Congressional Decision-making

The Public Rates Congress Lower Than Many Other Institutions

The Military

The Police

The US Supreme Court

The Presidency

Banks

Public Schools

Television News

Big Business

Organized Labor

Congress

The Criminal Justice System

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Percentage Indicating "Very High" or "High" Levels of Ethics and Honesty

The Public Rates the Honesty and Ethics of Members of Congress Lower Than Those of Other Occupations

Pharmacists

Medical Doctors

College Teachers

Auto Mechanics

Local Office Holders

TV Reporters

Senators

Labor Union Leaders

State Office Holders

Lawyers

Members of Congress

Car Salespersons

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Percentage Indicating "Very High" or "High" Levels of Ethics and Honesty

Fenno’s Puzzle: Americans Rate Their Own Representative More Positively than Congress as a Whole

1980

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Approve of Congress

Approve of Incumbent Represen-tative

Perc

ent W

ho “

App

rove

”

District-focused Representation

District-focused Representation

1. Exclusive geographical area

2. Professional career – seeking re-election

3. Horse-race elections – only one winner

Part 2 Parties v. Committees

1. House tightly controlled by party leadership, which

controls which bills come before the floor.

Senate is smaller, but party leaders still control the

flow of legislation.

2. Tug of War between the party leadership and the

committee system

Power in Congress

Historical Shifts in Power in Congress

A. Historically, power shifted from party leaders to committees – and to subcommittees.

B. Recently, power has shifted back to party leaders

Meeting of House Committee on Financial Services

Speaker of the House John Boehner (R) andSenate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R)

Congressional Eras Since Civil War

Era of Party Government: 1865 - 1910

Era of Committee

Government: 1911 – 1970

Era of Subcommittee Government: 1970 - 1994

Era of Party Revival?

1994 - present

Joseph “Czar” Cannon

Speaker of the House 1903-1911

Rules Committee expanded

Watergate Class of 1974 Party Revival

“… It is not far from the truth to say that Congress in session is Congress on public exhibition, whilst Congress in its committee rooms is Congress at work.”

– Woodrow Wilson

“In practice, Congress functions not as a unified institution, but as a collection of semi-autonomous committees that seldom act in unison.”

– George B. Galloway

Power in Committees

Power in Party Leaders

“Jim Nussle (R-Iowa), who had been heroic on a huge range of things for the party, had to have that opportunity (to have his ethanol legislation considered in the House).”

– Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich

Power Shifted from Parties to Committees

1. Incumbency protection

2. Progressive movement and the decline of patronage

3. Primaries

4. Internal divisions within parties (during early 20th C.)

5. Independents

Power Shifts Back to Party Leaders

1. Decline of Democratic South and Republican

Northeast – each party is more unified internally.

2. Gridlock. Negotiations must take place by top leaders to get legislation passed and signed.

3. Just a few bills are passed that contain almost all spending and policy initiatives.

4. Nationalization of campaign finance.

Congress has polarized since the 1960s:Republican (Blue) vs. Democrat (Red)

010

2030

40

50F

requ

ency

-1 -.5 0 .5 1DW-Nominate First Dimension

87th House of Representatives (1961-1962)

010

20

30

40

50

Fre

qu

en

cy

-1 -.5 0 .5 1DW-Nominate First Dimension

106th House of Representatives (1999-2000)

Liberal

LiberalConservative

Conservative

Part 3 Critiques of Committee Control

The Legislative Labyrinth: Why Few Important Laws are Passed

Full House Debates and Votes on Passage

Reported by Full Committee

Referred to Subcommittee

Referred to House Committee

Rules Committee Action

Referred to Senate Committee

Referred to Subcommittee

Reported by Full Committee

Full Senate Debates and Votes on Passage

President

Conference Committee

Senate ApprovalHouse Approval

Vetoed and Overridden Signed

Introduced in House Introduced in Senate

Four Critiques of Committee Control

1. Overlapping Responsibilities

2. Unrepresentative Committees

3. Spending Money on Committee Favorites

4. No Redistribution

Critique 1: Overlapping Responsibilities

In 2001, there were 14 Congressional Committees responsible for intelligence operations, including:

House• Select Committee on Intelligence• Armed Services Committee• Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Defense Operations• Foreign Affairs

Senate• Select Committee on Intelligence• Armed Services Committee• Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Defense Operations• Foreign Affairs

For Homeland Security, additional committees include judiciary committees,transportation committees, civilian airlines committees, and committeesoverseeing international trade and tariffs.

Critique 2: Unrepresentative Committees

• To get re-elected, representatives join committees that focus on issues of concern to their constituents.

• Committee policy biased toward special interests: rural members on agriculture; members with defense industries on armed forces, etc.

Critique 3: Spend Money on Committee Favorites – Bridge to Nowhere

“Bridge to Nowhere” (aka “Million Dollar Bridge”) in Alaska

Critique 4: No Redistribution – Which States Get the Money?

* Grouped by quintiles- each bar represents an average for the respective quintile.

Richest 10 States

Poorest 10 States

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

1990

Dol

lar/

Per

Cap

ita

Committees or Party Leaders?

• Committees better able to compromise than parties, but they are inefficient. Better at spending than balancing budgets.

• Parties needed to keep government under control. But partisanship makes for polarization among elites and the media.

Why the Senate Cools the Tea

1. Filibuster rule: takes 60 percent to pass legislation

2. States more heterogeneous than districts

3. Senate smaller

4. Committees weaker; more amendments to

legislation on Senate floor

5. Senators more vulnerable (visible, contested

elections)

6. More bipartisan legislation

Threats to Tea Cooling

– 60 percent rule in jeopardy– Nationalized financing forcing partisanship in

Senate as well as House– Elite polarization continuing, as primary elections

become more important

Next Lecture: Bureaucracy