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CH. 12:Congress



Congress



House and Senate:

Differences in Representation• Bicameral system: two chambers

─ Result of the Connecticut Compromise

─ Each state has two senators. ─ Each state’s number of House representatives is

determined by state population.

• Predicated on different representation models

─ Senate: states, with longer terms

─ House: districts, with shorter terms



House and Senate:

Differences in Representation• Senate: 100 senators

─ Since 1913, directly elected by voters statewide

─ Six-year terms ─ Two per state (fixed)

• House of Representatives: 435 members

─ Elected by districts

─ Two-year terms

─ Population determines number per state (varies).



House and Senate:

Differences in Representation



• Congressional districts can be relatively

homogeneous by many standards.

─ Ideal for organized interests claiming to representconstituents

─ Members tend to specialize in one committee.

• States are far more heterogeneous.

─ Senators have to be generalists.

─ More open to a wider array of interests

House and Senate:




• How representatives represent:

─ Sociological representation: shares demographic

traits, experiences, and interests with constituents

─ Agency representation: representative has electoral

incentive to act on constituent interests.

House and Senate:




Women, African Americans, and

Latinos in Congress (1971–2008)Sociological

Representation



WHO ARE AMERICANS?

Chapter 12

WHO ARE THE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS?



WHO ARE AMERICANS?

Who are the Members of Congress?

U.S. Pop.

51%

49%

Female

Male

House

15%

85%

Senate

17%

83%

Gender

U.S. Population Key

Senate

House of Representatives SOURCES: Mildred L. Amer, “Membership of the 111th Congress: A Profile,” CRS Report R40086,

February 4, 2010. U.S. Census Bureau, www.census.gov (accessed 3/5/10).



WHO ARE AMERICANS?


U.S. Pop.

65%

13%

16%

5%

1%

White

Black

Hispanic

Asian/Pacific

Native

American

House

82%

9%

6%

2%

0.2%

Senate

96%

1%

1%

2%

0%

Race

U.S. Population Key

Senate





WHO ARE AMERICANS?


U.S. Pop.

51%

24%

3%

2%

3%

17%

Protestant

Catholic

Other Christian

Jewish

Other Faiths

Unaffiliated

House

55%

31%

4%

7%

2%

1%

Senate

54%

26%

6%

13%

0%

0%

Religion

U.S. Population Key

Senate





WHO ARE AMERICANS?


U.S. Pop.

13.5%

57%

19%

1.5%

9%

< High school

High school

grad.

Bachelor’s

degree

Professional/

Law degree

Other

advanceddegree

House

—

8%

29%

39%

25%

Senate

—

1%

20%

57%

22%

Education

U.S. Population Key

Senate





WHO ARE AMERICANS?


Average Age

SOURCES: Mildred L. Amer, “Membership of the 111th Congress: A Profile,” CRS Report R40086,


U.S. Pop. 36.9

House 57.2

Senate 63.1



The Electoral Connection

• Who gets elected?

─ Who decides to run

─ Incumbency advantage ─ Districting and gerrymandering issues




• Who runs?

─ Candidates must self select to run.

─ Some encouraged by parties more than others. ─ Strong candidate qualities:

• Good name recognition

• Success in prior elected offices

• Ability to raise funds

• Willingness to campaign

• Ability to reach out to voters




• Incumbency advantage

─ Members of Congress have an array of tools to

keep them in office.• Constituency services

• Ranking privilege

• Name recognition and title

• Pork-barrel spending for district

─ Otherwise strong potential challengers do not run



The Power of Incumbency




• Districting and Redistricting

─ Congressional districts are typically drawn in a

manner that clearly benefits one party or the other.

─ The vast majority of incumbents represent “safe

districts,” where most voters support one party.

─ Primaries are the critical election in safe-seat

districts because there is little party competition.



Results of Congressional

Reapportionment




Apportionment




• Direct patronage

─ Pork-barrel spending

• Earmarks

─ Patronage

• Some local and state elected officials have jobs to offer

to constituents.

─ Constituent services ─ Private bills



How Members of Congress

Represent Their Districts



The Organization of Congress

• Building blocks of Congress

─ Parties

─ Committees ─ Staff

─ Caucuses

─ Parliamentary rules




• Speaker of the House is the leader of the

majority party.

• Both parties also elect a majority and minority

leader and whip.

• The parties determine which of their members

sit on various committees.




• The vice president officially chairs the Senate,

but only presides at ceremonial events and in

the event of a tie vote.

• The president pro tempore usually chairs the

Senate, but often hands off to another

member for routine business.



Majority Party Structure in the Houseof Representatives



Majority Party Structure in theSenate




• Committee system

─ Standing committees

─ Select committees ─ Joint committees

─ Conference committees




• Standing committees are permanent and are

where the majority of legislation is written.










• Select committees

─ Formed temporarily to focus on a specific issue

• Cannot present bills to the chamber

• Bring attention to a specific subject




• Joint committees

− Formed from members of both chambers

− Gather information− Cover issues internal to Congress




• Conference committees

─ For a bill to become a law, the same wording of

the bill must be passed by both chambers. ─ Conference committees are formed to write the

final wording when both chambers pass similar

bills that need to be reconciled.




• The number of seats the minority party has on

a committee is roughly proportionate to the

seats it has in the House, but at anunfavorable rate.

• Seniority determines committee assignments.

─ Chairs can be removed by the party caucus.

─ Chairs are term-limited.




• Congressional staffers

─ Specific topic or issue expertise

─ Constituent services• Over 11,500 staff in D.C. and district offices

• Another 2,000 staff for committees




• Congressional Research Service

─ Research arm of Congress

• Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

─ Assess program costs and income from tax plans

• General Accounting Office

─ Audits federal agencies and programs




• Congressional caucuses

─ Groups of senators or representatives who share

common goals or interests; may be bipartisan.

─ Organized around issue, ideological, party, and/or

demographic traits

─ Some have large budgets and staffs, and are

capable of pressuring Congress and the executivebranch.



How a Bill Becomes a Law




• A bill is a proposed law that has been

sponsored by a member of Congress and

submitted to the clerk of the House or Senate.• The bill is given a number and assigned to a

committee, which typically refers it to a

subcommittee.

• Bills taken seriously are given a hearing.

• Most bills (95 percent) do not get throughcommittee.




• The subcommittee and/or full committee

writes the language of the bill.

• The full committee sends the bill to the floor. ─ Bill must pass through the Rules committee in the

House first.

─ Rules committee gives bill an open or closed rule

─ Senate requires a consent agreement




• The House rule determines how much time is

allocated for floor debate.

• The debate time is divided equally betweenthose for and against the bill.

• The Senate allows for unlimited discussion,

requiring 60 votes to end a filibuster via

cloture.




• Once a bill clears in one chamber, it is sent to

the other where the process starts over.

• If both chambers pass the same wording, thebill is sent to the president.

• If not, both chambers create a conference

committee.




• The president is given 10 days to veto a law.

─ Vetoes can be overridden by a two-thirds vote in

each chamber.

─ Pocket veto: if there are less than ten days left inthe congressional calendar and the president does

not sign the bill into law, it dies and must beginagain from scratch in the next session.



How Congress Decides




• Many factors influence members of Congress.

• Constituents

─ Legislators take constituents seriously if theybelieve it will affect their support at the next

election.

─ This includes voters as well as industries with a

large presence in the district. ─ Electoral incentives make constituents a priority.




• Interest groups

─ Can supply legislators with very detailed

information and data about pending bills

─ Can make sizeable donations

─ Do they represent the interests of constituents?



Party Discipline




Party Discipline: Congress increasingly partisan since 1990s




• Tools party leaders have at their disposal:

─ Leadership PACs

─ Committee assignments

─ Access to the floor

─ The whip system

─ Logrolling

─ Presidency



Oversight



Beyond Legislation

• Oversight

─ Congress is expected to oversee the activities of

the executive branch in order to ensure funding is

spent and laws are enforced properly.

• Advice and consent

─ The Senate must confirm top-level executive

appointments, ambassadors, and federal judges. ─ Approves all treaties



Impeachment



Beyond Legislation

• Impeachment

─ If high officials are thought to have committed

Treason, Bribery or other High Crimes and

Misdemeanors, they can be impeached.

─ The House acts as a grand jury.

─ The Senate conducts the actual trial.



Debate



The Legislator’s Dilemma

• Delegate or trustee?

─ What should a legislator do when she disagreeswith her constituents about an important issue?

─ She may know more about the issue than her

constituents, and if they knew as much, they mayalso think differently.



Public Opinion Poll

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Congress is

handling its job?

a) Strongly approve

b) Approve

c) Disapprove

d) Strongly disapprove



Public Opinion Poll

Do you approve or disapprove of the way your member

of Congress is handling his or her job?

a) Strongly approve

b) Approve

c) Disapprove

d) Strongly disapprove



Public Opinion Poll

Do you believe we should have term limits for

members of Congress?

a) Yes

b) No



Public Opinion Poll

Do you believe elected officials should be responsible

for drawing congressional districts?

a) Yes

b) No



Public Opinion Poll

Do you think it is important that members of Congress

reflect national economic demographics?

a) Yes

b) No



Public Opinion Poll

Do you think it is important that members of Congress

reflect national gender demographics?

a) Yes

b) No



Public Opinion Poll

When members of Congress cast a vote, which of the

following factors should most influence their decision?

a) The interests of the country as a whole

b) The interests of their district or state



Public Opinion Poll

When a member of Congress casts a vote, which of the

following factors should most influence his decision?

a) Constituents’ preferences

b) The president’s preferences

c) The member’s party leadership preferences

d) The member’s own ideology



Chapter 12: Congress

Quizzes

FlashcardsOutlines

Exercises

wwnorton.com/we-the-people



Following this slide, you will find additional

images, figures, and tables from the textbook.



Differences between the Houseand the Senate



The Social Composition of theU.S. CongressThe Social Composition of the

U.S. Congress



The Staff System: Staffers andAgencies






Party



Party



What is Congress’s Role inForeign Policy?

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