1. Congress
Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS

2. In this chapter, you will:
Learn what Congress does.
Reflect on how well Congress represents the people.
Examine the internal workings of Congress.
Consider the importance of skilled congressional leadership.
Think about the problems that face Congress—and some possible solutions.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS

3. Introducing Congress
Congressional powers, as granted under the Constitution, are extensive and clearly defined.
America’s Congress is bicameral: The House has 435 members (plus six nonvoting members), elected every two years. The one hundred senators serve six-year terms.
House and Senate work together in many areas, most notably passing legislation; each chamber has distinctive powers, such as the Senate’s sole authority to approve presidential appointments and treaties.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS

4. Introducing Congress
The two chambers of Congress reflect different national priorities. Populists appreciate the responsive House; advocates of stability embrace the more deliberate Senate, where rules like the filibuster and hold make it more difficult to pass legislation.
Less legislation and more partisanship has Congress watchers debating: Is this a broken branch of government?
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS

5. Congressional Representation
Members of the House and Senate represent Americans in geographic, descriptive, and substantive ways.
Along with these different styles of representation, members can act as delegates or trustees. Representatives can faithfully follow what the people want or do as their political experience, instincts, and core principles dictate.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS

6. Getting to Congress And Staying There
Members of Congress are always running for office. Fundraising takes up a huge amount of time and attention.
Members pay special attention to their home style: Most go back to their constituency every week—compressing normal congressional business into the period from Tuesday through Thursday.
Congress has become an institution of strangers. Most members focus intensely much of the time on re-election.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS

7. Congress At Work
Congress resembles a small city. Its residents include the 541 members of Congress, 22,000 staff members, and an army of lobbyists. The city includes its own amenities, traditions, and slang.
House leadership includes a Speaker, majority and minority leaders, and ten whips. Successful leaders in the House impose discipline on their party members. The Senate allows far more individual action. Party leaders and whips have fewer ways to impose discipline.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS

8. Congress At Work
Congressional committees are the efficient, adaptable workhorses of Congress. However, the committee system also fragments Congress, hides action from public view, accommodates constituents seeking individual favors, and makes it difficult to pass major legislation.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS

9. Legislative Policymaking
The power of an officially sanctioned law inspires the introduction of thousands of bills in Congress each year. Most proposed legislation (97%) never becomes law.
Congressional committees are the central actors in legislative policymaking, holding hearings and marking up (or deleting) bills to prepare them for floor action.
Floor procedures are another intricate part of the process. Once passed by both House and Senate, legislation may still face a conference committee, a presidential veto, or both.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS

10. Why Is Congress So Unpopular?
Congress has grown more partisan. Today, the parties themselves are more ideologically consistent. This makes for sharper conflict, but it also gives people clearer choices.
Does divided government lead to more gridlock? Political scientists argued in the past that it does not. Today, the growing ideological purity of the parties and the regular use of legislative holds, suggest that divided government hampers Congress’s ability to solve America’s problems.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS

11. Some Popular Reforms And Their Limits
Some popular reforms propose limiting the influence of lobbying groups in Congress.
Others emphasize the importance of educating the public about the workings of Congress. We would recommend education about the “messy” nature of legislating in a diverse democratic nation.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS

12. Chapter Summary
Congress operates under complicated rules that make action difficult. Americans debate whether Congress still works the way it is intended—blunting too much government action. Or whether it has become “the broken branch.”
America’s Congress is bicameral: the House of Representatives contains 441 members (435 voting; six represent territories like Guam and Puerto Rico) elected every two years; in the Senate, one hundred senators serve six-year terms.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS

13. Chapter Summary
The two chambers of Congress reflect different national priorities. Populists appreciate the responsive House; advocates of stability embrace the more deliberate Senate.
Members of the House and Senate represent Americans in multiple ways. These include:
Geographic representation: Constitutional election rules say members must live in the state or district they represent.
Descriptive representation: Does the assembly look like the people?
Substantive representation: Do members of Congress effectively pursue constituent interests?
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS

14. Chapter Summary
Members of Congress are always running for office, raising funds and returning most weeks to their constituency. Normal congressional business occurs from Tuesday through Thursday.
Congress is increasingly an institution of strangers who do not know one another well.
Congressional leadership in the House includes a Speaker, majority and minority leaders, and ten whips. Successful House leaders impose discipline on their party members. In the Senate, party leaders and whips have fewer institutional tools with which to keep members in line.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS

15. Chapter Summary
Congressional committees have proved efficient and adaptable over the years, preparing legislation and conducting oversight of the executive branch. However, the committee system also fragments Congress, hides action from public view, and makes it difficult to pass major legislation.
Floor procedures are another intricate part of the legislative process. Once passed by both House and Senate, legislation may still face a conference committee, a presidential veto, or both.
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS

16. Chapter Summary
Congress has grown more partisan. More ideologically consistent parties makes for sharper conflict, but it also gives people clearer choices.
The difficult path to legislation raises a key question about Congress: Should we cheer the slow-moving process as a way to limit government? Or should we worry that the institution is not up to addressing America’s vital problems?
CHAPTER 10: CONGRESS