Congressional Policymaking Emily Baer October 2014 Introduction to American Politics

Congressional Policymaking 1. Evaluating Congress 2. Power in Congress 3. How legislators decide to pursue specific policies 4. Challenges to Policymaking 5. Differences Between the House and Senate

Evaluating Congress: Representation How Government is Constituted Politicians in office (Members of Congress, Senators) Electoral system (SMD system) Institutional environment (House and Senate rules and procedures) What Government Does Policy Output Congressional policymaking is a product of (1) who serves in Congress, and (2) the institutional environment in which legislation is written, debated, and voted on by Congress

Evaluating Congress Descriptive Representation Policies are less likely to reflect your interests unless policymakers share the same fundamental experiences and background as your own Does Congress look like the public? Most Americans do not trust Congress to do what is right, but most Members of Congress are re-elected Fenno’s Paradox

Sources of Congressional Power Constitutional framework provides minimal direction about how Congress should be organized or power should be distributed

Sources of Congressional Power: Constitutional Framework Article I, Section 2: “The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker, and other Officers” Article I: Section 3: “The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore” Article I, Section 5: “Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings

Sources of Congressional Power Constitutional framework provides minimal direction for how Congress should be organized or power should be distributed As the size and responsibilities of Congress expanded, both branches established a deliberate organizational structure Power is concentrated among a subset of members within this structure

Parties Legislative parties in the U.S. are unique among other democratic countries Power less likely to derive from elections Parties control congressional organization Elect leaders of Congress (in House: Speaker; Senate: Majority Leader) Write the rules and procedures governing Congress Control the congressional agenda Parties subsidize the costs of serving in Congress Supply resources that make it easier to serve constituents

Congressional Committees For much of the 20th century, committees were the major source of power in Congress Most legislation is written in committee MCs are more active/interested, more likely to impact content of policies, and more likely to be targeted by interest group lobbying Most legislation dies in committee Committees are not equally powerful Appropriations Committee Rules Committee (only in the House) Members of Congress and Senators accrue seniority in committees Automatic or preferential consideration for committee chair positions

Seniority Norms Advantages Disadvantages More likely to have policy expertise Better knowledge of congressional procedure Stronger relationships with other MCs/senators Disadvantages More likely to be elderly/may be senile Slows the rate of leadership and policy change within the majority party More likely to have close relationships with lobbyists/interest groups Frustration with the seniority system gave way to a huge wave of reform within Congress (especially the House)

Congressional Reform In the late 1950s and 1960s, reformers in the House grew frustrated that seniority norms prevented younger MCs from securing votes on legislation Especially problematic for civil rights, housing, education and health care legislation Committees refused to report legislation Rules Committee refused to assign a rule Unrecorded votes on amendments watered down substance of legislation and/or substantially cut funding In the 1970s, this led to a series of rules changes in the Democratic Caucus, and bipartisan anti-secrecy legislation passed in the House

Policymaking after Reform Made the policymaking process and legislators’ votes more transparent Legislators’ votes on amendments Congressional Hearings Strengthened the electoral incentives for policymaking Weakened the barrier between “campaigning” and “governing” Advantaged specific, more narrow interests Surrogate representation Gender Racial and ethnic minorities

Challenges to Policymaking Veto Points Legislation can fail at every stage of the process Divided Government Congressional productivity slows Salience The public/media only care about a small subset of potential issues Public Opinion Divided Legislators are not judges – do not want to decide winners and losers

What types of policies are most likely to pass Congress? Members of Congress are most likely to support legislation when the issue is highly salient and public opinion on the issue is relatively unified Salience Conflict Low conflict, Low salience High salience High conflict,

Evaluating Differences between the House and Senate Minorities are stronger in the Senate Supermajority rule Filibuster rule in the Senate Single senator can disrupt the legislative process 60 senators necessary for cloture Senate incumbents are more vulnerable Incumbency rate lower than in the House Senate constituencies are more diverse

Evaluating Differences between the House and Senate Germaneness rule on amendments in the House Tighter agenda control in the House, weaker agenda control in the Senate Parties are Stronger in the House Power is more centralized than in the Senate Average senator has more power than the average member of the House