Post on 29-Jan-2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9defOwVWS8&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtOfse2ncvffeelTrqvhrz8H&index=2
11Congress
Representatives and Senators
Members
11.1
EQ: Characterize the backgrounds of members of Congress and assess their impact on the ability of members of Congress to represent average Americans
Members
Not a glamorous job, but there are perks Power $174,000 annual salary Generous retirement and health benefits
Constitutional requirements House: 25, citizen for 7 years Senate: 30, citizen for 9 years Reside in state they represent 435 Representatives; 100 senators
11.1
TABLE 11.1: Portrait of the 113th Congress:
11.1
Members
Demographics Descriptive versus substantive representation
This simply means that they can’t represent their constituents
by being from the same background and having the same
problems, but they can represent them as advocates who
understand their problems and concerns.
11.1
Why Aren’t There More Women in Congress? Women constitute more than half the U.S. population but hold
less than a fifth of congressional seats.
Fewer women running- win about ½ of the time. Childcare-Women without children are more politically ambitious
Bias When candidates are equally qualified, there’s a bias in voters toward the male
candidate, therefore females must be MORE qualified to win.
11.1
11.1 How old do you have to be to run for the office of senator?
a. 25
b. 35
c. 30
d. 21
11.1
11.1 How old do you have to be to run for the office of senator?
a. 25
b. 35
c. 30
d. 21
11.1
Congressional Elections Who Wins Elections?
Advantages of Incumbency
Role of Party Identification
Defeating Incumbents
Open Seats
Stability and Change
11.2EQ: Identify the principal factors influencing the outcomes in congressional elections
Incumbents Over 90% win re-election in House Senators do not have it as easy
Represent a larger more diverse constituencies, more visible, held more accountable, serve a longer term
Incumbents perceive themselves as vulnerable Hence fundraising and campaigning
Who Wins Elections? 11.2
FIGURE 11.1: Incumbency factor in congressional elections
11.2
Americans disapprove of the performance of Congress as a whole, but tend to think that their own representatives are an exception and reelect them. This makes it hard to change the makeup of Congress in a given election.
Advantages of Incumbency Do Americans reelect their representatives because they agree with their
voting record? Hardly. Only 11% of Americans have any idea of how their
representatives voted on a given issue. If not policy, what gives
incumbents their electoral advantage?
Advertising Franking Privilege = Constituent contact, telephone,
email, twitter, FB, etc.
Credit claiming Casework-services to individual constituents Pork barrel projects (These are safer than taking credit for policy changes because
those win enemies as well as supporters)
11.2
Advantages of Incumbency
Position taking- risky but can be effective
Weak opponents who lack visibility and experience
Campaign spending
House more than $1mil on avg
Senate more than $10 mil
Incumbent outspend their challengers 2 to 1
11.2
Role of Party Identification Parties and districts
Drawn for one-party dominance-this also give incumbents an advantage When state legislatures redraw districts every decade, they look at the demographics of residents and
draw the districts to ensure that they’re safe seats for one party or the other
11.2
Defeating Incumbents Challengers are naïve
But sometimes incumbents are vulnerable (scandal)
Redistricting – every 10 years – done by the party in power in the STATE legislatures – Gerrymandering
Public mood
Dissatisfaction w/ economy or scandals
This happens most often in midterm elections, and the party that holds
the presidency almost always loses seats in both houses.
11.2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcUDBgYodIE&index=47&list=PLHTrUoI0-acy7fkBiZz0EaE1S-LS1cGgK
113th Congress
Open Seats and Stability and Change Vacant seat @ election = no incumbent running
Most turnover occurs here
Stability from incumbency Development of expertise
Term limits? Does this expertise outweigh the lack of responsiveness that results from career politicians in safe seats?
Some people have proposed term limits for members of Congress. Do you think that’s a good idea?
11.2
11.2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxiD9AEX4Hc&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtOfse2ncvffeelTrqvhrz8H&index=6
11.2 Why do incumbents have such a strong electoral advantage?
a. They attract more campaign contributions
b. They can use the congressional franking
privilege
c. They have more name recognition
d. All of the above
11.2
11.2 Why do incumbents have such a strong electoral advantage?
a. They attract more campaign contributions
b. They can use the congressional franking
privilege
c. They have more name recognition
d. All of the above
11.2
How Congress is Organized to Make Policy
American Bicameralism
Congressional Leadership
Committees and Subcommittees
Caucuses: Informal Organization of Congress
Congressional Staff
11.3EQ: Compare and contrast the House and Senate, and describe the roles of congressional leaders, committees, caucuses, and staff
American Bicameralism Bicameral legislature- Connecticut (Great) Compromise
Bills must pass both houses (exactly the same) Checks and balances
House More institutionalized and seniority-based Rules Committee-functions as a traffic cop for bills coming out of
committee. It gives each bill a “rule,” which schedules the bill on the calendar,
allots time for debate, and specifies what kind of amendments may be offered.
Senate Filibuster (can end w/ cloture of 60 votes) – weapon of
minority party https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMeGxoyDC5o&index=51&list=PLHTrUoI0-acy7fkBiZz0EaE1S-LS1cGgK
Less centralized and seniority-based
11.3
TABLE 11.2: House versus Senate: Some key differences
11.3
Congressional Leadership Leadership assignments are chosen by party
House Speaker of the House – chosen by majority party (3rd in line
for POTUS), presides over the House Majority leader/minority leaders-work with the party whips to
persuade members to vote with their party on important bills Whips-Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer
incentives and threaten party members to ensure that they vote
according to the official party policy
Senate Vice president –leader of Senate – only breaks a tie vote Majority leader is the de facto head (president pro
tempore)
11.3
Congressional Leadership 11.3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8urcMLGFyU&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtOfse2ncvffeelTrqvhrz8H&index=8
Committees and Subcommittees
Four types of committees Standing committees-handle bills in different policy areas.
Members of Congress each serve on several standing
committees and subcommittees. Joint committees-between the two chambers exist in a few
key policy areas, such as the economy and taxation Conference committees- created when the House and
Senate need to reconcile different versions of the same bill Select committees-deal with a policy issue, such as deficit
reduction, and may be temporary or permanent
11.3
TABLE: 11.3: Standing committees in the Senate and in the House
11.3
Committees and Subcommittees
Committees at work: Legislation 9000 bill introduced annually New bills are assigned to a subcommittee, where they usually die. If they are debated and passed, they move on to the full
committee, where they have another good chance of never again seeing the light of day
If the bills pass out of committee, they move to the full floor of the chamber for debate and voting, where they can also die!.
legislative oversight- Once a bill becomes law, committees remain involved in assigning budgets and monitoring the work of the executive branch agency responsible for implementing the law. legislative oversight.
11.3
TABLE 11.4: Sharing oversight of homeland security
11.3
Getting on a committee Constituent needs Appealing to leadership
Committees and Subcommittees
11.3
Caucuses: Informal Organization of Congress
As important as formal structure- networks spring
mainly from friendship, ideology, and geography.
Dominated by caucuses 500 caucuses today Goal is to promote their interests Black Caucus, Hispanic Caucus, Caucus for Women’s Issues, etc
11.3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evLR90Dx79M&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtOfse2ncvffeelTrqvhrz8H&index=7
Congressional Staff Personal staff (11,000+)
Casework Legislative functions-ghost legislation, meet with interest
groups/lobbyists, negotiate agreements on behalf of congressmen, summarize bills, brief legislators.
Committee staff 2,000 staff members organize hearings, research legislative options, draft committee reports on
bills, write legislation, and engage in legislative oversight.
Staff agencies Congressional Research Service (CRS)- research Government Accountability Office (GAO)-legislative oversight Congressional Budget Office (CBO)- analyses president’s budget
11.3
11.3 How many staff members does Congress employ to help it do its job?
a. More than 11,000
b. 3,200
c. Less than 2,000
d. Staff are volunteers from the member’s
constituency, and their numbers vary
11.3
11.3 How many staff members does Congress employ to help it do its job?
a. More than 11,000
b. 3,200
c. Less than 2,000
d. Staff are volunteers from the member’s
constituency and their numbers vary
11.3
Congressional Process and Decision Making
Presidents and Congress: Partners and Protagonists
Party, Constituency, and Ideology
Lobbyists and Interest Groups
11.4EQ: Outline the path of bills to passage and explain the influences on congressional decision making
FIGURE 11.2: How a bill becomes a law 11.4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66f4-NKEYz4&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtOfse2ncvffeelTrqvhrz8H&index=9
Presidents and Congress: Partners and Protagonists
President’s legislative (Chief Legislator) agenda Persuade Congress (easy if the majority party is the same party
as president) Yet Congress is quite independent
11.4
Party, Constituency, and Ideology
Party influence Economic and social welfare policies
Polarized politics Parties more internally homogeneous Less likelihood of compromise
11.4
FIGURE 11.3: Increasing polarization in Congress
11.4
Party, Constituency, and Ideology
Constituency opinion versus member ideology Trustees versus instructed delegates
What if a member of Congress has a different preference on a
policy than his constituents? The trustee model of representation says that legislators are
elected to use their best judgment. They have access to
information that their constituents don’t have and they should act
in their best interests. The instructed delegate model of representation states that
representatives must mirror the preferences of their constituents.
11.4
Lobbyists and Interest Groups
D.C. is crawling with lobbyists 12,000 of them Spent $3 billion in 2011 Many were former members of Congress
How lobbyists persuade Provide policy information Provide promises of money Ghostwrite legislation Status quo usually wins
Disclosure requirements- meaning influence is made
public (but that doesn’t slow them down)
11.4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT9ipQdYL-s&index=10&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtOfse2ncvffeelTrqvhrz8H
11.4 On what tactics do lobbyists rely to influence policy in Congress?
a. Promising money for reelection campaigns
b. Providing expert policy information
c. Ghostwriting legislation
d. All of the above
11.4
11.4 On what tactics do lobbyists rely to influence policy in Congress?
a. Promising money for reelection campaigns
b. Providing expert policy information
c. Ghostwriting legislation
d. All of the above
11.4
Congress and Democracy
Congress and the Scope of Government
11.5
Understanding Congress
EQ: Assess Congress’s role as a representative body and the impact of representation on the scope of government
Congress and Democracy
Democracy depends upon successful representation
Congress unrepresentative Members are elites Leadership chosen by members, not voters Senate based on states, not population
Obstacles to good representation Constituent service vs. national interests Reelection campaigns (time consuming)
Representativeness versus Effectiveness Senate represents each state equally, regardless of population
11.5
Congress and the Scope of Government
Does size of government increase to please public? Pork barrel spending
Contradictory preferences Against large government, for individual programs
11.5
11.5 How does the Senate undermine democratic representation?a. Its members tend not to show up for roll
call votes
b. It is forbidden from overriding a presidential veto
c. It represents states rather than people
d. None of the above
11.5
11.5 How does the Senate undermine democratic representation?a. Its members tend not to show up for roll
call votes
b. It is forbidden from overriding a presidential veto
c. It represents states rather than people
d. None of the above
11.5