1. Chapter Eleven
Congress

2. Structure and Powers of Congress
Congress has two separate chambers.
Representation in the House is based on population.
Each state has two senators.
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3. Structure and Powers of Congress (Cont’d)
The Constitution gives the House and Senate essentially similar legislative tasks, though each has powers that are only its own.
The House initiates impeachment proceedings against a President or federal judges.
Bills with revenue must originate in the House.
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4. Structure and Powers of Congress (Cont’d)
The Senate impeachment trial votes to convict the President or federal judges and remove them from office.
The Senate must approve major presidential appointments.
The Senate has the sole power to affirm treaties.
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5. Incumbents have a very high rate of return to Congress.
Electing Congress
Incumbents have a very high rate of return to Congress.
Incumbents remain protected by district lines that are gerrymandered to protect incumbents or the dominant party during the process of district reapportionment every ten years after the federal census is conducted.
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6. Electing Congress (Cont’d)
Name recognition, largely through media exposure, contributes to voters’ familiarity with the incumbent.
Casework, or services to constituents, further provides an electoral advantage to the incumbent over the challenger.
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7. Figure 11.1: Incumbents: Life is Good
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8. Electing Congress (Cont’d)
The opposing party and sympathetic PACs may target vulnerable incumbents, thus giving a challenger a better chance to succeed.
The members of Congress are not representative of the U.S. population in terms of demographics and thus do not meet the descriptive representation criteria.
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9. Electing Congress (Cont’d)
A Supreme Court ruling in 1993 ruled states’ efforts to increase minority representation through racial gerrymandering unconstitutional.
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10. The Congressional Agenda
Some issues get on the agenda because an event (like Sept. 11th) draws our attention to a problem.
Presidential support can also move an issue onto the agenda quickly.
Congressional party leaders and committee chairs have the best opportunity to influence the agenda.
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11. The Legislative Process: An Overview
After being introduced, bills go to committee and then usually to a subcommittee. After a bill has been passed by a committee, it goes to the full membership for debate, possible amendment, and a vote.
The President may sign or veto any bill that Congress has passed.
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12. Figure 11.4: The Legislative Process
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13. Committees: The Workhorses of Congress
Congress has committees for the same reason that any large organization is subdivided into specialized groups or divisions: to develop and use expertise in specific areas.
Committee types include standing, joint, select and conference.
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14. Committees: The Workhorses of Congress (Cont’d)
Influence on committees grows formally with seniority and informally with increased expertise.
Within each committee, the senior member of the majority party usually becomes the committee chair.
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15. Committees: The Workhorses of Congress (Cont’d)
Much public policy decision-making takes place in committees and subcommittees, especially in markup sessions.
To follow through on legislation, oversight is a process of reviewing the operations of an agency to determine whether it is carrying out policies as Congress intended.
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16. Committees: The Workhorses of Congress (Cont’d)
Both pluralism and majoritarianism play a role in congressional behavior.
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17. Leaders and Followers in Congress
Each of the two parties in the two houses has a leadership hierarchy.
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18. Leaders and Followers in Congress (Cont’d)
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19. Leaders and Followers in Congress (Cont’d)
The operation of the House and the Senate is structured by both formal rules and informal norms.
Unwritten norms of behavior help to keep both houses operating smoothly.
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20. The Legislative Environment
The most important influences that determine how a legislator will vote seem to be the following:
Political parties
The President
Constituents
Interest groups
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21. The Dilemma of Representation
All members of Congress live in two worlds.
In Washington they spend time dealing with the great issues of national concern.
But they also spend much of their time traveling back to their district or state, where they meet with constituents and give speeches to local groups.
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22. The Dilemma of Representation (Cont’d)
According to English political philosopher Edmund Burke, representatives are obligated to consider the views of their constituents, but they are not obligated to vote according to those views if they think they are misguided, termed a trustee.
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23. The Dilemma of Representation (Cont’d)
Other philosophers believe that a legislator’s primary responsibility is to represent the majority view of his or her constituents, regardless of their own view, known as a delegate.
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24. Pluralism, Majoritarianism, and Democracy
The framework that legislators use in making decisions has broad implications for governing.
Parliamentary systems are a point of comparison. They fit the majoritarian model of democracy to a much greater extent than does Congress.
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25. Pluralism, Majoritarianism, and Democracy (Cont’d)
Congress’s inability to reduce the budget deficit in the 1980s and early 1990s reflected the pluralistic nature of congressional policymaking.
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