The Bill in Committee Select committees are specially created to consider a specific policy issue or to address a particular concern. Joint committees are bicameral committees composed of members of both chambers of Congress. In addition to the congressional committees, the House has more than 90 subcommittees, and the Senate has 68. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

The Bill in Committee When a committee or a subcommittee favors a measure, it usually takes four actions: Agency Review Hearings Markup Report In the House of Representatives, a special measure known as a discharge petition is used to extract a bill from a committee to have it considered by the entire House. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Debate on the House and Senate Floor
If a House bill is “discharged,” or makes it out of committee, it then goes to the Rules Committee , one of the most important committees in the House, which decides on the length of debate and the scope of amendments that will be allowed on a bill. The Senate’s small size allows members to agree to the terms of debate through unanimous consent agreements. If the Senate does not reach unanimous consent, the possibility of a filibuster arises—a procedural move that attempts to halt passage of the bill. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Debate on the House and Senate Floor
A filibuster can end by a vote of cloture, in which a supermajority of 60 senators agrees to invoke cloture and end debate. If both the House and the Senate pass bills on the same topic but with differences between the bills, the bills are then sent to a conference committee, a bicameral, bipartisan committee composed of legislators whose job is to reconcile the two versions of the bill. After the committee develops a compromise version of the bill, the bill then goes back to both chambers for another vote. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Presidential Action When both the House and the Senate manage to pass a bill in identical form, it proceeds to the president, who may take one of three actions. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Presidential Action President may sign the bill, and the bill becomes a law. The president may do nothing. If the President does nothing and Congress is in session, the bill becomes law after 10 days without the president’s signature. If, however, the Congress has adjourned the president may exercise a pocket veto and the bill dies. The president may exercise the power of a veto. Congress can vote to override the veto with a two-thirds vote in both houses. But overriding a presidential veto is rare. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Looking ahead to the next twelve months, how would you describe the likelihood that Congress will legislatively address the country’s most urgent problems? a. Very likely b. Somewhat likely c. Not very likely d. Not likely at all e. Not sure Source: “Toplines: Supreme Court/Congress,” Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Congressional Leadership
In earlier eras, forceful leaders rose to the position of majority leader in both houses and strongly influenced congressional priorities and legislation. But as political parties have come to play a less important role in the election of members of the House and the Senate, allegiance to party leaders in these institutions has dwindled. Despite the evolution in the role of congressional leader, partisanship remains a strong aspect of congressional politics, particularly since 1994. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Leadership in the House of Representatives
It is really the members of the majority party who select their Speaker of the House. The Speaker serves as the presiding officer and manager of the House. The Speaker is also the leader of his or her party in the House. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

The Speaker relies on the House majority leader to help develop and implement the majority party’s legislative strategy, work with the minority party leadership, and encourage unity among majority party legislators. The Speaker and the House majority leader are assisted by the majority whip, who acts as a go-between with the leadership and the party members in the House. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

The minority party in the House also elects leaders, the House minority leader and the minority whip, whose jobs mirror those of their majority party colleagues, but without the power that comes from holding a majority in the House. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Leadership in the Senate
The vice president of the United States serves as the president of that body, according to the Constitution. The majority party in the Senate elects a Senate leader called the president pro tempore. The real power in the U.S. Senate is held and wielded by the Senate majority leader, whose job is to manage the legislative process so that favored bills are passed; to schedule debate on legislation in consultation with his or her counterpart in the minority party, the Senate minority leader; and to act as the spokesperson for the majority party in the Senate. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

What issue is of more concern to you today, and is one that the members of Congress urgently need to address—the economy or national security? a. The economy—issues such as jobs and economic growth b. National security—issues such as the Iraq war and the war on terror c. Other issues Source: “Economy Tops National Security as New Voter Concern,” Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Decision Making in Congress: The Legislative Context
Political Parties and Partisanship in Decision Making Colleagues and Staff: Trading Votes and Information Interest Groups: Influence Through Organization The President’s Effect on Decision Making Constituents: The Last Word Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Political Parties and Partisanship in Decision Making
The partisan breakdown of Congress is important because most major legislative votes cast are “party votes,” meaning that most members of one political party vote one way, and most members of the other party vote the other way. Partisan voting increased after the Watergate scandal in the 1970s and rose again after the 1994 congressional elections, in which Republicans took control of Congress. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Party Representation in the House of Representatives, 2015

Colleagues and Staff: Trading Votes and Information
Congressional colleagues provide cues for members of the House and the Senate in their decision making over whether to vote for a pending piece of legislation. Members of Congress also engage in logrolling, the practice of trading votes between members. In addition, House and Senate members rely on their staffs to inform their decision making on legislation. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Interest Groups: Influence Through Organization
Interest groups make their mark by influencing congressional campaigns, by providing information to members of Congress as they try to decide whether to vote for a particular piece of legislation, and by lobbying members of Congress to support or oppose legislation. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

The President’s Effect on Decision Making
The president determines whether to sign or to veto legislation that reaches his desk. But often, before a bill reaches the signing stage, the president’s position on it carries enough influence to sway members of Congress, particularly members of his political party, to vote for or against the proposed legislation. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

Constituents: The Last Word
Most members of Congress want to be reelected, and representing constituents’ views (and being able to convince voters that their views are represented well) is a major avenue to reelection to Congress. Constituents influence the legislative process by ensuring that their representatives in Congress work hard to represent their perspectives and policy interests. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

The People and Their Representatives
Although members of Congress may make it a priority to represent the viewpoints and interests of their constituents, demographically speaking, they do not represent the American public at large. Congress, especially the Senate, is older, whiter, more educated, and more likely to be male than the population as a whole. Yet Congress is more diverse today than at any other point in history. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

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