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Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher

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1 Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher
POL 101: U.S. Government Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher

2 Congress Bicameralism Enumerated powers Was primary branch
Representative democracy

3 Organization of Congress
HOUSE 435 Members (7 for SC) Two year terms Individual districts SENATE 100 Members (2 SC) Six year terms (staggered terms) State-wide districts More prestigious body kkkkkkkkkk

4 Organization of Congress
112th Congress ( ) House 240 Republicans 191 Democrats 4 Vacant Senate 51 Democrats 47 Republicans 2 Independent (Democrats) kkkkkkkkkk

5 Organization of Congress
114th Congress ( ) House 246 Republicans 187 Democrats 2 Vacant Senate 54 Republican 44 Democrats 2 Independents (Democrats) kkkkkkkkkk

6 Organization of Congress
115th Congress ( ) House 238 Republicans 193 Democrats 4 Vacant Senate 51 Republican 47 Democrats 2 Independents (Democrats) kkkkkkkkkk

7 Organization of Congress
116th Congress ( ) House 235 Democrats 199 Republicans 1 Vacant Senate 53 Republican 45 Democrats 2 Independents (Democrats) kkkkkkkkkk

8 The Average CongressMAN
Male Age 50+ 95% College degree; 50% have law degrees Church Goer Prior Political Experience Fairly wealthy; 50% are “millionaires”

9 Diversity of Congress House Senate %Congress %Country
115th Congress House Senate %Congress %Country Women 83 21 19% 51% African Americans 46 3 9% 13% Hispanics 33 4 7% 14% Asian 10 2% 4% 116th Congress: 102 women in House; 25 in Senate (24%)

10 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
New York 14th District Youngest woman to serve in Congress at age 29 Received considerable positive and negative attention in last few months kkkkkkkkkk

11 Incumbency Sitting members of Congress have tremendous advantages in running for re-election Fund-raising, franking privilege, name recognition, media attention, constituency service kkkkkkkkkk

12 Incumbency kkkkkkkkkk

13 Incumbency kkkkkkkkkk

14 Incumbency Over 90% House re-election rates for last 30 years or so
kkkkkkkkkk Over 90% House re-election rates for last 30 years or so

15 Incumbency kkkkkkkkkk

16 Incumbency Over 80% Senate re-election rates for last 30 years or so
kkkkkkkkkk Over 80% Senate re-election rates for last 30 years or so

17 Incumbency I hate Congress, but my Congressman is doing a good job
kkkkkkkkkk

18 Major Functions of Congress
Running for re-election Representation Constituency Service Policy-making and law-making Oversight kkkkkkkkkk

19 Representation: Theories
Congressman as Delegate (Robot) Representative /Senator simply votes according to wishes of his constituents; reflects “majority will” Problems: uninformed constituents, lack of clear message from voters, 49% unhappy kkkkkkkkkk

20 Representation: Theories
Congressman as Trustee Representative /Senator is intelligent and serious; we “trust” them to make good decisions; we can replace them if they disappoint us Problems: High incumbency return rates suggest that we rarely replace our congressmen kkkkkkkkkk

21 Representation: Theories
Both theories have problems kkkkkkkkkk

22 What Really Affects a Congressman’s Vote?
Party ID/Ideology Staffers Colleagues Lobbyists President as Lobbyist Constituents kkkkkkkkkk

23 Constituency Service Taking care of the people back home
Bringing “pork” to district/state (earmarks) Assisting constituents with Washington “red tape” Meeting/communicating with constituents Publicizing achievements kkkkkkkkkk

24 Constituency Service This is a major reason why individual congressman are quite popular while Congress as a whole is rather unpopular Is this changing in 2019? kkkkkkkkkk

25 Major Functions of Congress
Running for re-election Representation Constituency Service Policy-making and law-making Oversight kkkkkkkkkk

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