Chapter 11

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The Origin and Powers of Congress

The Great Compromise created two separate, powerful legislative chambers Equal representation in Senate Proportional representation in House; House

must initiate revenue-related legislation

Identical bills must be passed by both chambers to become law

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Representation Senators serve six-year terms; 1/3 are

elected every two years Initially Senators selected by state

legislatures; 17th Amendment changed that process to direct elections

All 435 Representatives stand for re-election every two years Census every 10 years leads to

reapportionment and subsequent redistricting

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Duties of the House and Senate

Many shared powers House alone responsible for revenue

bills and impeachment charges

Senate alone responsible for approving treaties, presidential appointments, and trials on the articles of impeachment passed by the House

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Electing Congress Congressional elections give voters a

chance to show approval or disapproval of Congress’s performance

Incumbents usually re-elected despite the fact polls show public dissatisfaction with Congress’s actions

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Figure 11.1

Incumbents: Life is Good

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Figure 11.2

We Love Our Incumbents, But Congress Itself Stinks

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Redistricting After each census, states must re-

draw House districts

Changing district lines for partisan advantage is gerrymandering Computer programs make

gerrymandering easy to do Some argue that gerrymandering

increases partisan polarization

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Name Recognition Incumbency has advantages

Name recognition because of press coverage of activities and speeches

Franking privileges Twitter accounts Casework Campaign contributions

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Campaign Financing

Challengers must spend large sums of money to run campaigns Difficult to raise money Higher-quality challengers more likely to win,

especially against vulnerable incumbents

In 2008, incumbents raised 61 percent of all contributions to House and Senate Races Challengers received only 23 percent PACs prefer incumbents

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Whom Do We Elect?

Those elected not a cross-section of American society

Most are upper-class professionals Around 44 percent are millionaires Women and minorities

underrepresented Seventeen women currently serve in

Senate12

The Millionaire’s Club

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Compared with What?Women in Legislatures

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Descriptive Representation

Some believe descriptive representation is lacking

Voting Rights Act amendments in 1983 designed to encourage the drawing of minority districts

Supreme Court ruling in Thornburg v. Gingles (1986) also pushed states to concentrate minorities in House districts to ensure better representation

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Figure 11.3

Minorities in Congress

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Minorities in Congress Efforts to draw districts favorable to

minorities being elected benefited African Americans, but not Hispanics

Supreme Court’s ruling in Shaw v. Reno (1993) indicated racial gerrymandering might violate rights of whites Later rulings said race must not be

“dominant and controlling factor” in drawing district boundaries

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How Issues Get on the Congressional Agenda

Formal legislative process starts with introducing a bill in the House or Senate

Problem or issue must be identified first Many major issues constant; others appear

suddenly Technology changes and/or highly visible

events focus national attention on an issue

Presidential or congressional support moves issues and related bills more rapidly

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The Dance of Legislation: An Overview

Process of bill-writing and passage follows specific steps (see Figure 11.4)

Process in House and Senate similar, but House requires bills to go to Rules Committee before going to the floor

Complexity comes with the many ways a bill can be treated at each step

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Figure 11.4

The Legislative Process

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Committees: The Workhorses of

Congress Real work of Congressional policymaking

happens in committees, which address specific policy areas

Standing committees and their related subcommittees

Joint committees Select committees Conference committees

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Congressional Expertise and Scrutiny

Influence in Congress increases with expertise and seniority Senior member of majority party

usually committee chair Republican leadership policy limits

committee and subcommittee chairs to six-year terms

Democrats largely use seniority system

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Committee Action

First step in drafting legislation is information gathering

Research by committee staff Public hearings by committees or

subcommittees

Actual debate and amendments on bills in committee happens during markup sessions Committee chairs need to build coalitions

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The Committee Song and Dance

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Oversight: Following Through on Legislation

Once a bill becomes law, it is administered by a federal agency

Congress has power of oversight to ensure bills enacted as intended However, magnitude of executive branch

makes oversight difficult

Several different types of oversight: hearings, reports, and informal contacts

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Majoritarian and Pluralist Views of Committees

Government by committee vests great power in committees, subcommittees, and their leaders

In some ways, this enhances pluralism, since these people are elected

Majoritarian aspect of committees comes through debates and compromises on bills necessary to get a bill passed

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Leaders and Followers in Congress

Party leaders in each house work to maximize influence of their party and ensure smooth and efficient functions

Operation of each chamber based on rules and norms developed over the years

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The Leadership Task in the House

Majority party leadership : Speaker of the House Majority leader Majority whip

Minority party leadership: Minority leader Minority whip

Both parties have committees for fundraising, strategy development, and logistics assistance

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The Leadership Task in the Senate

Constitutionally, Vice President is president of the Senate However, president pro tem usually

serves

Real power in the Senate resides in majority leader

Both majority and minority leader play critical role in getting bills through congress through bargaining and negotiations

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Clyburn Takes the Whip

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The Johnson Treatment

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Rules of Procedure Rules in each chamber based on parliamentary

procedure Rules not always the same in House and Senate

Bill consideration in Senate requires 60 senators to vote for unanimous consent agreement

One Senate rule allows filibusters, which can be limited by a vote for cloture

House amendments must be germane; Senate’s do not

House bills must go to House Rules Committee before floor debate

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Norms of Behavior Some norms are set rules; others

are unwritten

Two most important norms: Show respect to colleagues, even

bitter opponents Be willing to bargain with one

another33

The Legislative Environment

Decisions about votes affected by political parties, the president, constituents, and interest groups

Political parties and the president majoritarian influences on policymaking

Constituents and interest groups are pluralist influences on policymaking

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Political Parties Parties strong force in legislative

process by controlling: Committee appointments Consideration of a legislator’s bills or

amendments Appointments to leadership positions

Parties also showcase differences in ideologies Majoritarianism at work after 2008

election35

Figure 11.5

Rising Partisanship

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The President

Presidents tend to act as though they are speaking for the majority

Public expectations for the presidency grew in the 20th century White House openly involved in

crafting legislation However, Congress still in charge of

legislation37

Constituents The people in a legislator’s district or

state crucial to decision-making process Legislators must consider what voters

want

Constituent influence contributes to pluralism because of the geographic basis of representation

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Interest Groups Interest groups prime example of

pluralist politics

Legislators pay attention to interest groups because they represent voters

Lobbyists also provide key information and contributions Access is the first step towards influence

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The Dilemma of Representation

What a legislator’s constituents want is not always what the majority in the nation want

After working in Washington all week, legislators fly home to meet with constituents

However, sometimes hard to act on knowledge gained from constituents

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Constituents Strike Back

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Trustees or Delegates? Must members of Congress vote

the way their district prefers, even if it goes against their conscience or national interests? Trustees vote their conscience Delegates vote their district or state

Opinions of constituents not always clear

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Pluralism, Majoritarianism, and Democracy

Voting as delegates supports pluralistic policymaking

Majoritarian policymaking relies on involvement of political parties Voting as a trustee not necessarily

majoritarian 43

Parliamentary Government

In parliamentary system, chief executive is leader of party with a majority

In Great Britain, voters only vote for their member of Parliament Voters influence policymaking by their party

choice With multiple parties, sometimes must form

ruling coalition

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Parliamentary Government

In this system, government power highly concentrated in legislature No separation of governmental power

Usually have only one house, or a very weak second house

Usually no court that can invalidate acts of parliament

A very majoritarian form of government45

Politics of Global Change: Creating a Legislature

New Iraqi government based on proportional representation Each province has a multimember district

Government is federal and has a unicameral legislature

Representatives vote for presidential council, prime minister, and cabinet

Disputes mean Iraqi parliament a work in progress

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Pluralism Versus Majoritarianism in Congress

U.S. Congress criticized for being too pluralist Despite public concern about deficit,

legislators put earmarks in appropriations bills Democrats recently reformed earmark

process for greater transparency

Growing partisanship means greater majoritarianism

So, modern Congress characterized by both pluralism and majoritarianism

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Earmark Question Mark

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