1. The Legislative Branch
U.S. Congress

2. What is government itself
What is government itself? One of the greatest reflections on human nature. If men were angels, no government would be necessary…James Madison
Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made. . . Otto von Bismarck

3. U.S. Capitol

8. Best View in D.C. Speaker of the House’s balcony

14. Original Supreme Court 5 minutes fast

17. How does the legislative process actually work?
A basic understanding of the organization and structure of the Iowa Legislature is important, but it tells us only a little about how the legislature actually works.
Laws passed by the legislature are never neutral.
There are always winners and losers.
Some groups bear more of the costs than others do; some experience more rewards.
Because of the costs and rewards are unequally distributed, groups compete to maximize their gains and minimize their losses in the legislative process.

18. Terms to know
Legislature – a body of persons who are empowered to make, change, or repeal the laws
Legislator – a member of a legislative body (lawmaking body)
Legislate – the process of lawmaking
Legislation – a law or a body of laws enacted

19. Terms to know
Bill – proposed statute presented to a legislature, but not yet enacted or passed into law
General Assembly – official name of Iowa’s legislative body
Bicameral – two houses of legislative body
Constituency – residents (group) in an electoral district
Constituent – a person who lives and votes in an area

20. The U.S. Senate and House House of Representatives Senate 435 members
2 yr terms
Rep. a district (~8K)
Reapportioned every 10 yrs (Redistricting!)
25 yrs old, citizen for 7, live in state
Strict Rules/debate limited
Less prestige
More partisan/factions
Speaker of House
- Paul Ryan (R)
Senate
100 members
6 yr terms
Rep. whole state
30 yrs old, citizen for 9, live in state
Fewer rules/filibuster
More prestige
Less party loyalty
Majority leader – Mitch McConnell (R)
Minority Leader- Harry Reid (D)
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO

21. Congressional Sessions
Last two years
Begin Jan. 3rd of the year after the election
Usually end Nov. before election
Lame Duck Sessions – not much gets done

22. Benefits Salary $174,000+ per year Leadership gets more—SOH- $ 223,100
Generous retirement and benefits (health care)
Two offices- D.C. and Home District
Staff members
Franking privileges—work-related mail, FREE
Assorted perks; no petty misdemeanors

23. Party Control of Each Chamber

25. Popular Congress?

26. Demographics of the United States 115th Congress
What are the informal qualifications for members of Congress?
Are they representative of the people?

27. 115th is most diverse Congress ever!
Members of Congress of the 115th Congress
– Personal and political background
• “average” Congress person = white male in his late 50’s
• Majority are married with children
• 1/3 of the House and over ½ of the Senate are lawyers
• Most have previous political experience
– local politics, state politics
115th is most diverse Congress ever!

28. Gender Gender House (%) Senate (%) Society Men 352 (81%) 79 (79%) 49%
Women
83 (19%)
21 (21%)
51%

29. Race and Ethnicity Race House (%) Senate (%) Society* White 339 90
78.1%
Black 46 3
13.1%
Hispanic 34 4
16.4%
Asian 12
5.0%
Other
1.2%
Race and Ethnicity

30. Religion – House & Senate

31. Impact on Representation?
Can the U.S. Congress or Iowa General Assembly represent all citizens even if they don’t have the same demographics as society?
What problems might exist?

32. Iowa’s U.S. Congressional Districts
Steve King (R)
4th
David Young (R)
3rd
Dave Loebsack (D)
2nd
Rod Blum (R)
1st

33. U.S. Senate Chuck Grassley - R Joni Ernst– R Senior Senator (1981)
Junior Senator (2015)

34. Iowa Legislative Branch: Lawmaking in Iowa

35. Formal Qualifications For Membership In The Legislature
Iowa Senate (4 year term)
A U. S. citizen
At least 25 years of age
Have lived in Iowa for one year and lived in the district for 60 days.
Iowa House (2 year term)
A U.S. citizen
At least 21 years of age
Have lived in Iowa for one year and lived in the district for 60 days.

36. Party Make-up of General Assembly
Iowa House
Iowa Senate
59 Republicans
41 Democrats
20 Democrats
29 Republicans
1 Independent

37. IOWA HOUSE LEADERSHIP Speaker of the House Speaker Pro Tempore
Kraig Paulsen (R)
Speaker Pro Tempore
Matt Windschitl(R)
Speaker of the House presides over the House of Representatives. This position is obtained by a majority vote of its party membership; the House chooses its presiding officer from among its members by a recorded vote.

38. Iowa House Leadership Majority Leader Majority Whip Linda Upmeyer (R)
Chris Hagenow

39. HOUSE LEADERSHIP
Minority Leader
Mark Smith (D)

40. SENATE LEADERSHIP President of the Senate President Pro Tempore
Pam Jochum (D)
President Pro Tempore
Steve Sodders (D)

41. SENATE LEADERSHIP Majority Leader Majority Whip Michael Gronstal (D)
Joe Bolkcom (D)
FROM IOWA CITY!!!

42. SENATE LEADERSHIP
Minority Floor Leader
Bill Dix (R)

43. Geographic Districts In Both Chambers Of The Legislature
Iowa House of Representatives = 100 members
Iowa Senate = 50 members

44. Roles of your Representative: What do they actually do?
LAWMAKING
Legislation – propose, study, and vote
Budget – revenue (income)/appropriations (spending)
REPRESENTING (constituent work)
Work on behave of individual private citizens AND groups of citizens
EVALUATING the work of the legislature
 Oversight —
Follow up on the laws to ensure they are being enforced and administered in the way it intended
Ethics
Executive Branch and Executive Agencies
Impeachment, Appointments, Overrides, Judiciary…
What role does political partisanship play?

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

46. How do they “represent”?
as a trustee—who uses personal judgment.
as an instructed delegate —who uses the constituents’ judgment.
politico—a combination of both trustee and instructed delegate roles.

47. Powers of Congress Expressed/Enumerated Powers
Tax, Money, Trade, Declare War, Copyrights, etc
Implied Powers – “Necessary & Proper” Clause
Paying for things
Checks & Balances
Amendments
Impeachment
Appointments
Treaties
Investigatory Powers
Hearings

48. Roles of Senators and Representatives

49. Congressional Leadership
House leaders are responsible for
Maintaining party organization
Scheduling the business affairs of the chamber
Providing members with the most current and up-to-date information on national affairs as well as legislation.

50. Speaker of the House

51. Majority and Minority leaders
Elected by their respective parties
Duty is to manage legislation on the House floor
Majority leader (party in control) and Minority leader = the party’s overall leader and main strategist

52. Majority and minority whips
Assistant floor leaders
Keep leadership informed and work to persuade party members to vote along party lines

53. Senate Leadership President of the Senate
Officially the Vice President
Vice President usually only appears for ceremonies or to break a tie vote
President of the Senate pro tempore
Senior Senator of the majority party
Presides over the Senate when Vice President is not there
Usually majority party members take turns presiding over the Senate

54. Committees

55. Committees (SEE HANDOUT IN PACKET FOR MORE INFORMATION ON COMMITTEES)
Purpose - Legislation and Oversight
Role – divide workload
Types of Committees
Standing Committee
Separate subject matter committees
Joint Committee
House and Senate share membership i.e.-- taxation
Conference Committee
Two bills must become one/ compromise bills
Select Committee
Specific reason – i.e. Russian hacking invest.

56. Committee Leadership
Committee chairpersons—power to set agenda (i.e. which bills will move forward)
Who chooses? seniority & party caucuses
Assignments
House- two committees and four subcommittees
Senate- three committees and seven subcommittees

57. An unbiased (or cynical) look at the Logic of Congress*
Action or Inaction?
An unbiased (or cynical) look at the Logic of Congress*
*Yes, that might be an oxymoron, but Congress is full of oxymorons

58. Electoral Connection – Who gets elected?
Incumbent – someone currently holding an elected office and running for reelection
Pros
Constituency services
Name recognition/title
Experience
Cons
Special interests
Cares more about reelection when making decisions
Americans view their own Congressional Representatives favorably while overall approval ratings are low (60-65% approval)

59. Electoral Connection: Impact on Citizens
Direct Patronage
Pork barrel spending - $ for home district
Jobs for constituents
Who do they represent?
Reapportionment – allocation of boundaries of the districts within each state
VS.
Redistricting – the redrawing of boundaries of the districts within each state

60. Gerrymandered Districts
Gerrymandering occurs if the lines of a district are redrawn to give a certain party, faction, or ethnic group an advantage
10 Worst Gerrymandered districts

61. Effects of Gerrymandering
High percentage of one party
Candidates must cater to the active (usually fringe) members of party
No moderates able to get through primary system
Interested in trying it out yourself?
Play the Redistricting game:

62. Gerrymandering Strategies
1. Competitive – HOW IT SHOULD BE!!
2. Sweetheart (incumbent pairing) - redistricts two or more incumbent legislators’ so that both are in the same district, thereby ensuring that one will be elected.
3. Packing (concentrating) occurs if minority’s numbers are great enough when diffused to affect the outcome of elections in several districts.
4. Cracking (dispersing)To diffuse a concentrated political or ethnic minority among several districts so that its votes in any one district are negligible

63. Geographic Districts
Legislators are elected into single-member districts
All districts are equal in population.
Redistricting: the drawing and redrawing of the boundaries of legislative districts – occurs every 10 years with census
The U.S. Voting Rights Act (1965) declares that states with a history of electoral discrimination against minority groups must preclear redistricting plans with the U.S. Justice Department or the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia.
UPDATE: In August, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down key parts of the Voting Rights Act.
Watch short video on redistricting: kage_id=634
Can be political!! Read about Iowa’s 2011 redistricting process:

64. Action Happens Because…
Desire to Do the Right Thing
Party Control of Both Houses
Logrolling – exchanging favors
1991 “Corn for Porn”
Desire for Reelection
Help Constituents
Pork – money for local projects

65. Inaction Happens Because…
Divided Congress
Lame Duck Status
Partisan Bickering
Desire Reelection
Change Vote to Get Votes
Avoid Looking Bad
It Was Designed That Way