Congress

And the Policy-Making Process

PRESENTATION BY:

MCMULLEN

MCDONOUGH

MATTONE

OLIVERI

CONGRESS VERSUS PARLIAMENT• Congress was the first branch of government

established. Some say this branch is in need of fixing.

• As a whole Congress has expanded programs and adopted favorable reforms.

• Parliament candidates are selected by a party and they are the ones who choose prime ministers and other head leaders. They have very little power and receive very little pay.

• Congressional candidates run in the primary election, the vote is for the person not the party. They have a very large amount of power and are given a high pay.

Mattone

• Congress is more concerned with their own views and the view of their constituents, not of their party. The intent of the framers of the legislative branch was to have a strong central power with a balance among the large and small states also known as bicameralism. Most people believe that Congress is too slow.

Mattone

SENATE VERSUS THE HOUSE• The Senate is much more structured compared

to the House. It is small enough to be run without giving authority to small groups.

• There are no time limits on speakers (filibustering). Senators were chosen by state legislators until the 17th amendment passed in 1913.

• The House has very powerful speakers but its increase in size has lead to less individual influence. The House has become less male and less white recently.

• The Senate is not adopting change as easy but some Hispanics and blacks hold high positions.

Mattone

WHO IS IN CONGRESS?• Incumbents have a much higher reelection chance. • Political scientists call districts that have close

elections marginal districts and districts where incumbents win by wide margins safe districts.

Republicans won control over Congress in 1994. Republicans replaced conservative democrats in the south.

• Democrats regained control of both chambers in 2006.

• Members vote to please their constituents. They must have a clear opinion of the issue.

Mattone

• Constituents have a much stronger influence in the Senate.

• House members tend more than senators to have opinions similar to those of the public.

• Prior to the 1990's southern democrats often were affiliated with the Republican party to form the conservative coalition.

• New members of Congress are more ideological.

• Democrats are more liberal while republicans tend to be conservative.

Mattone

PARTIES AND CAUCUSES• Democrats and Republicans in House organized by

party leaders, who are elected by the full party membership within Congress during the 1st days of the session (2 years).

• Majority party chooses one of its members (usually the most senior) to be pro tempore of Senate. This person is to take over for the absence of the vice president (VP of US); however, usually both members are absent from this tedious chore, so responsibility handed to some junior senator.

• Real power: majority and minority leader (chosen by senators of respecting parties)

• Majority leader: schedule business of Senate, recognized first on floor.

McDonough

• Whip (also elected by senators): helps party leader stay informed of other party member views and rounds up important voters; has several assistants.

• Policy Committee helps party leader schedule Senate business and choose significant bills to review.

• Committees created to assign senators to standing committees; Democrats: Steering Committee, Republicans: Committee on Committees.

• Party control within Senate changes frequently.• Leaders more powerful in House because of size• Speaker of House most important member (decides

who will speak and what bills will be discussed); usually influences legislation in party’s favor.

McDonough

Caucuses:• Caucus: an association of members of

Congress created to advocate a political ideology or regional/economic interest; a growing rival to parties as source of policy leadership

TYPES• Intraparty: formed by groups who share

similar ideology• Personalized: common interest in an issue• Constituency: represent certain groups,

regions, or both

McDonough

COMMITTEES• The real work of Congress occurs here- divides up the work on

bills.THREE KINDS• Standing: (most important) permanent bodies with specified

legislative responsibilities• Select: appointed for limited purpose and lasting only a few

Congresses• Joint: both representatives and senators serve; created

conference committee for revision of different legislation or to attack specific national problems.

• Republican majority had reduced number of committees in both houses

• Most power given to Committee Chair. They are ALWAYS from the majority party and usually have served the longest tenure on that committee.

• Their minority counterpart is called the ranking minority member.

McDonough

STAFF AGENCIES• Congressional Research Service: responds to

congressional requests for info; neutral political body, therefore will not recommend policy, but will report facts and indicate arguments for/against policies. Keeps status tracks of major bills.

• General Accounting Office: financially audits money spent by executive depts, agencies and policies, makes recommendation on several gov. aspects.

• Congressional Budget Office: advises Congress on likely economic effects of different spending programs and prepares costs of proposed policies. Prepares analysis of prez’s budget and eco projections.

McDonough

TYPES OF RESOLUTIONS• Simple resolution- passed by one house and affects

that house, not signed by the president; does not have the force of law. Usually procedural in nature.

• Concurrent resolution- passed by both houses and affects both, not signed by the president and does not have the force of law.

• Joint resolution- essentially a law. Passed by both houses and signed by the president.

• If used to propose a constitutional amendment, 2/3 vote required in both houses but the president’s signature is unnecessary.

HOW A BILL BECOMES A LAWHOUSE SENATEIntro IntroCommittee Action Committee ActionReferred to House Referred to SenateReferred to subcommittee Referred to subcomm.Reported by full comm. Reported by full comm.Rules comm. Action

Floor Action Floor ActionDebate and vote Debate and vote

Conference ActionHouse of Reps. Senate

President

McDonough

BILL LAW cont.• “Mark up” occurs in committees and/or subcommittees but

these changes are not final until they are approved by the House or the Senate.

• A bill only moves forward if a majority of the committee votes to report it out to the House or Senate. Attached to the bill are the committee’s opinions of the bill (including dissenting opinions, if any)

• Most bills usually die in committees and/or subcommittees (OVER 90%)

• In the House, a discharge petition can be filed to remove a bill from committee and put it directly out onto the floor, but it is rarely used

• In the Senate, a bill can be discharged from committee session when a member moves to have the bill come directly before the Senate. However, discharge is rarely used because almost any proposal can get to the floor as an amendment to another bill.

• Both houses set calendars to hear and vote on bills

McMullen

• In the House, the Rules Committee reviews most bills and decides how they will be heard

• Closed rule means that a bill has a strict time limit on debate and that no amendments can be offered unless they come from the sponsoring committee.

• Open rule permits any amendments to a bill from the floor• A rider is a provision added to a piece of legislation that does

not pertain to the bill’s purpose. It has the ability to strongly persuade the president to vote one way or the other based on the extent of the rider. It also allows legislators to attach to the bill any pet project that they wish to get passed.

• A Christmas tree bill is a bill that has a lot of riders attached. (Riders only permitted in Senate).

• Bills in the Senate may be considered in any order at any time that the majority of the Senate chooses while the House sticks to a very tight hearing schedule that does not allow any individual complaints to be heard.

McMullen

FLOOR DEBATE IN HOUSE• Floor debate in the House on revenue bills and most other

bills is discussed by the “Committee of the Whole” which is a 100 member quorum encompassing whoever happens to be on the floor at that time.

• The Committee of the Whole debates, amends, and decides the final wording of the bill but must send it back to the House to vote on it.

• In the Committee of the Whole, the sponsoring committee guides the discussion and allots time equally between proponents and opponents and limits speaking time. Only germane amendments are permitted if rule allows but riders are never permitted.

• A quorum call is a delay tactic used to postpone action on a bill by roll calling to see if the minimum number of members is present. If there are missing members, the House must adjourn or send someone to find the missing members.

McMullen

FLOOR DEBATE IN SENATE• In the Senate, there are no time limits for debating a bill, an

amendment can be offered at any time, and senators need not address anything relevant to the bill if they wish.

• Riders can be used and amendments do not need to pertain to the bill

• A cloture motion can end a Senate filibuster if 16 Senators sign a petition for cloture and 3/5 (60) of the Senate vote yes on the petition. If it passes, each Senator is limited to one hour of debate on a bill

• Filibusters and cloture votes has become more popular recently.

• Double-tracking has allowed to Senate to continue with normal business during a filibuster by temporarily shelving the bill. This also allows the Senators filibustering a bill to rest and take a break, which makes it easier to filibuster.

McMullen

METHODS: VOTING ON BILLS• Voice vote: members shout yea or nay; division (standing)

vote: members stand and are counted; in both of these votes, names are not recorded.

• Teller vote: members line up in yea lines and nay lines and record their votes with a teller. Names are only recorded at the request of 20 members.

• Roll-call vote: now done electronically, records the vote of each name; can be done at the request of 1/5 of the representatives present in House.

• The Senate does not use a teller vote nor electronic counters

• If a bill passes in the House and Senate in different versions, the differences must be ironed out. Minor differences are concluded by the last house to act on the bill sending the bill back to other house, which accepts the alterations.

McMullen

• If the differences are major, a conference committee between the two houses is held. Members of the committee are picked up the chairmen of the committees that handled the bill in the House and the Senate. There are usually between 3-15 members. Debate in conference committees is very arduous and can either be open or closed to the public. Often the legislation is changed substantially.

• Most conference committees usually favor the Senate version of the bill. After a decision is reached, the houses can either accept or reject the report. In most cases, it is accepted and sent to the president for signature. If the president vetoes, the bill returns to the house of origin. Both houses can override the veto is 2/3 of each house approve.

McMullen

REDUCING POWER AND PERKS• Many congressional would-be reformers claim that legislators

overuse “pork-barrel legislation”, which are bills that give tangible benefits to a group of constituents in order to win votes, but that legislators are very slow to pass meaningful legislation regarding national policy.

• The franking privilege, or free postage, is the most treasured perk of congressional incumbents because they can send out campaign literature for free.

• Many reformers do not agree with the franking privilege or wish to prohibit it because it comes directly from taxpayers.

• In the past, Congress has exempted itself from the laws it passed, claiming it would “violate the separation of powers”. In response to public criticism of this practice, in 1995, Congress passed a bill that requires Congress to obey eleven important laws governing things such as civil rights, occupational safety, and fair labor standards, and family leave.

McMullen

• Reformers claim that pork-barrel legislation (“bring home the bacon”) is a misallocation of tax dollars because it supports trivial social projects for reelection prospects.

• Truthfully, not all pork is bad because many congressional districts get benefits that are long overdue to them. Additionally, spending on pork legislation is only a small fraction of what is spent on entitlement programs.

• A citizen-oriented Congress= a pork-barrel oriented Congress.

McMullen

ETHICS AND CONGRESS• Some argue that the separation of powers has

fostered corruption rather than prevented it like the Framers hoped it would because with power placed in the hands of many, there are many opportunities to exercise influence and to satisfy favor seekers.

• Some rules on ethics in the Senate and House: Senators and Congressmen may not receive gifts from totaling more than $100, or accept any contributions or gifts from lobbyists. A Senator’s outside income may not exceed 15% of a senator’s salary. House members may travel at the expense of others if it relates to business. Ex-Senators and Ex-House members may not try to influence members of Congress for one year after leaving office.

McMullen

SETTING THE AGENDA• The political agenda involves what to make

policy about• At any given time, certain shared beliefs

determine what is legitimate for the government to do. This legitimacy is affected by shared political values, the impact of custom and tradition, the impact of events such as wars and depressions, and changes in the way political elites think and talk about politics.

McMullen

LEGIT SCOPE OF GOV ACTION• Changes in attitude and the impact of events tend to increase the

scope of legitimate government action. The expansion of government has been a nonpartisan process.

• During wartime (or after a terrorist attack), the people authorize the government to do whatever is necessary to win. During a depression, the people also expect the government to do something.

• Sometimes, the government enlarges its agenda of policy issues without any crisis or widespread public demand, even when conditions at which a policy is directed are improving (i.e.-programs to combat urban poverty were adopted in the mid-1960s when the number of people (black and white) living below the poverty line was declining).

• Many policies are the result of small groups of people enlarging the scope of government through their demands. Sometimes they are organized groups like corporation or unions and other times they are unorganized groups like urban minorities.

McMullen

• De Tocqueville observed that citizens are most restless when they have started to become better off (“relative deprivation”).

• On occasion, a group will express its dissatisfaction violently (i.e- the black riots in American cities in the mid 1960s).

• The courts, the bureaucracy, and the Senate have become particularly important in setting the agenda.

• The courts make decisions that force action by the other branches of government; they set off a chain reaction that alters the political agenda (Brown v Board of Education).

• The courts are the preferred vehicles for the advocates of unpopular cases where there is no majority.

• The bureaucracy is so large and includes so many experts that it has become a source of policy proposals as well as an implementer of those proposals that become a law.

• The fact that the Senate has become a source for political change can be seen in the fact that many senators are tempted to run for president and raise new issues to the public.

McMullen

HOUSE• 435 members that serve 2 year terms• Can only one major committee assignment (policy

specialists)• Speaker’s referral of bills to committee is hard to

challenge• Committees almost always consider legislation first• Scheduling and rules are controlled by the majority party• Rules Committee is powerful; controls time of debate,

admissibility of amendments• Debate is usually limited to one hour• Nongermane amendments may not be introduced from the

floor• Revenue bills must start here. Decide prez if no winner

in e college.

McMullen

SENATE• 100 members that serve 6 year terms (staggered terms)• Can sit on 2 or more committees (policy generalists)• Referral decisions are easy to challenge• Committee consideration is easily bypassed• Scheduling and rules are generally agreed to by

majority and minority leaders• Rules Committee is weak; few limits on debate or

amendments• Debate is unlimited unless shortened by unanimous

consent or by invoking cloture• Nongermane amendments may be introduced. (Riders)• Choose VP if no winner in e college.

McMullen

Do members represent their voters?• Representational view (delegate)- members

vote to please their constituents in order to secure re-election.

• Organizational view- where members take cues from their party on how to vote.

• Attitudinal view (trustee)- the member’s ideology determines his/her vote.