Congress

2. 11 Congress

3. Video: The Big PictureWhat makes Congress the least popular branch of government? 11 http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/polisci/presidency/Edwards_Ch11_Congress_Seg1_v2.html

4. 11 Learning Objectives • Characterize the backgrounds of members of Congress and assess their impact on the ability of members of Congress to represent average Americans 11.1 Identify the principal factors influencing the outcomes in congressional elections 11.2

5. 11 Learning Objectives • Compare and contrast the House and Senate, and describe the roles of congressional leaders, committees, caucuses, and staff 11.3 Outline the path of bills to passage and explain the influences on congressional decision making 11.4

6. 11 Learning Objectives • Assess Congress’s role as a representative body and the impact of representation on the scope of government 11.5

7. Video: The Basics 11 http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/polisci/presidency/Seg2_Congress_v2.html

8. Representatives and Senators 11.1 • Members • Not an easy job • Take much time, trouble, and money to get elected and re-elected • Why Aren’t There More Women in Congress?

9. 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 from which elected 435 Representatives; 100 senators 11.1

10. Members of Congress tend to be lawyers, and to come from relatively wealthy backgrounds. • Minorities and women are underrepresented.

11. 11.1 TABLE 11.1: Portrait of the 113th Congress: Some statistics

12. Members Demographics Most members of Congress can’t engage in descriptive representation, so they must employ 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

13. Why Aren’t There More Women in Congress? Fewer women running Childcare Risk averse- less likely than men to run for office when they perceive that the odds of winning are low. Bias Must be more qualified 11.1

14. Congressional Elections 11.2 • Who Wins Elections? • Advantages of Incumbency • Role of Party Identification • Defeating Incumbents • Open Seats • Stability and Change

15. Incumbents Over 90% win reelection in House Senators do not have it as easy Held more accountable b/c they are more visible Incumbents perceive themselves as vulnerable Hence so much fundraising and campaigning 11.2 Who Wins Elections?

16. 11.2 FIGURE 11.1: Incumbency factor in congressional elections

17. Advantages of Incumbency Advertising Contact with constituents Franking privilege- free to send mailings, emails, calls to constituents Credit claiming Casework (services to individual constituents) Pork barrel projects (federal projects, grants, and contracts available to cities and institutions in a district) 11.2

18. Advantages of Incumbency Position taking But even though position taking is risky, sometimes members of Congress do take strong and public positions on certain issues when they believe they are certain how the majority of their constituents feel about the issue. Weak opponents who lack experience Campaign spending 11.2

19. Role of Party Identification Parties and districts Drawn for one-party dominance Gerrymandering The legislative process by which the majority party in each state legislature redraws congressional districts to ensure the maximum number of seats for its candidates 11.2

20. Defeating Incumbents Challengers are naïve But sometimes incumbents are vulnerable Redistricting (Gerrymandering) Public mood Sometimes the public can express its dissatisfaction by defeating incumbents and changing the party in power in one or both houses 11.2

21. Open Seats and Stability and Change Vacant seat = no incumbent running Most turnover occurs here Stability from incumbency Development of expertise Term limits? (p. 365) 11.2

22. How Congress is Organized to Make Policy 11.3 • American Bicameralism • Congressional Leadership • Committees and Subcommittees • Caucuses: Informal Organization of Congress • Congressional Staff

23. American Bicameralism Bicameral legislature Bills must pass both houses Checks and balances Result of Connecticut Compromise House More institutionalized and seniority-based Rules Committee Senate Less centralized and less seniority-based Fillibuster 11.3

24. 11.3 TABLE 11.2: House versus Senate: Some key differences

25. Congressional Leadership Leadership assignments chosen by party House Speaker of the House- John Boehner Majority and minority leaders Whips Senate Vice president Majority leader, minority leader, whips 11.3

26. 11.3 Congressional Leadership

27. Committees and Subcommittees Four types of committees Standing committees (divided into subcommittees) Joint committees Conference committees Select committees- specific purpose & limited time 11.3

28. 11.3 TABLE: 11.3: Standing committees in the Senate and in the House

29. Committees and Subcommittees Committees at work: Legislation 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. 11.3

30. Getting on a committee New members of Congress want to get on committees that will help them achieve three goals: reelection, influence in Congress, and the opportunity to make policy in areas they think are important or that are important to their constituents. 11.3 Committees and Subcommittees

31. Caucuses: Informal Organization of Congress As important as formal structure Dominated by caucuses (congressional interest groups) Caucuses are formed by members who share a policy interest and work together to advance legislation they favor and oppose legislation that they don’t support. 500 caucuses today Goal is to promote their interests Black Caucus, Hispanic Caucus 11.3

32. Congressional Staff Personal staff Casework Legislative functions Committee staff 2,000 staff members Legislative oversight Staff agencies Congressional Research Service (CRS) Government Accountability Office (GAO) Congressional Budget Office (CBO) 11.3

33. Congressional Process and Decision Making 11.4 • Presidents and Congress: Partners and Protagonists • Party, Constituency, and Ideology • Lobbyists and Interest Groups

34. 11.4 FIGURE 11.2: How a bill becomes a law

35. Presidents and Congress: Partners and Protagonists President’s legislative agenda Persuade Congress that their legislative agenda should be their priority Popular presidents usually win their legislative battles with Congress Yet Presidents lose or compromise enough that we can say Congress is quite independent 11.4

36. Party, Constituency, and Ideology Party has a great influence on members of Congress Polarized politics Parties more internally homogeneous- Republican legislators have become more conservative, and Democratic legislators more liberal Less likelihood of compromise 11.4

37. 11.4 FIGURE 11.3: Increasing polarization in Congress

38. Party, Constituency, and Ideology Constituency opinion versus member ideology Trustees versus instructed delegates 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

39. Lobbyists and Interest Groups D.C. is crawling with lobbyists 12,000 of them Spent $3 billion in 2011 Former members of Congress How lobbyists persuade Provide policy information Provide promises of money for members reelection campaigns Ghostwrite legislation- so it conforms to the preferences of the industry or interest affected by it. Status quo usually wins- Lobbyists are more successful lobbying against change than for it. Disclosure requirements 11.4

40. Explore Congress: Can Congress Get Anything Done? 11.4 http://media.pearsoncmg.com/long/long_edwards_mpslgia_16/pex/pex11.html

41. 11.5 Understanding Congress • Congress and Democracy • Congress and the Scope of Government

42. Congress and Democracy Democracy depends upon successful representation Congress isn’t demographically representative of the American people Members are elites Leadership chosen, not elected Senate based on states, not population Obstacles to good representation Constituent service Reelection campaigns Representativeness versus Effectiveness 11.5

43. Congress and the Scope of Government Does size of government increase to please public? Pork barrel spending increases the size and scope of government Americans have contradictory preferences Against large government, for individual programs 11.5

44. Video: In the Real World 11.0 http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/polisci/presidency/Seg5_Congress_v2.html