1. POLI 102: July 31, 2017
Lecture #9: Congress

2. So…….
About last Tuesday…
Thoughts?

3. Votes by County

4. 2012 Election

5. Vote Shifts: 2012  2016

6. Polling Errors

7. Senate 2016

8. House of Representatives 2016
Congress tends to be unpopular, yet most incumbents reelected

9. People’s Opinion of Congress

10. People’s Opinion of Congress

11. Fenno’s Paradox

12. Congress
“All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress which shall consists of a Senate and a House of Representatives.”
Congress: The First Branch
Called so because the Constitution lays out its powers first
Founders assumed that the Congress would be the most powerful branch, therefore divided it in two.
House – shorter terms, popular, “delegates”
Senate – longer terms, more elite, “trustees”

13. Article 1, Section 8

14. Implied Powers “Commerce” clause “Necessary and Proper” clause
“Supremacy” clause
The implied powers of Congress go well beyond those expressly described by Article 1, Section 8

15. Roots of the Legislative Branch
The U.S. Congress was greatly influenced by the American colonial experience and by the Articles of Confederation.
Under the British, colonial assemblies were chosen as advisory bodies to the royal governors.
These assemblies gradually assumed more power and authority in each colony, eventually gaining responsibility over taxation and spending.
The weaknesses of the Articles led to the Philadelphia Convention in 1787.

16. The Constitution and the Legislative Branch
Article I creates a bicameral legislative branch of government – roughly equal power.
The upper house is called the Senate in which each state receives two representatives.
The lower house is called the House of Representatives which is apportioned by population.
The Senate has a 6 year term with 1/3 of the seats up for reelection every two years.
House members serve 2 year terms.
Supported by staffs and other institutions.
Library of Congress, the General Accounting Office, Congressional Budget Office.

17. Legislative Branch Staff

18. Apportionment and Redistricting
The Constitution requires that all Americans be counted every 10 years by a census.
The census determines the representation in the House of Representatives.
Redistricting (the redrawing of congressional districts to reflect changes in seats allocated to the states from population shifts) is done by state legislatures and has political overtones.
When the process is outrageously political, it is called gerrymandering and is often struck down by the courts.

19. Spend
Money
Regulate
Commerce
Taxation
Create
Courts
Powers of
Congress
Lawmaking
Declare
War
Make all laws
"necessary and proper" to carrying out
the enumerated powers

20. Powers of Congress
The most important constitutional power of Congress is the power to make laws.
If it involves revenue, must start in the House.
This power is shared by the House and the Senate.
In order to become a law, a bill must be passed by both the House and the Senate.

21. Key Differences House Senate
Initiate revenue bills
2-year term
435
Formal
Specialist
Tax policy
advise and consent
6-year term
100
Relaxed
Generalist
Foreign policy

22. Members of Congress
Congress is older, better educated, whiter, and richer than most of us.
Barack Obama was only the 5th Black US Senator in the history of the US
Almost all Senators (and even Congressmen) are millionaires.
Until this year: 2 Black, 3 Hispanic, 1 Asian US Senators

23. The Representational Role of Members of Congress
How should an elected official represent his/her constituents?
Trustee--representatives use their own best judgment
Delegate--representatives vote the way their constituents want them to
Politico--representatives act as trustee or delegate depending on the issue

24. Organization of Congress
Every two years, a new Congress is seated.
The first order of business is the election of leaders and adoption of new rules.
Both houses of Congress are organized on the basis of party for both leadership and committee purposes.

25. The Organization of Congress
The two chambers have evolved to meet the demands of law making
Division of labor created the committee system
Need to organize large numbers of people to make decisions led to the party leadership structure.
Both are more important in the House.
Senate is small enough to operate by informal coordination and negotiation.

26. The Congressional Parties: The House
Speaker of the House
The presiding office of the House of Representatives; normally the Speaker is the leader of the majority party.
Elected by entire House – can be anybody
Majority Leader
Speaker’s chief lieutenant in the House and the most important officer in the Senate. He or she is responsible for managing the floor.
Minority Leader
Leader of the minority party who speaks for the party in dealing with the majority.
Whips
Members of Congress who serve as informational channels between the leadership and the rank and file, conveying the leadership’s views and intentions to the members and vice versa.

27. The Congressional Parties: The House
Party Caucus
All Democratic members of the House or Senate. Members in caucus elect the party leaders, ratify the choice of committee leaders, and debate party positions on issues.
Party Conference
What Republicans call their party caucus.

28. The Congressional Parties: The Senate
Given that the Senate usually includes two members from each state – an even number – some tie-breaking mechanism is necessary.
Constitution provides the vice-president with authority to preside over the Senate and to cast a tie-breaking vote when necessary.
President pro-tempore serves as Senate presiding officer in the vice-president’s absence (which is nearly all the time).
Ordinarily goes to the most senior member of the majority party.
Honorific.

29. The Congressional Parties: The Senate
Senate leadership has a structure of whips and expert staff, Senate leaders are not as strong as those in the House. – leading senators said to be like “herding cats”
Spend most of their time negotiating compromises.
Unanimous Consent Agreements
Agreement that sets forth the terms and conditions according to which the Senate will consider a bill; these are individually negotiated by the leadership for each bill.
Filibuster
delaying tactic- either speaking indefinitely or by offering dilatory motions and amendments.
Cloture
motion to end debate; requires 60 votes to pass.

30. The Committee System
Since 1989 roughly 6 to 8 thousand bills have been introduced in each 2 year session in the House.
Screening process: division into committees.
Committees do the work before it comes (if it makes it) to the floor for a vote.
Standing committees:
committee with fixed membership and jurisdiction, continuing from Congress to Congress.
Select committees:
temporary committees appointed to deal with a specific issue or problem.

31. Pearson-Longman copyright 2004

32. House Committees Three levels of importance
Top committees: Rules, Appropriations, Ways and Means
Second level: deal with nationally significant policy areas: agriculture, armed services, civil rights.
Third level: Housekeeping items. Government Reform and Oversight or a narrow policy venue such as Veteran’s affairs.
Members rarely serve on more than one top committee.
Members want to be on powerful, locally important committees, gives power to leaders
Seniority helps to control committees

33. Senate Committees
Senate committee system is simpler than that of the House.
Has only major and minor committees
Appropriations and Finance are major committees as are Budget and Foreign Relations.
Committee power in the Senate is widely distributed.
Each senator can serve on one minor and two major committees, and every senator gets to serve on one of the four major committees.
Senators less likely to specialize
Serve diverse constituencies within an entire state – cannot afford to limit themselves to one or two subjects.

34. How Committees Are Formed
Committee system is formally under the control of the majority party in the chamber.
Each committee has a ratio of majority to minority members at least as favorable to the majority as is the overall division of the chamber.
More important the committee, the more likely it is stacked in favor of the majority.
Seniority
Practice by which the majority party member with the longest continuous service on a committee becomes the chair.
Has been weakened and reformed.
Ex: Republican conference adopted a three-term limit on committee chairs which they enforced in Enforced by Senate Republicans in 1996.

35. Committee Reforms
1970s saw much reform of committees by Democratic caucus.
Curbed power of standing committee chairs
Injected more democracy into the committee system
Limited House committee chairs to holding one subcommittee chair
Subcommittee bill of rights
Spread power more evening across subcommittees

36. Purpose of Committees Why do standing committees exist?
Use committee system to focus on district interests.
Logrolling
Colloquial term given to politicians’ trading of favors, votes, or generalized support for each other’s proposals.
Committees serve knowledge function.
Committees are the tools of congressional parties.

37. Ups and Downs of Congressional Parties
Difficult to measure the strength of congressional parties.
Power of leadership has varied over time.
Parties more powerful when unified. Leadership appears more powerful.
Leadership PACs may help leaders influence their party members; sense of obligation if given money.
Members may accept some party discipline because it is necessary for attaining policy goals.

38. Lawmaking
Only a member of the House or Senate may introduce a bill but anyone can write a bill.
Over 9,000 bills are proposed and fewer than 5 to 10% are enacted.
Most bills originate in the executive branch.
A bill must survive three stages to become a law: committees, the floor, and the conference committee. A bill can die at any stage.

39. How A Bill Becomes a Law
Once a bill goes to committee, the chair gives it to the appropriate subcommittee.
Real work begins here.
If subcommittee takes bill seriously it will:
Schedule hearings
After hearings, markup takes place
Revising it, adding and deleting sections, preparing it for report to the full committee.
Full committee may repeat the process, or it may largely accept the work of the subcommittee.
If supported, the bill is nearly ready to be reported to the floor.

40. How A Bill Becomes a Law
So what happens if a majority in one chamber accepts the bill?
Nothing. A bill must pass BOTH chambers in identical form.
Unless one chamber is willing to defer to the other, the two must iron out their differences.

41. How A Bill Becomes a Law
Usual method is a conference committee: here a group of representatives from both the House and the Senate work to create a compromise version.
If they can resolve differences, which they usually do, the bill goes back to each chamber for a vote.
If the chambers pass the bill, it will then go to the president for his action. If it passes, is the process over?
Authorization process is over, but appropriations process may be necessary.

43. How Members Make Decisions
It is rare for a legislator to disregard strong wishes of constituents, particularly on hot button issues or those contentious issues that get a lot of media attention. – delegates on controversy
Deciding how the voters feel is not always possible.
The perceptions of the representative are important since he/she cannot really know how all the constituents feel about an issue.
If constituents have little knowledge or interest in an issue, the legislator often makes an autonomous decision. -- trustees when non-controversial topics

44. Evaluating Congress: Criticisms
The congressional process is lengthy and inefficient.
The congressional process works to the advantage of policy minorities, especially those content with the status quo.
Members of Congress are constantly tempted to use their positions to extract constituency benefits, even when important national legislation is at stake.
Sometimes, the very process of passing legislation ensures that it will not work.

45. How Members Make Decisions
Interest Groups
Colleagues
Caucuses
Party
Representative
Constituents
Staff
Political Action Committees

46. Congress and the President
Especially since the 1930s, the president has seemed to be more powerful than Congress.
However, Congress retains several key powers vis-a-vis the president:
funding powers
oversight
impeachment/removal.

47. Congressional Oversight of the Executive Branch
Congress has the power to review the actions of the executive branch
Congressional oversight is used to ensure that the bureaucracy is enforcing and interpreting laws the way Congress intended.

48. Continuity and Change
The framers of the U.S Constitution placed Congress at the center of the government.
In the early years of the republic, Congress held the bulk of power.
The face of Congress is changing as women and minorities have achieved seats.
Today, the presidency has become quite powerful particularly since FDR.
Congress now generally responds to executive branch legislative proposals.

49. Reforming Congress: Limit Their Terms?
In the 1990s reform movements proposing term limits swept the country.
In 1997, 21 states had limited the terms of their state legislators – strengthens staff/governor
23 states also tried to limit their congressional members’ terms.
U.S. v. Thornton (1995) ruled such attempts were unconstitutional.
Most believe term limits would accomplish little and potentially do harm.