Re-Election Rates in the House of Representatives 1946-1998 *

Gerrymandering: Drawing Electoral Boundaries for Political Advantage * Cracking the Minority Packing the Minority Cracking the Majority

Porkbarrel Representation * Porkbarrel Representation

Casework Representation *

THE IMPORTANCE OF CONSTITUENCY SERVICE: THE GROWTH IN DISTRICT STAFF *

An Example of the Franking Privilege *

Change in Congressional Mailings: Election Year vs. Off Year * Election-Year Mean Change: +44% Off-Year Mean Change: -32%

Campaign Spending: Incumbents and Challengers *

Effects of Campaign Spending: Name Recognition *

LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 80TH –105TH CONGRESS *

CONGRESSIONAL STAFFING 1930-1997 * CONGRESSIONAL STAFFING 1930-1997

The Simplified/Idealized Legislative Process *

Conservative Nature of Congress: Percent of Bills That Pass,1947-1998 * Conservative Nature of Congress: Percent of Bills That Pass,1947-1998 Mean Percent of Bills that Pass: 6.7% (1947-48) (1997-98)

Fire Alarm Oversight *

The Electoral Value of the Franking Privilege * The Electoral Value of the Franking Privilege

The “Typical” Member of the 109th Congress Gender: Male Women = about 15% of seats (most ever) Race: White Blacks = 8% of seats, 12% of population (1 senator) Hispanics = 5% of seats, 14% of population (2 senators) Education: 93% have bachelor’s degrees 25% of population has bachelor’s degrees Age: House = 55 years, Senate = 60 years Oldest Congress ever Occupation: Lawyer = 40%, Business = 35%, Politician = 35% Return

“Quality Challengers”: The Chicken and the Egg To be a quality challenger, you need: A good chance at winning, so that people take your candidacy seriously. In order to have a good chance at winning you need. . . Funding, so that you can get your name recognized. In order to get funding, you need. . . Return

WOMEN, AFRICAN AMERICANS AND HISPANICS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 92nd - 106th CONGRESS Return

Henry Clay and the “Unbounded” Congress: 1806-07: Served in Senate (not yet 30) to fill the vacancy caused by resignation 1808-09: State house of representatives, speaker in 1809 1810-11: Served in Senate to fill the vacancy caused by resignation 1811-14: House of Representatives, Speaker of the House 1814: appointed one of the commissioners to negotiate the treaty of peace with Great Britain 1815-21: Speaker of the House 1821-1823: “Retired” 1823-1825: Speaker of the House 1824: Ran for President 1825-29: Secretary of State 1831-42: Senate, chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations, Committee on Finance 1832: Ran for President 1844: Ran for President 1849-52: Senate 1852: Dead Return

Violence in Early Congresses Return

Committees as “Preference Outliers”— Skewing Policy Outcomes Committee bill wins: Chamber accepts committee’s expertise and “jurisdiction”. But why? Bill representing the median (average) of the Chamber’s policy preferences Bill produced by the Ag Committee Agriculture Committee members Liberal (more spending) Policy Dimension (where MC’s stand on spending for agriculture) Conservative (less spending) Return

Committees as Party Agents— Skewing Policy Outcomes Majority party-favored bill wins: Party-agents on committee protect the majority party’s interests Bill representing the median (average) of the Chamber’s policy preferences Bill produced by the majority-controlled Ag Committee Majority Party members Liberal (more spending) Policy Dimension (where MC’s stand on spending for agriculture) Conservative (less spending) Return

The Chamber Rules— Centrist Policy Outcomes Bill representing the median (average) of the Chamber’s policy preferences Liberal (more spending) Policy Dimension (where MC’s stand on spending for agriculture) Conservative (less spending) Return

Congressional Party Leadership Positions HOUSE: Speaker—presiding officer, determines schedule, refers bills Majority Leader—Speaker’s “assistant”, party spokesperson Party Whips—maintain party loyalty of votes, pass information between leaders and members. Minority Leader—loyal opposition, party spokesperson SENATE: Majority Leader—Party’s floor leader, party spokesperson Party Whips—maintain party loyalty of votes, pass information between leaders and members. Minority Leader—loyal opposition, party spokesperson, coordinates very closely with Majority Leader Return

Cheating in 2305—Your Options Student 2 Keep Your Mouth Shut Spill It C C F B KYMS Student 1 B F D D Spill It

Cheating in 2305—Your Options Student 2 Keep Your Mouth Shut Spill It C C F B KYMS Student 1 B F D D Spill It

Cheating in 2305—Your Options Student 2 Keep Your Mouth Shut Spill It C C F B KYMS Student 1 B F D D Spill It

Cheating in 2305—Your Options Student 2 Keep Your Mouth Shut Spill It C C F B KYMS Student 1 B F D D Spill It

Cheating in 2305—Your Options Student 2 Keep Your Mouth Shut Spill It C C F B KYMS Student 1 B F D D Spill It

Prisoner’s Dilemma By acting rationally individually, the group collectively ends up with sub-optimal outcomes. Return

Serving on a Committee—Your Options Return Committee 2 Stick To Budget Spend Like Crazy STB +2 +2 -15 +10 Committee 1 SLC +10 -15 -10 -10

Parties vs. Committees Pushes to the center Pulls from the center The 2 parties try to increase the chamber’s coherence (make it all make sense) Pulls from the center Each individual committee tries to drive policies in their own direction (NO COHERENCE!) Return

The Legislative Process How a Bill Becomes a Law The Legislative Process

Why type of committee am I in?

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Why is the Rules Committee so important?? Click on me

Click on me

The same process occurs in Senate, with one notable exception… Notice that there’s no Rules Committee in the Senate. What effect might that have on Senate debate? Click on me

OR…?