The Legislative Branch

1. The Legislative Branch “Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion.” —Edmund Burke (1729-1797)

3. Representative body Congress Law-making body

4. Virginia Plan New Jersey Plan Connecticut Compromise

5. Differences Between the House and Senate

6. The Electoral Connection Members of Congress are faced with three primary goals: • Getting elected • Achieving influence in Congress • Making good public policy “Specifically, I shall conjure up a vision of United States congressmen as single-minded seekers of reelection, see what kinds of activities and goals that implies, and then speculate about how congressmen so motivated are likely to go about building and sustaining legislative institutions and making policy” —David Mayhew,Congress: The Electoral Connection (1974)

7. The Candidate-Centered Campaign What factors have influenced the rise of the candidate-centered campaign? • Separation of powers • Bicameralism • Federalism 1. THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK 2. POLITICAL CULTURE 3. CAMPAIGN TECHNOLOGY 4. POLITICAL CLIMATE

8. President The president is elected every four years by the Electoral College 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 Presidential election years draw in higher turnout. House The entire House is elected every two years by voters within each congressional district 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 Midterm congressional elections have lower rates of voter turnout. Senate 0 6 12 18 24 1/3 of the Senate is elected every two years by voters within each state 2 8 14 20 4 10 16 22

9. President The president is elected every four years by the Electoral College 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 House The entire House is elected every two years by voters within each congressional district 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 Senate 0 6 12 18 24 1/3 of the Senate is elected every two years by voters within each state 2 8 14 20 4 10 16 22 Holding elections in this way—using different timetables and different constituencies— separates the electoral fortunes of members of Congress from one another, and does little to encourage teamwork in campaigning.

10. The Candidate-Centered Campaign What factors have influenced the rise of the candidate-centered campaign? • Separation of powers • Bicameralism • Federalism 1. THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK If conditions favor individuals over parties, which individuals benefit most? 2. POLITICAL CULTURE 3. CAMPAIGN TECHNOLOGY Incumbents 4. POLITICAL CLIMATE

11. The institution of Congress accommodates needs of its members remarkably well… • Incumbency provides visibility • Congressional privileges (e.g., franking) allows members to advertise their issue positions back home • Political power is decentralized • The seniority system ensures that the value of an incumbent appreciates over time • Electoral success requires little “zero-sum” conflict between members

12. Who are these people? Peter Moss, Peace & Prosperity candidate for U.S. Senate in 2012 WELCH Mark Donka, Republican candidate for U.S. House in 2012 John MacGovern, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in 2012 SANDERS Jane Newton, Liberty Union candidate for U.S. House in 2012

13. Vermont Incumbents • PATRICK LEAHY (D) was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1974. • BERNIE SANDERS (I) was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1990. He was elected Senator in 2006. • PETER WELCH (D) was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006.

14. Incumbent House Members Running for Reelection, 1964-2008

15. Reelection Rates of House and Senate Incumbents, 1946-2008

16. Incumbency Advantage • Redistricting • Decline of party loyalty • Familiarity • Experience • Resources

17. Candidate-centered campaigns Incumbent advantage CONSEQUENCES?

18. Consequences? • Congress as a whole is unpopular, but incumbents can usually weather the storm. • What makes a member of Congress popular at home often involves them acting contrary to the national interest.

19. Confidence in American Institutions, 2010 "I am going to read you a list of institutions in American society. Please tell me how much confidence you, yourself, have in each one--a great deal, quite a lot, some, or very little?" Source: CNN/USA Today/ Gallup poll, July 8-11, 2010.

20. Congressional Approval, 1974-2010 “Do you approve or disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job?” Americans are far more favorable towards their own member of Congress

21. Trust in Government • What’s Wrong with Congress? • Congress: It Doesn’t Work. Let’s Fix It. • Kick the Bums Out • The Best Congress Money Can Buy Can the public’s distrust of Congress be blamed on the electoral system? If so, what do we do about it?

22. Identifying Problems • Low public esteem for the institution of Congress • Uncompetitive elections that favor incumbents • Highly parochial, individualized, and fragmented politics • Pressure exerted through campaign contributions • Frequent elections lead to permanent campaigns • Campaigns focus on style over substance • Prioritize elections over public policy • Poor representation (e.g., lack minority candidates, etc.) • Incumbency advantage leads to long congressional careers • Partisan wars over redistricting • Policy gridlock • Limited ability to punish/reward the institution as a whole

23. Finding Solutions • Replace partisan redistricting with non-partisan commissions • Enact term limits • Adopt longer terms in sync with presidential elections • Increase the size of the U.S. House of Representatives • Use proportional representation • Provide public financing of congressional campaigns • Encourage stronger parties that impose discipline and unity

24. Should We Enlarge the U.S. House of Representatives? • At first there was 1 member of the House of Representatives for every 30,000 American citizens. Today, with a current population of 300 million, that ratio has increased to about 1:690,000. • If we were to restore the original ratio between the House of Representatives and their constituents, it would require increasing the size of the chamber from 435 members (where it has been locked since 1911), to 10,000 members. Has political representation been diluted by population growth?

25. Reapportionment, as Defined by the U.S. Constitution ARTICLE 1, Section 2, Clause 3: Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative;

26. Redrawing District Lines

27. Cracking and Packing Redrawing the balanced electoral districts in this example creates a guaranteed 3-to-1 advantage in representation for the blue voters as 14 red voters are packed into the light green district and the remaining 18 are cracked across the 3 remaining blue districts. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering

28. Redistricting Software Maptitude® for Redistricting is a special edition of Caliper Corporation’s Maptitude GIS for Windows that includes everything you need to build and analyze redistricting plans. As you assign area features to a district, the district boundaries are redrawn and selected attributes are automatically summarized to reflect the district’s characteristics

29. The Texas Redistricting Case Gerrymandering based solely on race has been ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. However, partisan gerrymandering remains legal. Some argue that Lay’s plan strengthened the GOP majority in the House by as many as 5 seats.

30. Racial Gerrymandering The unusual “earmuff” shape of the 4th Congressional District of Illinois connects two Hispanic neighborhoods while remaining continuous by narrowly tracing Interstate 294. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering

31. The Fight Over North Carolina’s 12th Congressional District District lines have been redrawn several times in response to legal challenges. Gerrymandering based solely on race has been ruled unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court under the Fourteenth Amendment, first by Shaw v. Reno (1993) and subsequently by Miller v. Johnson (1995). Partisan gerrymandering remains legal.

33. Does Redistricting Produce Uncompetitive Elections? • Scholars argue that “there is little evidence that redistricting generally makes elections less competitive.” • Why? Because party leaders face a tension between incumbent protection on the one hand and the growth of the party’s majority on the other. • In Texas, the GOP-controlled legislature shifted some Republican precincts out of the Tom DeLay’s district in order to make neighboring districts more Republican. As a result, DeLay’s own district is less assured.

34. Rotation in Office Washington, D.C. in the 19th century was described as a “swampy, mosquito-infested, rural outpost.”

35. “Thereafter, within the first 100 days of the 104th Congress, we shall bring to the House Floor the following bills, each to be given full and open debate, each to be given a clear and fair vote and each to be immediately available this day for public inspection and scrutiny: …10. THE CITIZEN LEGISLATURE ACT: A first-ever vote on term limits to replace career politicians with citizen legislators.”

36. Respondents Yes No Total sample 61% 21% By party Republican 64 28 Democrat 60 30 Independent 58 33 By ideology Liberal 58 34 Moderate 64 30 Conservative 63 29 By race White 61 31 Black 61 27 By gender Men 57 35 Women 63 27 Public Opinion on Term Limits “Do you think there should be a limit to the number of times a member of the House of Representatives can be elected to a two- year term?”

37. The Citizen-Legislator Joe the Plumber

39. More Representative is Not Necessarily Better “If these reforms were put into place, would the public suddenly love Congress? We do not think so. Certain reforms, such as campaign finance reform, may help, since they would diminish the perception that money rules politics in Washington. But the main reason the public is disgruntled with Congress and with politics in Washington is because they are dissatisfied with the processes intrinsic to the operation of a democratic political system - debates, compromises, conflicting information, inefficiency, and slowness. This argument may seem odd on its face, so in the next few paragraphs we provide our interpretation of why the public questions the need for democratic processes.”

41. How should members of Congress behave? Delegate Politico Trustee

44. Patrick Leahy on the Northeast Dairy Compact “Dairying in Vermont is more than a job or an industry.  It is a way of life.  Vermont’s landscape is defined by the green pastures and silos that dot the hills.  Our agricultural economy depends on the hundreds of millions of dollars dairy farmers bring to the state every year.  We all need to ensure that dairying is not only a part of Vermont’s past, but a vital part of Vermont’s future. Our dairy farms, however, will not be able to survive unless they can receive a fair price for the milk they produce.  I remain a strong proponent of the Northeast Dairy Compact, the single best tool for getting a fair price for milk out of the market, not from the government.  I will also continue to oppose over consolidation in the dairy processing industry.  Consumers and farmers benefit when there is competition in our dairy markets.”

47. The Northeast Dairy Compact Vermonters, MidwesternersSalute New National Dairy ProgramIn A ‘Milk Toast’

49. Individual Responsiveness vs. Collective Responsibility What kind of political representation is produced by American electoral politics and how does that representation influence the laws Congress enacts? • Increasingly, we have seen the insulation of members of Congress from national political forces—which makes it harder and harder to unseat incumbents once they are elected into office. • Candidate-centered campaigns allow members to escape responsibility for Congress’ performance as an institution. • As the electoral fates of Congress and the president diverge, so does their incentive to cooperate to get things done. • The fragmentation of the legislative process and the committee system often lead to gridlock.

50. Some scholars claim that Congress rewards individual responsiveness over collective responsibility. Are stronger parties the answer?