Unit Four: Branches of Government

Congress

Learning Objectives

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

Interpreting Quotes about Congress

What does the quote mean (i.e. your interpretation)?

What does the author seem to think of Congress (i.e. what’s her/his bias)?

What does the quote show us about how Congress works?

Key Questions we need to ask as we examine Congress

• WHO GOVERNS?1. Are members of Congress representative of the

American people?

2. Does Congress normally do what most citizens want it to do?

• TO WHAT ENDS?1. Should Congress run under strong leadership?

2. Should Congress act more quickly?

Video: The Big Picture

What do we already know about the workings of the US

Congress?

Examine the US ConstitutionArticle One

• Create the chart in your notebook

• Be ready to discuss your findings

• Be sure to use your Constitutional Study Guide as well to help.

• 15 minutes

Bicameral Legislature• Two house Congress• House of Reps. = 435

members • 5 non-voting members =

Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, Washington D.C., American Samoa

• Senate = 100 membersConnecticut Compromise @

the Constitutional Convention

Congressional Organizer

LeaderLeader LeaderLeaderSizeSize SizeSize

Qualifications QualificationsQualifications

TermTerm

TermTerm

Speaker of the House chosen by majority party John Boehner is current Speaker (R)

The Vice President is President of the Senate. The Pro Tempore takes over usually.

# based on state population by the Census every 10 years. The 435 seats are reapportioned.

Each state has 2 Senators, for a total of 100.

Must be 25, 7-yr. Citizen & State resident.

Must be 30, 9-yr. Citizen & State resident.

Serve 2-yr terms-no limit on times

Serve 6-yr terms-no limit on times

All 435 elected each term by district. Some state’s districts have gerrymanders.

1/3 elected every 2 years. The 17th Amendment allows for election of Senators.

Unique Powers: All Appropriation bill start in HOR.Have impeachment power.

Unique Powers: Must approve Presidential appointments. 2/3 must approve Presidential treaties.Holds impeachment trials.

The Representatives and Senators

• The Job– Salary of $174,000 with retirement benefits– Office space in D.C. and at home with staff– Travel allowances and franking privileges– Requires long hours, a lot of time away from

family, and pressure from others to support their policies

Who’s in Congress?– How representative of US citizens is

the legislative branch?

• Examine and analyze recent trends of representation within the House and Senate for the 113th Congress (2014) .

(demographics - selected population characteristics as used in government, marketing or opinion research; commonly-used demographics include race, age, level of education, gender, religion, political affiliation and occupation. )

Website link

Questions for Discussion1. Identify at least six characteristics of a typical representative in the 113th Congress based on the data.

2. List three groups of people who might have reason to question whether or not the Congress adequately represents their interests. Explain each.

3. Identify and explain several differences between the make-up of Congress and the general public.

4. How important is it to elect someone of the same statistical profile as the majority in the district in order to gain good representation? Provide pros and cons.

5. What did you find interesting about the make-up of Congress?

Congressional Elections

Congressmen from Wisconsin

Senate Reps

                               

HOR Reps

Incumbency in Congress

Individuals who already hold office usually win 90% of elections

Incumbents not always the winners!

• Recent Senate change 2010

• Another example

What changed the outcome of the Senate election in WI?

Do you think we will see this again in 2016?

World Perspective 2010

MNBC Perspective 2010

Myths and Theories of why incumbents win

• IMAGE! (Citizens know how their reps vote on VIP policy issues and agree) FALICY!

• Voters assessments of presidential candidates influence voting for Congress

• Voters motivated by pocketbooks

Congressional Elections• The Advantages of Incumbents

– Advertising “Visibility” , Franking privilege, technology

– Position Taking:• Portray themselves as hard working, dedicated individuals

• Occasionally take a partisan stand on an issue

– Weak Opponents:• Inexperienced in politics, unorganized, and underfunded

– Campaign Spending:• Challengers need to raise large sums to defeat an incumbent

• PACs give most of their money to incumbents

• Does PAC money “buy” votes in Congress?

Money in electing Congressmen• Most of the turnover in the

membership in Congress results from vacated seats, particularly in the House

• It costs a great deal more money to elect a congressperson than to elect a president

• 2000, all presidential candidates spent a total of $200 million

• 2000, general election Senate races alone cost $350 million

Servicing the Constituency (Credit Claiming)

• Constituents: citizens that the Congressperson represents

• Casework: helping constituency as individuals (cutting through red tape to give people what they think they have a right to get

• Pork Barrel: List of federal projects, grants and contracts available to cities, businesses, colleges and institutions

Defeating Incumbents• Hard not to be naïve

• Corruption/scandal

• Funds

• Re-districting (Gerrymandering)

• Political tidal waves (ie. Health care, Federal shutdown/budget)

Quote• Perception of Congress on themselves

– “ Unsafe at any margin” –Thomas Mann

– Stability is created with incumbents winning, yet particular seats will then be “safe/protected” from the voice of the people.

Homework:

Read “You are the policymaker” page 369

Write a reflection (look at syllabus for format) on your position of favor or oppose term limits in Congress.

Video: In Context

Comparing the Senate and the House of Representatives

Learning Objectives

Compare and contrast the House and Senate, and describe the roles of congressional leaders, committees, caucuses, and staff

Outline the path of bills to passage and explain the influences on congressional decision making

11.3

11.4

House of Representatives

• More centralized, hierarchical, less anarchic

• Party loyalty to leadership and party-line voting more prevalent

• Leaders do more leading• Speaker appoints

committee members• Five calendars based on

kind of bill• House can impeach

officials (16 so far)

House Rules Committee

• Most important committee in the House

• Reviews most bills coming from a house committee before they go to the full House (traffic cop)

• Gives each bill a “rule”, which schedules the bill on the calendar, allots time for debate, and can even specify what kind of amendments to bill can be offered

• Initiates all revenue bills in House

Senate

• Less disciplined, less centralized

• Ratifies treaties

• Confirms important presidential nominations

• Tries impeached officials

• Party leaders schedule bills

• Pro Tempore seniority rule

Congressional Leadership

How Congress is Organized to Make Policy

• The House– Led by Speaker of the

House—elected by House members

– Presides over House

– Major role in committee assignments and legislation

– Assisted by majority leader and whips

• The Senate– Formally lead by Vice

President

– Really lead by Majority Leader—chosen by party members

– Assisted by whips

– Must work with Minority leader

Congressional Leadership

Speaker of the House

• Most important person in Congress– Presides over House– Makes committee

assignments– Appoints party’s

legislative leaders– Exercises substantial

control over which bills get assigned to which committees

Other Congressional Leaders• Majority Leader in each

house• Minority Leaders in each

house• Whips: A member of a

legislative body, charged by his or her party with enforcing party discipline and ensuring attendance

Majority Leader Senate: Harry Reid

Eric Cantor: HOR Majority Leader

Whips…in the Senate

• Richard Durbin (D) Majority whip

• Jon Kyl (R) Minority whip

Whips...in the House

• Kevin McCarthy (R) majority whip

• Steny Hoyer (D) minority whip

Logrolling

• Logrolling means exchanging votes for favors.

• “I’ll vote for your bill if you vote for my bill.”

Day in the Congress

• Purpose of the Filibuster

Committees in Congress

"Congress in session is Congress "Congress in session is Congress on public exhibition, whilst on public exhibition, whilst

Congress in its committee-rooms Congress in its committee-rooms is Congress at work.is Congress at work.””

The Big Picture

• Why are committees necessary?• How many lawmakers serve on a committee?• How many committees does a lawmaker

serve on?• What do committees do?

– Hold hearings– Markup and amend bills– Vote on bills

Committees in Congress

• Standing committees: Permanent committee in a legislative body to which bills in a specified subject matter area are referred

• Joint committees: Legislative committee composed of members of both houses (usually permanent also)

• Conference committees: Temporary joint committee created to reconcile any differences between the two houses’ versions of a bill

• Select committees: Legislative committee created for a limited time and for some specific purpose; also known as a special committee

House STANDING Committees

• There are 19 standing committees in the House of Representatives.

• Representatives are normally assigned to one or two standing committees.

• The most important committees in the House are: Rules, Ways and Means, Appropriations, Armed Services, Judiciary, International Relations, and Agriculture

Senate STANDING Committees

• There are 17 standing committees in the Senate.

• Senators are normally assigned to three or four committees.

• The most important committees in the Senate are: Foreign Relations, Appropriations, Finance, Judiciary, Armed Services, and Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.

Important Facts about Committees

Committees are where most bills receive thorough consideration.

The fate of most bills is decided in the various standing committees.

Most bills DIE in the committees (action) to which they are referred!!!

More than 9,000 bills are submitted

Important facts continue• What is Seniority System?• What factors go into who serves on a standing

committee?– Specialization—for example if you’re from a farm state

you want to serve on the agricultural committee

• “General Rule”• News rules have been implemented (limited chairs

to three consecutive 2 yrs terms. committees; Comm. Chairs have lost the power to cast proxy votes for those not in attendance. )

Legislative Oversight• Congress’s monitoring of the bureaucracy

and its administration of policy (hearings)

• Can pressure agencies…cut budgets

• Revision existing policies

What are some set backs to Congressional Oversight?

1. Expansion and growth hard to monitor

2. Congress members are torn and have to prioritize where they will be most effective and what has the most benefits to them

3. Fragmentation of committee jurisdictions, which inhibits Congress from taking a comprehensive view of complex issue areas

4. Majority party determines when and if a committee will hold hearings.

TABLE 11.4: Sharing oversight of homeland security

Intelligence Committee and Congress

• Video

• What problems are associated with committees and subcommittees especially within the area of intelligence?

Congressional Caucus• Informal organization of

Congresspersons who share some interest on characteristics

• Promote the interests around which they are formed

• Interest group within Congress• Over 500 • Representation more direct

– Women, Hispanic, Black, demographic groups, Sunbelt Caucus (regional)

– Economic Caucus (Bourbon)

Online resources

• http://www.house.gov/house/CommitteeWWW.shtml

• http://clerk.house.gov/committee_info/index.html

• http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/committees/d_three_sections_with_teasers/committees_home.htm

• http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate/sclinks.html

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)

Video: The Basics

Congressional process

The Congressional Process

Congress in the Hot Seat• How would you characterize the interview?

• Watching this as a typical middle American, what issues and solutions were you able to pick out from the interview?

• Knowing we did go through a shut down, what insight did this interview provide?

• How would you define “Common ground”

Budget and Appropriations Bills

• Must start in the House

• Provide the legal authority to spend or obligate the U.S Treasury

• Senate has an appropriations committee as well (how and when to spend “Controlling the purse string”)

Party, Constituency, and Ideology

Party influence Economic and social welfare policies

Polarized politics Parties more internally homogeneous Less likelihood of compromise

Constituency opinion versus member ideology Trustees versus instructed delegates

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 Ghostwrite legislation Status quo usually wins

Disclosure requirements

Congress and Democracy

Democracy depends upon successful representation

Congress unrepresentative Members are elites Leadership chosen, not elected Senate based on states, not population

Obstacles to good representation Constituent service Reelection campaigns

Representativeness versus Effectiveness

Congress and the Scope of Government

Does size of government increase to please public? Pork barrel spending

Contradictory preferences Against large government, for individual programs

Will Democrats and Republicans ever agree on anything?

Video: In the Real World