11Congress

11Learning Objectives

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

Identify the principal factors influencing the outcomes in congressional elections

11.1

11.2

11Learning 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

11Learning Objectives

Assess Congress’s role as a representative body and the impact of representation on the scope of government

11.5

Representatives and Senators

Members

Why Aren’t There More Women in Congress?

11.1

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 435 Representatives; 100 senators

11.1

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

11.1

Members

Demographics Descriptive versus substantive representation

11.1

Arab-American Heritage festival 11.1

Why Aren’t There More Women in Congress?

Fewer women running Childcare Risk averse

Bias Must be more qualified

11.1

11.1 How old do you have to be to run for the office of senator?

a. 25

b. 35

c. 30

d. 21

11.1

Congressional Elections

Who Wins Elections?

Advantages of Incumbency

Role of Party Identification

Defeating Incumbents

Open Seats

Stability and Change

11.2

Incumbents Over 90% win reelection in House Senators do not have it as easy

Incumbents perceive themselves as vulnerable Hence fundraising and campaigning

Who Wins Elections? 11.2

FIGURE 11.1: Incumbency factor in congressional elections

11.2

Advantages of Incumbency

Advertising Constituent contact

Credit claiming Casework Pork barrel projects

11.2

Big Dig 11.2

Advantages of Incumbency

Position taking

Weak opponents

Campaign spending

11.2

Role of Party Identification

Parties and districts Drawn for one-party dominance

11.2

Defeating Incumbents

Challengers are naïve But sometimes incumbents are vulnerable

Redistricting

Public mood

11.2

Open Seats and Stability and Change

Vacant seat = no incumbent running Most turnover occurs here

Stability from incumbency Development of expertise

Term limits?

11.2

11.2 Why do incumbents have such a strong electoral advantage?

a. They attract more campaign contributions

b. They can use the congressional franking

privilege

c. They have more name recognition

d. All of the above

11.2

How Congress is Organized to Make Policy

American Bicameralism

Congressional Leadership

Committees and Subcommittees

Caucuses: Informal Organization of Congress

Congressional Staff

11.3

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 Filibuster Less centralized and seniority-based

11.3

TABLE 11.2: House versus Senate: Some key differences

11.3

Congressional Leadership

Chosen by party

House Speaker of the House Majority and minority leaders Whips

Senate Vice president Majority leader

11.3

Congressional Leadership 11.3

Committees and Subcommittees

Four types of committees Standing committees Joint committees Conference committees Select committees

11.3

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

11.3

Committees and Subcommittees

Committees at work: Legislation Legislative oversight

11.3

Congressional committee at work 11.3

TABLE 11.4: Sharing oversight of homeland security

11.3

Getting on a committee Constituent needs Appealing to leadership

Committees and Subcommittees

11.3

Caucuses: Informal Organization of Congress

As important as formal structure

Dominated by caucuses 500 caucuses today Goal is to promote their interests Black Caucus, Hispanic Caucus

11.3

Congressional Hispanic Caucus 11.3

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

11.3 How many staff members does Congress employ to help it do its job?

a. More than 11,000

b. 3,200

c. Less than 2,000

d. Staff are volunteers from the member’s

constituency, and their numbers vary

11.3

Congressional Process and Decision Making

Presidents and Congress: Partners and Protagonists

Party, Constituency, and Ideology

Lobbyists and Interest Groups

11.4

FIGURE 11.2: How a bill becomes a law 11.4

Presidents and Congress: Partners and Protagonists

President’s legislative agenda Persuade Congress Work at the margins but usually win Yet Congress is quite independent

11.4

Party, Constituency, and Ideology

Party influence Economic and social welfare policies

Polarized politics Parties more internally homogeneous Less likelihood of compromise

11.4

FIGURE 11.3: Increasing polarization in Congress

11.4

Party, Constituency, and Ideology

Constituency opinion versus member ideology Trustees versus instructed delegates

11.4

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

Who really wrote ACA? Status quo usually wins

Disclosure requirements

11.4

11.4 On what tactics do lobbyists rely to influence policy in Congress?

a. Promising money for reelection campaigns

b. Providing expert policy information

c. Ghostwriting legislation

d. All of the above

11.4

Congress and Democracy

Congress and the Scope of Government

11.5Understanding Congress

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

11.5

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

11.5

11.5 How does the Senate undermine democratic representation?a. Its members tend not to show up for roll

call votes

b. It is forbidden from overriding a presidential veto

c. It represents states rather than people

d. None of the above

11.5

Discussion Questions

Based on what you have learned in this chapter, do you prefer the trustee or instructed delegate model of representation? Which model is closer to the system we have now?

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