1. Congressional Policymaking
Emily Baer
October 2014
Introduction to American Politics

2. Congressional Policymaking
1. Evaluating Congress
2. Power in Congress
3. How legislators decide to pursue specific policies
4. Challenges to Policymaking
5. Differences Between the House and Senate

3. Evaluating Congress: Representation
How Government is Constituted
Politicians in office (Members of Congress, Senators)
Electoral system (SMD system)
Institutional environment (House and Senate rules and procedures)
What Government Does
Policy Output
Congressional policymaking is a product of (1) who serves in Congress, and (2) the institutional environment in which legislation is written, debated, and voted on by Congress

4. Evaluating Congress Descriptive Representation
Policies are less likely to reflect your interests unless policymakers share the same fundamental experiences and background as your own
Does Congress look like the public?
Most Americans do not trust Congress to do what is right, but most Members of Congress are re-elected
Fenno’s Paradox

5. Sources of Congressional Power
Constitutional framework provides minimal direction about how Congress should be organized or power should be distributed

6. Sources of Congressional Power: Constitutional Framework
Article I, Section 2: “The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker, and other Officers” Article I: Section 3: “The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore” Article I, Section 5: “Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings

7. Sources of Congressional Power
Constitutional framework provides minimal direction for how Congress should be organized or power should be distributed
As the size and responsibilities of Congress expanded, both branches established a deliberate organizational structure
Power is concentrated among a subset of members within this structure

8. Parties
Legislative parties in the U.S. are unique among other democratic countries
Power less likely to derive from elections
Parties control congressional organization
Elect leaders of Congress (in House: Speaker; Senate: Majority Leader)
Write the rules and procedures governing Congress
Control the congressional agenda
Parties subsidize the costs of serving in Congress
Supply resources that make it easier to serve constituents

9. Congressional Committees
For much of the 20th century, committees were the major source of power in Congress
Most legislation is written in committee
MCs are more active/interested, more likely to impact content of policies, and more likely to be targeted by interest group lobbying
Most legislation dies in committee
Committees are not equally powerful
Appropriations Committee
Rules Committee (only in the House)
Members of Congress and Senators accrue seniority in committees
Automatic or preferential consideration for committee chair positions

10. Seniority Norms Advantages Disadvantages
More likely to have policy expertise
Better knowledge of congressional procedure
Stronger relationships with other MCs/senators
Disadvantages
More likely to be elderly/may be senile
Slows the rate of leadership and policy change within the majority party
More likely to have close relationships with lobbyists/interest groups
Frustration with the seniority system gave way to a huge wave of reform within Congress (especially the House)

13. Congressional Reform
In the late 1950s and 1960s, reformers in the House grew frustrated that seniority norms prevented younger MCs from securing votes on legislation
Especially problematic for civil rights, housing, education and health care legislation
Committees refused to report legislation
Rules Committee refused to assign a rule
Unrecorded votes on amendments watered down substance of legislation and/or substantially cut funding
In the 1970s, this led to a series of rules changes in the Democratic Caucus, and bipartisan anti-secrecy legislation passed in the House

15. Policymaking after Reform
Made the policymaking process and legislators’ votes more transparent
Legislators’ votes on amendments
Congressional Hearings
Strengthened the electoral incentives for policymaking
Weakened the barrier between “campaigning” and “governing”
Advantaged specific, more narrow interests
Surrogate representation
Gender
Racial and ethnic minorities

16. Challenges to Policymaking
Veto Points
Legislation can fail at every stage of the process
Divided Government
Congressional productivity slows
Salience
The public/media only care about a small subset of potential issues
Public Opinion Divided
Legislators are not judges – do not want to decide winners and losers

17. What types of policies are most likely to pass Congress?
Members of Congress are most likely to support legislation when the issue is highly salient and public opinion on the issue is relatively unified
Salience
Conflict
Low conflict,
Low salience
High salience
High conflict,

18. Evaluating Differences between the House and Senate
Minorities are stronger in the Senate
Supermajority rule
Filibuster rule in the Senate
Single senator can disrupt the legislative process
60 senators necessary for cloture
Senate incumbents are more vulnerable
Incumbency rate lower than in the House
Senate constituencies are more diverse

19. Evaluating Differences between the House and Senate
Germaneness rule on amendments in the House
Tighter agenda control in the House, weaker agenda control in the Senate
Parties are Stronger in the House
Power is more centralized than in the Senate
Average senator has more power than the average member of the House