Congress The Legislative Branch Article I. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman Chapter 12: Congress The Representatives and

CongressThe Legislative Branch

Article I

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman

Chapter 12: Congress

• The Representatives and Senators• Congressional Elections• How Congress Is Organized to Make

Policy• The Congressional Process• Understanding Congress• Summary


Chapter Outline and Learning Objectives

• The Representatives and Senators• LO 12.1: Characterize the backgrounds of

members of Congress and assess their impact on the ability of members of Congress to represent average Americans.

• Congressional Elections• LO 12.2: Identify the principal factors

influencing the outcomes in congressional elections.



• How Congress Is Organized to Make Policy• LO 12.3: Compare and contrast the House

and Senate, and describe the roles of congressional leaders, committees, caucuses, and staff.

• The Congressional Process• LO 12.4: Outline the path of bills to passage

and explain the influences on congressional decision making.



• Understanding Congress• LO 12.5: Assess Congress’s role as a

representative body and the impact of representation on the scope of government.

The Representatives and SenatorsLO 12.1: Characterize the backgrounds of members of Congress and assess their impact on the ability of members of Congress to represent average Americans.

• The Members• Compensation• Duties

To Learning ObjectivesCopyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman


The Representatives and Senators

• The Members• 535 Members – 100 Senators and 435

Representatives.• House members – At least age 25 and

U.S. citizens for 7 years.• Senators – At least age 30 and U.S.

citizens for 9 years.• All members must reside in state from

which they are elected.

LO 12.1

To Learning Objectives


Compensation

• About $175,000

• Benefits • Travel allowance• Insurance• Staff allowance• Postage (franking) • Protection from arrest


Duties

• Legislator

• Committee member

• Constituent rep

• Constituent servant

• Politician


Congress

• We are currently in the 113th Congress

• Congress

https://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/reference/one_item_and_teasers/Years_to_Congress.htm


LO 12.1



• The Members (cont.)• African Americans make up about 10% of

the House members and 13% of the total population, and 2 Senators are African American. (Special Elections)

• Hispanics make up 5% of the House members and 15% of the total population, and 3 Senators are Hispanics.


LO 12.1



• The Members (cont.)• Asian Americans – 9 House members

and 2 senators.• Native Americans – 1 House member.• Females make up more than 50% of the

population, but only 18% of the members of Congress with 78 in the House and 20 senators.


LO 12.1


114th Congress

• Senate• R – 54 Old - 45• D – 44 53• I – 2

• House• R – 246 Old - 234• D – 188 201



• The Members (cont.)• Descriptive representation is representing

constituents by mirroring their personal, politically relevant characteristics.

• Substantive representation is representing the interests of groups.


LO 12.1


LO 12.1



• Why Aren’t There More Women in Congress?• Fewer women than men become major

party nominees for office.• Women with children run for office less

than men because of child care responsibilities.

• Women are less likely than are men to run when they perceive their odds to be poor.


LO 12.1

House of Representatives

• Total: 435 members

• Apportioned(distributed) among the states

• Each state has at least one: Cali. has the most (2009) with 53

• Census every 10 years- reapportioned after every census.

Redistricting

• If a state is to gain or lose seats after the census, the State legislature is charged with drawing new congressional districts– A method is gain political power is to draw

district to your parties advantage• Gerrymandering is the creation of unusually

shaped districts that favor the party in power

Apportionment

Pa Congressional Districts


113th Congress• Pa Reps• Allyson Schwartz 13th –

Patrick Meehan – 7th -

• Jim Gerlach – 6th -

• 13th

http://ballotpedia.org/Pennsylvania's_13th_Congressional_District_elections,_2014



113th Congress• Pa Reps• Brenden Boyle 13th –

Patrick Meehan – 7th -

• Ryan Costello – 6th -

• 13th



Redistricting

• “One Man, One Vote”– Baker v Carr, 1962

• Federal courts began hearing redistricting cases

– Wesberry v. Sanders, 1964• Size of Georgia's Congressional district ranged in

size• SC – size violated equal protection clause, “One

Man One Vote”

Redistricting

• In 1982 – push to create district to help racial minorities.

– Shaw v. Reno, 1993• White votes in NV challenge a racially drawn

district• SC – Race may be one factor in determining

boundaries, but it cannot be a major factor.

Congressional(House) Elections

• Every 2 years, even numbered years

• Single membered district

• Each rep. represents about 600,000 citizens, or constituents

Senate

• 100 members total, 2 from each state

• 6 year term (1/3 Elected every 2 years)


Congressional Elections

• Who Wins Elections?• Incumbents – Those already holding

office.• In congressional elections, incumbents

usually win.• House elections – 90% of the incumbents

seeking reelection win and most of them win with more than 60% of the vote.

LO 12.2



LO 12.2



• The Advantages of Incumbency• Advertising – Ads in newspapers and on

television.• Credit Claiming – Servicing the

constituency through casework and pork barrel.

• Position Taking – Voting and responding to constituents’ questions.

• Franking PrivilegeTo Learning Objectives

LO 12.2


LO 12.2



• The Advantages of Incumbency (cont.)• Weak Opponents – Not well known or well

qualified and lack experience and organizational and financial backing.

• Campaign Spending – The typical incumbent outspent the typical challenger by a ratio of more than 3 to 1 in Congressional races in 2008.


LO 12.2



• Role of Party Identification• Most Congress members represent

constituencies in which their party is in the clear majority.

• Most people identify with a party, and they reliably vote for their party’s candidates.

• About 90% of voters who identify with a party vote for the House candidates of their party.


LO 12.2



• Defeating Incumbents• One tarnished by scandal or corruption

becomes vulnerable to a challenger.• Redistricting may weaken the incumbency

advantage.• Major political tidal wave may defeat

incumbents.


LO 12.2



• Open Seats• Greater likelihood of competition.• Most turnover occurs in open seats.


LO 12.2



• Stability and Change• Incumbents provide stability in Congress.

• Change in Congress occurs less frequently through elections. Difficult for citizens to “send a message to Washington”


LO 12.2


How Congress Is Organized to Make Policy

• American Bicameralism• Bicameral Legislature – A legislature

divided into two houses.• The U.S. Congress and all state

legislatures except Nebraska’s are bicameral.

LO 12.3



LO 12.3



• American Bicameralism (cont.)• House Rules Committee – The committee

in the House that reviews most bills coming from a House committee before they go to the full House.

• Rules Committee is responsive to the House leadership because the Speaker of the House appoints the committee’s members.


LO 12.3



• American Bicameralism (cont.)• Filibuster – A strategy unique to the

Senate whereby opponents of a piece of legislation use their right to unlimited debate to prevent the Senate from ever voting on a bill.

• Sixty members present and voting can halt a filibuster.


LO 12.3



• Congressional Leadership• Speaker of the House – An office

mandated by the Constitution and chosen by the majority party.

• Majority leader – The principal partisan ally of the Speaker of the House, or the party’s manager in the Senate.


LO 12.3


Leaders in the House of Representatives

• Leaders

http://www.house.gov/leadership/


Leaders in the Senate

• Leaders

http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/senators/a_three_sections_with_teasers/leadership.htm



• Congressional Leadership (cont.)• Whips – Party leaders work with the

majority leader or minority leader to count votes beforehand and lean on waverers for votes on bills favored by the party.

• Minority Leader – The principal leader of the minority party in the House of Representatives or in the Senate.


LO 12.3



• Congressional Leadership (cont.)• President of the Senate – The United

States Vice President.• Vice presidents can vote to break a tie.• Modern vice presidents are active in

representing the president’s views to senators.


LO 12.3



• Congressional Leadership (cont.)• Despite their stature and power,

congressional leaders cannot always move their troops.

• Power in both houses of Congress is decentralized.

• Leaders are elected by their party members and must remain responsive to them.


LO 12.3



• Committees and Subcommittees• Standing committees – Subject matter

committees that handle bills in different policy areas.

• Joint committees – Few subject matter areas with membership drawn from House and Senate


LO 12.3


LO 12.3



• Committees and Subcommittees (cont.)• Conference committees – Formed when

the Senate and the House pass a bill in different forms to iron out the differences and bring back a single bill.

• Select committees – Created for a specific purpose, such as the Watergate investigation.


LO 12.3



• Committees and Subcommittees (cont.)• More than 9,000 bills are submitted by

members in the course of a two-year period.

• Every bill goes to a committee, which has virtually the power of life and death over it.

• Legislative oversight – How the Congress monitors bureaucracy.


LO 12.3



• Committees and Subcommittees (cont.)• Committee assignments help members get

reelected, gain influence, and make policy.• New members express committee

preferences to party leaders.• Those who have supported their party’s

leadership are favored in the selection process as parties try to grant committee preferences.


LO 12.3



• Committees and Subcommittees (cont.)• Committee Chair – Dominant role in

scheduling hearings, hiring staff, appointing subcommittees, and managing committee bills on the floor.

• Seniority System – Members who have served on the committee the longest and whose party is the chamber majority become chair.


LO 12.3



• Caucuses: The Informal Organization of Congress• Caucus (congressional) – A group of

members of Congress sharing some interest or characteristic.

• Caucuses are composed of members from both parties and from both houses and their goal is to promote the interests around which they are formed.


LO 12.3



• Congressional Staff• Personal staff – They provide constituent

service and help with legislation.• Committee staff – They organize

hearings, and research and write legislation.

• Staff Agencies – CRS, GAO, and CBO provide specific information to Congress.


LO 12.3


The Congressional Process

• Bills• About 9,000 bills are introduced in each

Congress.• A bill is a proposed law, drafted in legal

language.• Anyone can draft a bill, but only a member

of the Congress can introduce a bill.

LO 12.4




• How a Bill Becomes a Law• Bill Introduction – By a member.• Committee Action – Subcommittee

hearings and committee rewrites.• Floor Action – Votes, debates, and

amendments offered.• Conference Action – Compromise bill to

iron out differences. • Presidential Decision – Sign bill into law or

veto bill.To Learning Objectives

LO 12.4


LO 12.4

How a Bill Become a Law

• http://kidstube.com/play.php?vid=1923

http://kidstube.com/play.php?vid=1923



• Presidents and Congress: Partners and Protagonists• Presidents attempt to persuade Congress

that what they want is what Congress wants.

• Presidents have many resources to influence Congress.

• Presidents must win at least 10 times and their leadership of Congress is at the margins.


LO 12.4

How members vote:

• Trustee

• Delegate

• Partisan

• Politico



• Party, Constituency, and Ideology• Party Influence – Party leaders cannot

force party members to vote a particular way, but many do vote along party lines.

• Polarized Politics – Differences between Democrats and Republicans in Congress have grown considerably since 1980.


LO 12.4



• Party, Constituency, and Ideology• Constituency Opinion – On the

controversial issues, members are wise to vote based their constituency opinion.

• Member Ideology – The dominant determinant of member’s vote on most issues is their ideology.


LO 12.4



• Lobbyists and Interest Groups• 35,000 registered lobbyists represent

12,000 organizations seeking to influence Congress.

• The bigger the issue, the more lobbyists will be working on it.

• Lobbyists try to influence legislators’ votes.• Congress can ignore, reject, and regulate

the lobbyists.To Learning Objectives

LO 12.4

Expressed Powers

• Tax – raise revenue

• Borrowing

• Commerce – regulate trade

• Currency

• Bankruptcy

• Foreign Affairs and Defense

Other Powers of Congress

• Naturalization

• Post Office

• Copyrights and patents

• Weights and measures

• Federal Lands

• Federal Courts

Implied Powers

• Necessary and Proper Clause– Gives powers necessary to carry out

expressed powers

– “elastic clause” because it stretches the power of Congress

Congressional Oversight

• oversight by the United States Congress on the Executive Branch, including the numerous U.S. federal agencies. Congressional oversight refers to the review, monitoring, and supervision of federal agencies, programs, activities, and policy implementation

Non-Legislative Powers(Non-lawmaking powers)

• Amending the Constitution

• Electoral powers – choose a president

• Impeachment – Charge a federal official with a crime

• Executive powers – Senate – “advise and consent” (Vote on) - president on treaties and presidential appointments

• Investigative powers

Duties

• Legislator

• Committee member

• Constituent rep

• Constituent servant

• Politician

Legislator

• House


Understanding Congress

• Congress and the Scope of Government• More policies by Congress means more

service to constituencies.• More programs that get created, the bigger

the government gets.• Contradictory – Everybody wants

government programs cut, but just not their programs.


LO 12.5


LO 12.1Summary

• The Representatives and Senators• Congress has proportionately more whites and

males than the general population, and members of Congress are wealthier and better educated than the average American.

• Although they are not descriptively representative of Americans, they may engage in substantive representation.



LO 12.2Summary

• Congressional Elections• Incumbents usually win reelection, because

they usually draw weak opponents, are usually better known and better funded than their opponents, typically represent constituencies where a clear majority share their party affiliation, and can claim credit for aiding their constituents.



LO 12.2Summary

• Congressional Elections (cont.)• However, incumbents can lose if they are

involved in a scandal, if their policy positions are substantially out of line with their constituents, or if the boundaries of their districts are redrawn to reduce the percentage of their constituents identifying with their party.



LO 12.3Summary

• How Congress Is Organized to Make Policy• House is larger, characterized by greater

centralization of power in the party leadership, and has more party discipline than the Senate.

• Senators are more equal in power and may exercise the option of the filibuster to stop a majority from passing a bill.



LO 12.3Summary

• How Congress Is Organized to Make Policy (cont.)• Congressional leaders are elected by their party

members and must remain responsive to them.• Congressional leaders cannot always depend on

the votes of the members of their party.• Committees consider legislation and oversee

administration of policy.



LO 12.3Summary

• How Congress Is Organized to Make Policy (cont.)• Committees chairs have the power to set their

committees’ agendas.• Congressional Caucuses are composed of

members of Congress who have a shared interest or characteristic.

• Personal, committee, and agency staff provide policy expertise and constituency service.



LO 12.4Summary

• The Congressional Process• The process for considering a bill has many

stages.• Presidents try to persuade Congress to support

their policies, which usually earn space on the congressional agenda.

• Parties are more homogeneous and polarized and provide an important pull on members on most issues.



LO 12.4Summary

• The Congressional Process (cont.)• Constituencies have influence on

congressional decision making on a few visible issues, while members’ own ideologies exert more influence on less visible issues.

• Interest groups play a key role in informing Congress and sometimes the threat of their opposition influences vote outcomes.



LO 12.5Summary

• Understanding Congress• Congress is an elite institution and responsive

to the public when the public makes its wishes clear.

• Congress is open to influence, which makes it responsive to many interests but also may reduce its ability to make good public policy.



LO 12.5Summary

• Understanding Congress (cont.)• Members of Congress often support expanding

government to aid their constituents, generally in response to public demands for policy, but many also fight to limit the scope of government.


Documents

Congress The Legislative Branch Article I. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman Chapter 12: Congress The Representatives and