Congressional Decision-making

The Public Rates Congress Lower Than Many Other Institutions

The Public Rates the Honesty and Ethics of Members of Congress Lower Than Those of Other Occupations

Fenno’s Puzzle: Americans Rate Their Own Representative More Positively than Congress as a Whole Percent Who “Approve”

District-focused Representation

1. Exclusive geographical area 2. Professional career – seeking re-election 3. Horse-race elections – only one winner

Part 2 Parties v. Committees

1. House tightly controlled by party leadership, which controls which bills come before the floor. Senate is smaller, but party leaders still control the flow of legislation. 2.Tug of War between the party leadership and the committee system Power in Congress

Historical Shifts in Power in Congress A. Historically, power shifted from party leaders to committees – and to subcommittees. B. Recently, power has shifted back to party leaders Meeting of House Committee on Financial Services Speaker of the House John Boehner (R) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R)

Congressional Eras Since Civil War Era of Party Government: Era of Committee Government: 1911 – 1970 Era of Subcommittee Government: Era of Party Revival? present Joseph “Czar” Cannon Speaker of the House Rules Committee expanded Watergate Class of 1974 Party Revival

“… It is not far from the truth to say that Congress in session is Congress on public exhibition, whilst Congress in its committee rooms is Congress at work.” – Woodrow Wilson “In practice, Congress functions not as a unified institution, but as a collection of semi-autonomous committees that seldom act in unison.” – George B. Galloway Power in Committees

Power in Party Leaders “Jim Nussle (R-Iowa), who had been heroic on a huge range of things for the party, had to have that opportunity (to have his ethanol legislation considered in the House).” – Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich

Power Shifted from Parties to Committees 1.Incumbency protection 2. Progressive movement and the decline of patronage 3. Primaries 4. Internal divisions within parties (during early 20 th C.) 5. Independents

Power Shifts Back to Party Leaders 1.Decline of Democratic South and Republican Northeast – each party is more unified internally. 2.Gridlock. Negotiations must take place by top leaders to get legislation passed and signed. 3.Just a few bills are passed that contain almost all spending and policy initiatives. 4. Nationalization of campaign finance.

Congress has polarized since the 1960s: Republican (Blue) vs. Democrat (Red) Liberal Conservative

Part 3 Critiques of Committee Control

The Legislative Labyrinth: Why Few Important Laws are Passed Full House Debates and Votes on Passage Reported by Full Committee Referred to Subcommittee Referred to House Committee Rules Committee Action Referred to Senate Committee Referred to Subcommittee Reported by Full Committee Full Senate Debates and Votes on Passage President Conference Committee Senate ApprovalHouse Approval Vetoed and OverriddenSigned Introduced in HouseIntroduced in Senate

Four Critiques of Committee Control 1.Overlapping Responsibilities 2.Unrepresentative Committees 3.Spending Money on Committee Favorites 4. No Redistribution

Critique 1: Overlapping Responsibilities In 2001, there were 14 Congressional Committees responsible for intelligence operations, including: House Select Committee on Intelligence Armed Services Committee Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Defense Operations Foreign Affairs Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Armed Services Committee Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Defense Operations Foreign Affairs For Homeland Security, additional committees include judiciary committees, transportation committees, civilian airlines committees, and committees overseeing international trade and tariffs.

Critique 2: Unrepresentative Committees To get re-elected, representatives join committees that focus on issues of concern to their constituents. Committee policy biased toward special interests: rural members on agriculture; members with defense industries on armed forces, etc.

Critique 3: Spend Money on Committee Favorites – Bridge to Nowhere “Bridge to Nowhere” (aka “Million Dollar Bridge”) in Alaska

Critique 4: No Redistribution – Which States Get the Money? * Grouped by quintiles- each bar represents an average for the respective quintile Dollar/Per Capita

Committees or Party Leaders? Committees better able to compromise than parties, but they are inefficient. Better at spending than balancing budgets. Parties needed to keep government under control. But partisanship makes for polarization among elites and the media.

Why the Senate Cools the Tea 1.Filibuster rule: takes 60 percent to pass legislation 2.States more heterogeneous than districts 3.Senate smaller 4.Committees weaker; more amendments to legislation on Senate floor 5.Senators more vulnerable (visible, contested elections) 6. More bipartisan legislation

Threats to Tea Cooling –60 percent rule in jeopardy –Nationalized financing forcing partisanship in Senate as well as House –Elite polarization continuing, as primary elections become more important

Next Lecture: Bureaucracy