OConnor and Sabato, Chapter 6: Congress

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OConnor and Sabato, Chapter 6 Congress

• Presentation 6.1The Roots of the Legislative
  Branch

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Key Topics

• The Roots of the Legislative Branch
• The Constitution and the Legislative Branch of
  Government
• Apportionment Redistricting
• Constitutional Powers

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Introduction

• The story of Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) becoming the
  Democratic Minority Whip
• The importance of the whips in Congress
• The relationship between Pelosis rise and her
  fund raising ability

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.Picture courtesy
http//congress.org.
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Introduction cont.

• Democrats poor performance in the 2002 midterm
  elections Dick Gephardts resignation as
  Minority Leader
• Pelosis campaign to become the first female
  minority leader
• Challenges by moderates fearful of Pelosis San
  Francisco liberalism
• Pelosi easily won the leadership spot

What is the relationship between leadership and
fund raising ability?
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Introduction

• Congress is comprised of 535 individuals
• The individual ambitions and calculations of
  legislators can create centrifugal pressures
  that make collective action difficult to achieve
• Public perceptions of Congress as an institution
  vs. perceptions of individual congresspersons
• Universal mistrust of the institution
• High regard for their congressperson

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The Roots of the Legislative Branch

• Congress is an Old English word meaning to
  come together
• In Gallic history, legislative bodies met at the
  request of a King to discuss an important topic
• Initially, representative bodies were associated
  monarchy, and were therefore considered
  undemocratic

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1a. The First National Legislature

• The First Continental Congress met to develop a
  common response to the Coercive Acts
• The 2nd Continental Congress formed the basis for
  the Articles of Confederation in 1777
• The Articles were not ratified until 1781, and
  instability and financial crises marked the
  tenure of the Continental Congress

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1b. The Continental Congresss Various Moves

• Congress initially made their home in New York
  City the British seized it
• Congress fled to Philadelphia the British
  seized it
• Congress finally ran to Baltimore, which was too
  small to interest the British!

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2. The Constitution and the Legislative Branch of
Government

• Article I of the Constitution created a bicameral
  legislative branch
• A two-house legislature
• An upper house the Senate represented the
  interests of the states
• A lower house the House of Representatives
  represented the peoples interests

Bicameral legislatures are more inclusive of
different interests and have checks that can
prevent tyranny, but can also be cumbersome.
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2a. Membership RequirementsThe Senate

• Must be 30 yrs. old, elected to six-year terms
• One-third of the Senate is up for reelection
  every two years
• Originally, Senators were selected by state
  legislatures
• The 17th Amendment (1913) provides for the
  direct, state-wide election of senators

What are the political implications of having
only 1/3rd of the Senate up for reelection in
any one electoral cycle?
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2b. Membership RequirementsThe House of
Representatives

• Must be 25 yrs. old, elected to 2-year terms
• Elected by vote of the eligible voters in each
  congressional district
• The House was expected to be the more democratic
  branch of govt.

Is the House of Representatives more responsible
and responsive to the people?
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3. Apportionment Redistricting

• The Constitution mandates that a census be
  conducted every 10 yrs
• The number of representatives allotted to each
  state is determined by the census
• After the census, states are informed of how many
  representatives they receive, and district
  boundaries must be redrawn

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Apportionment cont.

• The total number of seats reserved for the House
  of Representatives was frozen at 435 by law
• Consequently, reapportionment usually results in
  some states gaining seats and others losing seats
• OK was one of the states that lost a
  representative district (from 6 to 5)

CA, TX, and NC were among those states that
gained seats.
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3b. Gerrymandering

• Redistricting is controlled by the state
  legislatures
• Offers the majority part the opportunity to
  guarantee that their party wins the most seats

Picture courtesy http//sshl.ucsd.edu.
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3bi. When does Gerrymandering Go too Far?

• Congressional and state legislative districts
  must respect the principle of 1-person, 1-vote
  (districts must be proportional)
• Purposeful gerrymandering to dilute minority
  voting strength was outlawed by the Voting Rights
  Act of 1965

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3bii. Going too Far?

• Redrawing districts for obviously racial purposes
  to enhance minority representation is
  unconstitutional
• Justice OConnor racial gerrymandering threatens
  to balkanize the country
• Race already plays too great a role

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3bvi. Gerrymandering cont.North Carolinas 12th
District

• The courts have increasingly gotten involved in
  redistricting to protect voter rights
• This districting plan was ruled unconstitutional
  in 1992

Picture courtesy http//www.adversity.net/special/
gerrymander_1.htm.
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3biii. Gerrymandering cont.

• This redistricting plan, however, was ruled
  constitutional
• The court has been flexible in its interpretation
  of racial gerrymandering

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3c. Methods of GerrymanderingPacking,
Cracking, and Stacking

• Excess Votes concentrating voting power of
  opponents in as small a number of districts as
  possible
• Wasted Votes diluting the power of the
  minority party across many districts
• Stacked Votes creating bizarre boundaries to
  bond separate majority districts in order to
  create majority districts where geographically
  they should not exist

If gerrymandering is wrong, what can be done
about it?
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4. Constitutional Powers of CongressShared Powers

• The most important power lawmaking
• The power to declare war raise an army navy
• Coin money regulate commerce
• Establish courts their jurisdiction
• Establish rules on naturalization immigration

The necessary and proper clause extends the
enumerated powers of Congress to increase the
scope of its authority.
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4a. Constitutional PowersExclusive PowersHouse
Senate
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4b. Differences in OperationHouse
Senate
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4c. Changes in the InstitutionHouse
Senate