Congress

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Congress

• Chapter 13
• Thanks to Chris Przespo

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General Overview

• Congress has always been and still is considered
  America's first branch of government due to its
  many powers.
• However, Congress is often called the "broken"
  branch of government and needs to be fixed.
  Congress often seems to be the mistrusted branch
  of government and will usually have lower
  approval ratings than the president. Why?
• Congress is enormous with the 435
  representatives, 100 Senators, and then take into
  account the staff for each.
• Congress is slow, but designed to be that way.
  For the most part, Congress has been designed by
  compromises to achieve a balance of power
•  "The United States is the only democratic
  government that has a legislative branch."-
  Daniel Patrick Moynihan
•  

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Parliament vs. Congress

• The loyalties of members in both bodies are
  different. Members of Parliament are selected by
  national party leaders to be put on the
  ballot and choose the leader of the country.
  Congressmen have to be selected by the people to
  even appear on the ballot. 
• Unlike Parliament, Congress is completely
  independent of the executive office. Therefore,
  Congressmen are more likely and more willing to
  take an opposite position of the president.
• Parliament serves more as a body for debate,
  Congress is a legislating body.  
•  

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Evolution of the House

• The House has gone through periods of strong
  leadership and then weak leadership. We currently
  are in a period where individual members retain
  some control, but leadership has returned.
• The Speaker at times has wielded impressive
  power, including the power to name committee
  chairmen who are loyal to the Speaker.
• These changes will always continue to occur in
  the House. The House can not be a powerful force
  unless is run by a strong but small group of
  people. But, individual members can not have much
  power without making it difficult for the House
  to operate. If this happens, the House will lose
  its power as a whole body.

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Evolution of the Senate

• The Senate has not faced the same type of
  struggle as the House.
• The most drastic change was the 17th Amendment
  that required Senators be elected by a direct
  election, not by state legislatures.
• Despite this change, the memebership did not
  change much. Many of the same members of the
  "Millionaire Club" won re-election.
• The filibuster has lately become an important
  political tool. A filibuster is a group of
  speeches meant to delay legislative action. The
  cloture rule originally stipulated that debate
  could be limited if 2/3 of the senators voted to
  do so. It has been revised to be 3/5. All of this
  can be found in the Senate's Rule 22.

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Composition of Congress

• Members of Congress could usually be described as
  a white and Protestant lawyer.
• The House has become less white and less male
  quicker than the Senate. The Senate since 1992
  has seen more African Americans and women.
• African Americans and Hispanics have held
  positions of influence in the House. In 1994,
  seven committees were chaired by African
  Americans or Hispanics.
• The lack of women in those positions can be
  attributed to the fact that the districts
  represented by those African Americans and
  Hispanics are "safe" districts, which helps boost
  their seniority.

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Incumbency

• Congress has slowly become filled with
  incumbents. Considering that in 1869, more than
  half of the members of the House were in their
  first term.
• Congress has become a career, back in the 1800s,
  Congress was not as important since many
  important decisions were made by the states.
• Term limits have been proposed but have faltered.
• Incumbents are protected by "safe" districts. The
  Senate is similar, but incumbents do not usually
  win with greater margains than members of the
  House.
• Name recognition and taking claim for grant money
  also help incumbents.
• However, when the nation struggles, incumbents
  are portrayed as career polticians and part of
  the problem.

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Party Composition of Congress

• Democrats tend to be the party in control of
  Congress.
• Friendly electoral maps help to maintain this
  dominance, but also Democrats also have been in
  the majority as advantages of incumbency
  increased.
• However, as incumbency was viewed negatively,
  Democrats suffered and Republicans took back
  seats.
• Despite their dominance of the House, Democrats
  often were divided. Many Southern Democrats voted
  with Republicans and formed a conservative
  coalition.
• This coalition has fallen apart since these
  Southern Democrats were replaced by Republicans.
• This has made Congress seem so ideologically
  partisan. Democrats are liberals and Republicans
  are conservatives.

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Do Members Represent their Constituents?

• Representational view- Voting based on
  constituent opinions. This view has some merit on
  issues of civil rights and social welfare.
• Organizational view- Voting is based on how other
  members vote. Mostly, it is based on party, but
  state and district location also are important.
• Attitudinal View- Voting based on the ideology of
  a member. This view has merit on issues like
  foreign policy, where members of Congress have
  consistent liberal or conservative views.
• What do you think?

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Ideology and Partisan Divide

• Congress has become increasingly divided along
  ideological and partisan grounds.
• Democrats are much more liberal than the voter
  and Republicans are much more conservative.
• This divide has eliminated civility. Many members
  from opposite parties do not personally like
  their opponents.
• Many questions over ethics have been raised and
  presidential nominations turn into ugly, messy
  affairs.
• The media likes to capitalize and publicize these
  battles.
• There no longer seems to be any politeness
  between the two parties and the after hours
  socialization no longer exists.
• This atmosphere is not one where compromise can
  flourish.

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Party Structure in the Senate

• The majority party elects a majority leader. The
  majority leader sets the Senate schedule. He also
  mcan assist in favorable committee assignments.
• The minority party elects a minority leader.
• Both parties elect a whip. The whip lets the
  party leader know what the members are thinking
  and also ensures that party members vote
  favorably on certain issues.
• Each party has a Policy Committee that helps the
  leader schedule business and help choose which
  bills are to be given attention.
• The Democrats have a Steering Committee and the
  Republicans have a Committee on Committees. These
  both assign Senators to serve on Senate
  committees.
• This structure is not as powerful as the House.

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Party Structure in the House

• The highest position is the Speaker of the House.
  The majority party elects someone to serve this
  position.
• There also are majority and minority leaders as
  well as whips that serve similar functions as
  those in the Senate.
• Chariman of the Caucus for the Democrats and
  Chairman of the Conference for the GOP preside
  over meetings of the representatives.
• Republicans and Democrats also have the same
  committees in the House to make committee
  assignments and to guide policy.
• Both parties have campaign committees which
  advise and fund Congressional campaigns.
• This structure seems to function much more
  strongly than in the Senate.

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Party Unity and Polarization

• When the majority of one party opposes the
  majority of another.
• This can measure the effectiveness of party
  leadership.
• Still common, but not as common as in the early
  1900s.
• The public is not as partisan, so why is
  Congress?
• Safe districts and the protection it offers
  members can be one explanation.
• Many members of Congress have ideological
  convictions that they refuse to compromise on.
• It can easily be stated that knowing a person's
  party affiliation reveals a lot about their
  voting record.

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Caucuses

• A group of Congressmen that are bound by a
  similar race, ethnicity, religion, or ideology.
• From the 1970s until 1995 or so, caucuses were on
  the rise. Around 1995, the Republicans made it
  more difficult to run caucuses.
• Six different types Intraparty, personal
  interest, national constiuency concerns, regional
  constiunecy concerns, state constiuency concerns,
  and industry concerns.
• Caucuses are starting to rival the party as a
  source of leadership.

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Committees

• These are the most important parts of Congress.
  The leaders of committees wield significant
  power.
• Standing committees- Permanent committees that
  have a specific purpose. Most important
  committees.
• Select committees- Temporary committee appointed
  for a specific purpose and will only last for a
  few Congresses.
• Joint committees- Committes made up of members of
  both the House and Senate.
• Conference committees- Committees made up of
  members of both houses that are to resolve
  differences between the House and Senate versions
  of a bill.
• Committee leadership positions used to be awarded
  by loyalty, then seniority, and now are elected
  by secret ballot.
• Chairman positions also have term limits and some
  loose restrictions on how many a Congressmen can
  serve on.

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Staff

• Congress has become massive now that the average
  representative has 17 assistants.
• Staff are necessary to keep Congressmen informed
  of what's going on with all of their committee
  assignments.
• Congressmen often interact between staff, not in
  person.
• Congressional Research Service- Provides Congress
  with information and provides arugments for and
  against policy.
• General Accounting Office- Serves as the audit
  agency and also a watchdog of government
  agencies.
• Office of Technology Assessment- Investigates and
  reports on programs that use significant amounts
  of technology.
• Congressional Budget Office- Provides cost
  estimates and gives an assessment of the economic
  effect of legislation, policies, and programs.

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How a Bill Becomes a Law

• This is a long and slow process. Most bills die
  before ever becoming law.
• First a bill is introduced.
• The bill is then sent to a committee.Here the
  bill will be marked up or can even die if the
  committee does not act.
• After that, the full committee votes and gives
  its recommendation with a report.
• The bill then is put on the calendar or can not
  be given a date at all.
• Finally the bill moves to the floor for a vote,
  if approved it moves to the other body and the
  other body votes.
• Any major differences between the two versions
  are reconciled in a conference committee.

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Lawmaking

• Public Bill- A bill dealing with matters of
  general concern.
• Private Bill- A bill that deals with specific,
  local matters.
• Simple Resolution- An opinion setting rules for
  the body's operation.
• Concurrent Resolution- Settles housekeeping and
  procedural matters in both houses.
• Joint resolution- Same as a law, requires
  Congressional and presidential approval.
• Bills often die in committee.
• Committees hold hearings and debate over bills.
• Bills used to be referred to multiple committees.
  Now they are referred to second committees only
  after the first committee is finished. This is
  called sequential referral.
• Discharge petition can be used to get a bill out
  of committee. Must have 218 signatures.

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Lawmaking

• Even after getting through the committee and
  being put on a calendar the bill still may die.
• The Rules Committee in the House can place
  certain restriction on how the bill can be
  considered.
• In the Senate, it is much easier to get a bill to
  the floor since only a majority is required to do
  so.
• Floor debate in the House can be carried on by
  the the Committee of the Whole.
• The Committee of the Whole can not pass the bill,
  only amend.
• Riders are not allowed in the House.
• The Senate is a little different, there is
  unlimited time for debate.
• Amendments can be pet bills and riders.

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Lawmaking

• The debate in the Senate is unlimited.
• Filibuster and cloture rule apply.
• The filibuster can be avoided by double tracking.
• This means shelving the issue in order to get to
  other business.
• Voting procedures are quite simple.
• There is a voice vote.
• Roll-call vote. A teller vote also is used where
  the members go to two tellers and cast their
  vote.
• Division vote is where members are counted by
  standing.
• The roll-call and teller votes record how members
  voted.

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Powers and Perks

• Franking privileges are widely used.
• Pork-barreling is also widespread.
• Pork is an effective way to get support and to
  please constiuents.
• To eliminate pork would to be eliminate Congress.

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Post 9/11

• What would happen if many members of Congress
  were killed?
• Legislation has been proposed, but nothing major
  has been passed.