1. Congress: Balancing National Goals and Local Interests
Congress has a huge role in policy setting.

2. Congress as a Career: Election to Congress
Using incumbency to stay in Congress
The service strategy: taking care of constituents
Setting policy
Campaign fund-raising: raking in the money
Redistricting: favorable boundaries for incumbents
Gerrymandering?
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

3. Congressional Campaign Expenditures, by Decade
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

4. © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Allocation of PAC Contributions between Incumbents and Challengers in Congressional Races That Included an Incumbent, 1980–2010
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

5. 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
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

6. Congress as a Career: Election to Congress
Safe incumbency and representation
Who are the winners in congressional elections?
Is experience a plus or do Congressmen get stale?
Should there be term limits?
Has serving in Congress become a lifelong job?
Voter apathy keeps congressmen in charge
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

7. Parties and Party Leadership
Party caucus—closed session
Party unity in Congress
Heightened unity seen through roll-call votes
Party leadership in Congress
Demonstrated leadership ability
Ability to gain trust
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

8. © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms and are considered for reelection every even year. Senators however, serve six-year terms and elections to the Senate are staggered over even years so that only about 1/3 of the Senate is up for reelection during any election.
                                                
Senators serve terms of six years each; the terms are staggered so that approximately one-third of the seats are up for election every two years.
The first Senate had staggered
elections: 1/3 was up for reelection
after 2 yrs., then the next after 4 yrs.,
then the balance after six yrs. After that,
a six-year tenure staggered the elections.
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

9.
In the 115th Congress, the current party alignments are as follows:  House of Representatives: 239 Republicans (including 1 Delegate and the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico), 197 Democrats (including 4 Delegates), and 5 vacancies.  Senate: 52 Republicans, 46 Democrats, and 2 Independents, who both caucus with the Democrats. The average age of Members of the 115th Congress is among the highest of any Congress in recent U.S. history.
2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

10. Parties and Party Leadership: 115TH CONGRESS
House leaders
Speaker of the House PAUL RYAN (Republican)
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; 3rd in line for the presidency
House majority leader: Kevin McCarthy
House majority whip: Steve Scalise
Minority (Democratic) Leader Nancy Pelosi, and Minority (Democratic) Whip Steny Hoyer.
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

11. © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
115th CONGRESS, CONT.
SENATE:
President Pro Tempore: Orrin Hatch (R)
Majority Leader: Mitch McConnell
Majority Whip: John Cornyn
Minority Leader: Chuck Schumer (D)
Minority Whip: Dick Durbin
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

12. © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Percentage of Roll-Call Votes in House and Senate in Which a Majority of Democrats Voted against a Majority of Republicans
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

13. 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 ORRIN HATCH
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

14. Committees and Committee Leadership
Committee jurisdiction
Bills introduced must be referred to the proper committee for deliberation
Some bills are sent to committee “to die”
Committee membership
Typically mirrors the party ratio of the body
Committee chairs
Typically the senior member of the majority party
Committees and parties: the party in control will have the most influence in committees
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

15. © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
TYPES OF COMMITTEES
Standing Committees Standing committees deal with issues of permanent legislative concern Conference Committees For a bill to become law both houses must approve identical versions. When different versions are passsed the leaders create a conference committee to reconcile the differences between the two bills. Select Committees Deals with temporary issues, investigation. Joint Committees Joint committees consist of members of both houses usually created to deal with a specific issue.
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

16. The Standing Committees of Congress
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

17. © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

18. © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

19. Congress’s Policymaking Role
Lawmaking function of Congress
Makes laws authorizing federal programs
Broad issues: fragmentation as a limit on Congress’s role
Keeps large factions from forming due to multiple, varying objectives and opinions, but also causes stagnation and can stall Congressional action
Congress in the lead: fragmentation as a policymaking strength
Creates oversight
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

20. The Major Functions of Congress
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

21. Congress’s Policymaking Role
The representation function of Congress
Representation of states and districts
INHERENT IN THIS IS CONSTITUENT REPRESENTATION
Representation of the nation through parties
This can become polarizing
Oversight function of Congress
Sees that executive branch carries out the laws faithfully
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

22. Public Confidence in Congress
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

23. Congress: Too Fragmented?
Pro (advantages):
Culturally representative of nation
Diverse interests represented
Cons (disadvantages):
National interest subjugated to special interests
Disproportionate influence of the minority
Nothing gets done
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

24. Presidential Line of Succession
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

25. © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
It gives one pause…
How important is it to have a strong Speaker of the House?
What about the other positions in the line of succession?
SHOULD CONGRESS HAVE TERM LIMITS?
How would term limits impact the line of succession?
© 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.