Congress and Its Members Chapter 6 Continued

Question 6 What is more important in affecting a Speaker’s institutional clout: personal style or context?

Answer 6 Context This refers to the House’s external and internal environment. It involves whether the Speaker’s party controls the White House, the public’s demand for legislation, the complexity of national problems, the popularity of the president, the electoral environment, and the strength of party id with in the voting public.

Question 7 What is conditional party government?

Answer 7 Let’s ask our two graduate students who have been given a heavy dose of CPG over the last couple of weeks.

Question 8 What is the role of the House Majority Leader?

Answer 8 Party’s floor leader. Helps plan the daily, weekly, and annual legislative agendas; consults with members to gauge sentiment on legislation; coordinates chamber action with the majority party floor manager and other party leaders; confers with the president about administrative proposals, urges colleagues to support or defeat measures, and strives to advance the purposes and programs of the majority party.

Question 9 What are Whips and what do they do?

Answer 9 Encourage party discipline, count votes, mobilize winning coalitions on behalf of partisan priorities. They are the liaison between rank and file and party leaders.

Question 10 What are the main activities Party Leaders are involved in?

Answer 10 These are divided into two categories: – Institutional Tasks Organizing the Chamber: Selecting the top administrative offices of both houses. Overseeing committees. Revising congressional rules. Scheduling Floor Business: Setting the agenda. Making sure members vote. Consulting the President – Party Tasks Organizing the Party: Selecting partisan colleagues for committees Promoting Party Unity Publicizing Party Views: speeches, talk shows, press conferences, op-eds, town meetings Providing Campaign Assistance: PACs, Hill Committees, directing campaign resources to vulnerable members, raising funds

Question 11 What are the three kinds of presiding officers in the Senate?

Answer 11 Presiding Officers – The Vice President: presides over the Senate (seldom does this, usually appoints someone else to do it), Can cast a tie-breaking vote – President Pro Tempore: presides over the Senate in VPs absence – A dozen or so Senators of the majority party who serve approximately one-hour stints each day as the presiding officer

Question 12 Why are leaders in the Senate required to achieve more cross-party consensus, than those in the House, in order to get legislation passed? What is one key factor that has made this even more difficult?

Answer 12 Need 60 votes to win Increased partisanship in the Senate coupled with a polarized public.

Question 13 Describe Party Caucuses, Committees, and Informal Groups.

Answer 13 Party Caucuses – The organization of all partisans in a chamber is called the caucus or (in the case of Republicans) the conference. – Party caucuses (conferences) elect leaders, approve committee assignments, provide members with services, debate party and legislative rules and policies, appoint task forces or issue teams, develop themes to keep members on message, enable members to vent their frustrations and discuss outreach programs that appeal to voters.

Answer 13 Party Committees – Each of the four congressional party groups, Senate Dems and Reps, House Dems and Reps, establishes committees to serve partisan needs and objectives. – Party committees do not make policy, but they do provide advice on scheduling, study substantive and political issues, distribute policy papers, track votes on issues, an discuss and implement party policy.

Answer 13 Informal Party Groups – These are groups like the Conservative Study Group, the Tea Party Caucus, The New Democratic Coalition, and the Blue Dog Democrats. – Basically these are groups of like-minded members who get together and discuss policy and promote public awareness about their causes.