1. Congress: Balancing National Goals and Local Interests
Chapter 11

2. Congress as a Career: Election to Congress
Using incumbency to stay in Congress
The service strategy: taking care of constituents
Campaign fundraising: raking in the money
Redistricting: favorable boundaries for incumbents
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figure 11-1 REELECTION RATES OF HOUSE AND SENATE INCUMBENTS
Congressional incumbents have a very good chance of winning another term, as indicated by the reelection rates of U.S. representatives and senators who sought reelection during the last five congressional elections.
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figure 11-2 THE RISING COST OF CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGNS
Each decade, the cost of running for congressional office has risen sharply as campaign techniques—TV advertising, opinion polling, and so on—have become more elaborate and sophisticated. The increase in spending can be seen from a comparison of the approximate average spending by both candidates per House or Senate seat at 10-year intervals, beginning in Roughly speaking, the cost has doubled each decade. (Source: federal Election Commission.)
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FAVOR INCUMBENTS
In allocating campaign contributions, PACs favor incumbent members of Congress figure 11-3 PAC CONTRIBUTIONS over their challengers by a large margin. (Source: Center for Responsive Politics, Based on PAC contribution averages for the past five election cycles.)
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POLITICAL THINKING
Should Partisan Gerrymandering Be Banned?
Most House districts lopsidedly favor the Republican or Democratic candidate, and partisan gerrymandering is among the reasons. In redrawing election district boundaries after the census, state legislatures tend to configure them in ways designed to create safe Democratic or Republican districts. Do you think that state legislatures should do the redistricting? Or do you favor the system used by a few states where an independent bipartisan commission is in charge of drawing congressional district boundaries after each census? What’s the basis for your preferred method?
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7. Congress as a Career: Election to Congress
Pitfalls of incumbency
Disruptive issues
Personal misconduct
Turnout variation: the midterm election problem
Primary election challengers
General election challengers: a problem for senators
A new threat: super PACs
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8. Parties and Party Leadership
Party caucus—closed session
Party unity in Congress
Parties are the strongest force within Congress
Heightened unity seen through roll-call votes
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table 11-1 THE NUMBER OF DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE SENATE, 2003–2016
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HOW THE 50 STATES DIFFER: POLITICAL THINKING THROUGH COMPARISONS
Women in the State Legislatures
Sources: Created from data gathered by the Center for the American Woman and Politics (CAWP); National Information Bank on Women in Public Office; and Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University, 2014.
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PARTY POLARIZATION: Political Thinking in Conflict
Partisan Conflict in Congress
Source: Estimated by author from Congressional Quarterly figures. The 2010 figures are based on the 2010–2015 period.
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12. Parties and Party Leadership
Party leadership in Congress
House leaders
Speaker of the House
Elected by the House membership
By default, a member of the majority party
Said to be the second-most-powerful official in Washington, after the president
House majority leader
House majority whip
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13. Parties and Party Leadership
Party leadership in Congress
Senate leaders
Majority party leader is the most powerful senator
The vice president presides over the Senate; however, has power only to cast tie-breaking vote
Senate president pro tempore presides over the Senate in the vice president’s absence
Largely an honorary position held by the majority party’s senior member
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15. Committees and Committee Leadership
Committee jurisdiction
Bills introduced must be referred to the proper committee for deliberation
Committee membership
Typically mirrors the party ratio of the body
Committee chairs
Typically senior members of the majority party
Committees and parties: Which is in control?
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How a Bill Becomes a Law
Committee hearings and decisions
Most work on legislation is done in committee
From committee to the floor
Rules for debate are defined
Leadership and floor action
Debate, changes, and vote by full membership
Conference committees and the president
Reconcile differences between similar legislation
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18. Congress’s Policymaking Role
Lawmaking function of Congress
Makes laws authorizing federal programs
Broad issues: fragmentation as a limit on Congress’s role
Congress in the lead: fragmentation as a policymaking strength
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19. Congress’s Policymaking Role
The representation function of Congress
Representation of states and districts
Representation of the nation through parties
Oversight function of Congress
Sees that executive branch carries out the laws faithfully
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*Although the large majority of bills are signed or vetoed by the president, a bill can also become law if the president fails to take action within 10 days (Sundays excepted). In that instance, the bill becomes law if Congress is still in session. On the other hand, if Congress has concluded its term and the president fails to sign a bill within 10 days, the bill does not become law. This last situation, called a pocket veto, forces Congress in its next term to start over from the beginning: the bill again must pass both chambers and again is subject to presidential veto. p.332
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*Congress’s expertise is largely concentrated in its committee system where members acquire policy knowledge in the policy area handled by the committees they serve on. Each committee also has a staff, some of whom are hired for their expertise in the committee’s policy area. Congress also has three agencies of its own, though they function as nonpartisan bodies rather than as policy bodies. One of these agencies is the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which has a staff of 250 employees and provides Congress with estimates of government expenditures and revenues, which Congress uses in determining fiscal policy. A second congressional agency is the Government Accountability Office (GAO), with 3,000 employees. Its job is to determine whether executive agencies are complying with laws passed by Congress. The third agency is the Congressional Research Service (CRS) with 1,000 employees. The CRS functions as a research and information service for congressional members and committees. By law, it is prohibited from making policy recommendations. (p.334)
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24. Congress: An Institution Divided
Pro (advantages):
Culturally representative of nation
Diverse interests represented
Cons (disadvantages):
National interest subjugated to special interests
Disproportionate influence of the minority
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