1. Chapter 11
Congress

3. The Origin and Powers of Congress
The Great Compromise created two separate, powerful legislative chambers
Equal representation in Senate
Proportional representation in House; House must initiate revenue-related legislation
Identical bills must be passed by both chambers to become law

4. Representation
Senators serve six-year terms; 1/3 are elected every two years
Initially Senators selected by state legislatures; 17th Amendment changed that process to direct elections
All 435 Representatives stand for re-election every two years
Census every 10 years leads to reapportionment and subsequent redistricting

5. Duties of the House and Senate
Many shared powers
House alone responsible for revenue bills and impeachment charges
Senate alone responsible for approving treaties, presidential appointments, and trials on the articles of impeachment passed by the House

6. Electing Congress
Congressional elections give voters a chance to show approval or disapproval of Congress’s performance
Incumbents usually re-elected despite the fact polls show public dissatisfaction with Congress’s actions

7. Figure 11.1 Incumbents: Life is Good

8. Figure 11.2 We Love Our Incumbents, But Congress Itself Stinks

9. Redistricting After each census, states must re-draw House districts
Changing district lines for partisan advantage is gerrymandering
Computer programs make gerrymandering easy to do
Some argue that gerrymandering increases partisan polarization

10. Name Recognition Incumbency has advantages
Name recognition because of press coverage of activities and speeches
Franking privileges
Twitter accounts
Casework
Campaign contributions

11. Campaign Financing
Challengers must spend large sums of money to run campaigns
Difficult to raise money
Higher-quality challengers more likely to win, especially against vulnerable incumbents
In 2008, incumbents raised 61 percent of all contributions to House and Senate Races
Challengers received only 23 percent
PACs prefer incumbents

12. Whom Do We Elect?
Those elected not a cross-section of American society
Most are upper-class professionals
Around 44 percent are millionaires
Women and minorities underrepresented
Seventeen women currently serve in Senate

13. The Millionaire’s Club

14. Compared with What? Women in Legislatures

15. Descriptive Representation
Some believe descriptive representation is lacking
Voting Rights Act amendments in 1983 designed to encourage the drawing of minority districts
Supreme Court ruling in Thornburg v. Gingles (1986) also pushed states to concentrate minorities in House districts to ensure better representation

16. Figure 11.3 Minorities in Congress

17. Minorities in Congress
Efforts to draw districts favorable to minorities being elected benefited African Americans, but not Hispanics
Supreme Court’s ruling in Shaw v. Reno (1993) indicated racial gerrymandering might violate rights of whites
Later rulings said race must not be “dominant and controlling factor” in drawing district boundaries

18. How Issues Get on the Congressional Agenda
Formal legislative process starts with introducing a bill in the House or Senate
Problem or issue must be identified first
Many major issues constant; others appear suddenly
Technology changes and/or highly visible events focus national attention on an issue
Presidential or congressional support moves issues and related bills more rapidly

19. The Dance of Legislation: An Overview
Process of bill-writing and passage follows specific steps (see Figure 11.4)
Process in House and Senate similar, but House requires bills to go to Rules Committee before going to the floor
Complexity comes with the many ways a bill can be treated at each step

20. Figure 11.4 The Legislative Process

21. Committees: The Workhorses of Congress
Real work of Congressional policymaking happens in committees, which address specific policy areas
Standing committees and their related subcommittees
Joint committees
Select committees
Conference committees

22. Congressional Expertise and Scrutiny
Influence in Congress increases with expertise and seniority
Senior member of majority party usually committee chair
Republican leadership policy limits committee and subcommittee chairs to six-year terms
Democrats largely use seniority system

23. Committee Action First step in drafting legislation is information
gathering
Research by committee staff
Public hearings by committees or subcommittees
Actual debate and amendments on bills in committee happens during markup sessions
Committee chairs need to build coalitions

24. The Committee Song and Dance

25. Oversight: Following Through on Legislation
Once a bill becomes law, it is administered by a federal agency
Congress has power of oversight to ensure bills enacted as intended
However, magnitude of executive branch makes oversight difficult
Several different types of oversight: hearings, reports, and informal contacts

26. Majoritarian and Pluralist Views of Committees
Government by committee vests great power in committees, subcommittees, and their leaders
In some ways, this enhances pluralism, since these people are elected
Majoritarian aspect of committees comes through debates and compromises on bills necessary to get a bill passed

27. Leaders and Followers in Congress
Party leaders in each house work to maximize influence of their party and ensure smooth and efficient functions
Operation of each chamber based on rules and norms developed over the years

28. The Leadership Task in the House
Majority party leadership :
Speaker of the House
Majority leader
Majority whip
Minority party leadership:
Minority leader
Minority whip
Both parties have committees for fundraising, strategy development, and logistics assistance

29. The Leadership Task in the Senate
Constitutionally, Vice President is president of the Senate
However, president pro tem usually serves
Real power in the Senate resides in majority leader
Both majority and minority leader play critical role in getting bills through congress through bargaining and negotiations

30. Clyburn Takes the Whip

31. The Johnson Treatment

32. Rules of Procedure
Rules in each chamber based on parliamentary procedure
Rules not always the same in House and Senate
Bill consideration in Senate requires 60 senators to vote for unanimous consent agreement
One Senate rule allows filibusters, which can be limited by a vote for cloture
House amendments must be germane; Senate’s do not
House bills must go to House Rules Committee before floor debate

33. Norms of Behavior Some norms are set rules; others are unwritten
Two most important norms:
Show respect to colleagues, even bitter opponents
Be willing to bargain with one another

34. The Legislative Environment
Decisions about votes affected by political parties, the president, constituents, and interest groups
Political parties and the president majoritarian influences on policymaking
Constituents and interest groups are pluralist influences on policymaking

35. Political Parties
Parties strong force in legislative process by controlling:
Committee appointments
Consideration of a legislator’s bills or amendments
Appointments to leadership positions
Parties also showcase differences in ideologies
Majoritarianism at work after 2008 election

36. Figure 11.5 Rising Partisanship

37. The President
Presidents tend to act as though they are speaking for the majority
Public expectations for the presidency grew in the 20th century
White House openly involved in crafting legislation
However, Congress still in charge of legislation

38. Constituents
The people in a legislator’s district or state crucial to decision-making process
Legislators must consider what voters want
Constituent influence contributes to pluralism because of the geographic basis of representation

39. Interest Groups Interest groups prime example of pluralist politics
Legislators pay attention to interest groups because they represent voters
Lobbyists also provide key information and contributions
Access is the first step towards influence

40. The Dilemma of Representation
What a legislator’s constituents want is not always what the majority in the nation want
After working in Washington all week, legislators fly home to meet with constituents
However, sometimes hard to act on knowledge gained from constituents

41. Constituents Strike Back

42. Trustees or Delegates?
Must members of Congress vote the way their district prefers, even if it goes against their conscience or national interests?
Trustees vote their conscience
Delegates vote their district or state
Opinions of constituents not always clear

43. Pluralism, Majoritarianism, and Democracy
Voting as delegates supports pluralistic policymaking
Majoritarian policymaking relies on involvement of political parties
Voting as a trustee not necessarily majoritarian

44. Parliamentary Government
In parliamentary system, chief executive is leader of party with a majority
In Great Britain, voters only vote for their member of Parliament
Voters influence policymaking by their party choice
With multiple parties, sometimes must form ruling coalition

45. Parliamentary Government
In this system, government power highly concentrated in legislature
No separation of governmental power
Usually have only one house, or a very weak second house
Usually no court that can invalidate acts of parliament
A very majoritarian form of government

46. Politics of Global Change: Creating a Legislature
New Iraqi government based on proportional representation
Each province has a multimember district
Government is federal and has a unicameral legislature
Representatives vote for presidential council, prime minister, and cabinet
Disputes mean Iraqi parliament a work in progress

47. Pluralism Versus Majoritarianism in Congress
U.S. Congress criticized for being too pluralist
Despite public concern about deficit, legislators put earmarks in appropriations bills
Democrats recently reformed earmark process for greater transparency
Growing partisanship means greater majoritarianism
So, modern Congress characterized by both pluralism and majoritarianism

48. Earmark Question Mark