Congress Part II

Copyright © 2011 Cengage Source: Congressional Quarterly, various years.

Copyright © 2011 Cengage When the Democrats regained control of the House, the very liberal John Conyers (ADA score = 100%) became chairman of the House Judiciary Committee in place of the very conservative James Sensenbrenner (ADA score = 10%). p. 322 Marcy Kaptur (D., OH) discusses the war on terrorism in front of the capitol. p. 322 Stefan Zaklin/EPA/Corbis AP Photo/Rick Bowmer

Figure 13.1 Percentage of Incumbents Reelected to Congress Copyright © 2011 Cengage Source: Harold W. Stanley and Richard G. Niemi, Vital Statistics on American Politics, 1999–2000 (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press, 2000), table 1-18; 2004 update by Marc Siegal.

Do Members Represent Their Voters? Representational view– members vote to please their constituents Organizational View–members vote to please fellow members of Congress Attitudinal View–members vote on the basis of their own beliefs Copyright © 2011 Cengage Keith Ellison (D., MN), the first Muslim elected to Congress. p. 325 Craig Lassig/EPA/Corbis

A Polarized Congress A more ideological perspective has been brought to Congress. Congress’ most liberal members are Democrats. Congress’ most conservative members are Republicans. Voters are closer to the center of political spectrum. Copyright © 2011 Cengage

The Organization of Congress: Parties and Caucuses Party Organization of the Senate Party Structure in the House The Strength of Party Structures Party Unity Caucuses Copyright © 2011 Cengage Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to serve as House Speaker. p. 331 Zach Seckler/Corbis

Party organization in senate Chooses one member (greatest seniority) to be pro tempore of Senate Majority leader  legislative leader house and senate, assign people to committees Minority leader  same Whip  helps party leader stay informed on what members are thinking

Copyright © 2011 Cengage

Structure in house Speaker most important, presides over house Pass legislation that favor their party Influences what bills are voted on Whip, in charge of rounding up votes

Figure 13.3 The U.S. Congress Copyright © 2011 Cengage

caucuses Association of members of Congress created to advance a political ideology or regional, ethnic, or economic interest Page 335, 337

Source: U.S. House of Representatives, Copyright © 2011 Cengage

The Organization of Congress: Committees Standing Committees Select Committees Joint Committees Conference Committees House Senate Copyright © 2011 Cengage

Standing committee Permanent  examples Armed services, Banking, Budget, Education, etc. page 338

Select committees Appointed for a limited time  examples aging, intelligence, Indian Affairs

Joint Committees Both house and senators are on these  examples economic and taxation

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The Organization of Congress: Staff and Specialized Offices Tasks of Staff Members Staff Agencies Congressional Research Service (CRS) General Accounting Office (GAO) Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Copyright © 2011 Cengage

Congressional Research Service (CRS) Part of library of congress 900 people employed Look up arguments for and against bills 250,000 questions a year!

General Accounting Office (GAO) Investigates and makes recommendations for all aspects of government Ex. Medicare, military, FBI Employs up to 5,000 people

Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) 100 people Matters with significant uses of technology, not a big impact Ex. Build a pipeline to transport coal slurry

Congressional Budget Office Prepares and analysis of president’s budget, economic projections that are different than the president (give them something to argue about)

Activity Page 193 # 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 12,

Test Answers 1. C, 2. E, 3. A, 5. B, 10. A, 12. D

How a bill becomes a law 2Uuv-oQ What are your thoughts/reactions? Helpful? Questions?

How a Bill Becomes a Law Introducing a Bill Legislative Productivity Study by Committee Floor Debate – The House Floor Debate – The Senate Methods of Voting Copyright © 2011 Cengage

How a Bill Becomes a Law Copyright © 2011 Cengage

DUPnNxns Bill to the law rap! ctive-learning-modules How a bill becomes a law

Copyright © 2011 Cengage

Reducing Power and Perks Pork-Barrel Legislation Franking Privileges Copyright © 2011 Cengage p. 350 Cartoon by Mark Cullum/The Birmingham News. Reprinted with permission.

Pork Barrel Pork=benefits for their districts Pork barrel=piece of legislation containing these benefits Used in the 1870s Example rivers and harbors bill=countless dams, bridges, and canals built all over the country to make people happy

Franking privileges Able to send material through the mail free of charge Instead of using it to keep constituents informed Most use it as newsletters and questionnaires

Franking privilege Do you think the incumbents should be able to send out literature free of charge?

Copyright © 2011 Cengage

M E M O R A N D U M To: Representative Peter Skerry From: Martha Bayles, legislative aide Subject: The Size of the House of Representatives The House can decide how big it wishes to be. When it was created, there was one representative for every 30,000 people. Now there is one for every 600,000. In most other democracies, each member of parliament represents far fewer than 600,000 people. Doubling the size of the House may be a way of avoiding term limits. Copyright © 2011 Cengage WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Arguments for: 1. Doubling the size of the House would reduce the huge demand for constituent services each member now faces. 2. A bigger House would represent more shades of opinion more fairly. 3. Each member could raise less campaign money because his or her campaign would be smaller. Copyright © 2011 Cengage WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Arguments against: 1. A bigger House would be twice as hard to manage, and it would take even longer to pass legislation. 2. Campaigns in districts of 300,000 people would cost as much as ones in districts with 600,000 people. 3. Interest groups do a better job of representing public opinion than would a House with more members. Copyright © 2011 Cengage WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Your decision: Increase size of House? Do not increase size of House? Copyright © 2011 Cengage WHAT WOULD YOU DO?