Congress

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Congress
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Video The Big Picture
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A_1/polisci/presidency/Edwards_Ch11_Congress_Seg1_
v2.html
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Learning Objectives
Characterize the backgrounds of members of
Congress and assess their impact on the ability
of members of Congress to represent average
Americans
11.1
Identify the principal factors influencing the
outcomes in congressional elections
11.2
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Learning Objectives
Compare and contrast the House and Senate, and
describe the roles of congressional leaders,
committees, caucuses, and staff
11.3
Outline the path of bills to passage and explain
the influences on congressional decision making
11.4
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Learning Objectives
Assess Congresss role as a representative body
and the impact of representation on the scope of
government
11.5
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Video The Basics
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http//media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDI
A_1/polisci/presidency/Seg2_Congress_v2.html
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Representatives and Senators
11.1

• Members
• Why Arent There More Women in Congress?

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Members
11.1

• Not a glamorous job, but there are perks
• Power
• 174,000 annual salary
• Generous retirement and health benefits
• Constitutional requirements
• House 25, citizen for 7 years
• Senate 30, citizen for 9 years
• Reside in state
• 435 Representatives 100 senators

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11.1
TABLE 11.1 Portrait of the 113th Congress Some
statistics
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Members
11.1

• Demographics
• Descriptive versus substantive representation

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11.1
Arab-American Heritage festival
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Why Arent There More Women in Congress?
11.1

• Fewer women running
• Childcare
• Risk averse
• Bias
• Must be more qualified

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11.1
11.1 How old do you have to be to run for the
office of senator?

1. 25
2. 35
3. 30
4. 21

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11.1
11.1 How old do you have to be to run for the
office of senator?

1. 25
2. 35
3. 30
4. 21

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Congressional Elections
11.2

• Who Wins Elections?
• Advantages of Incumbency
• Role of Party Identification
• Defeating Incumbents
• Open Seats
• Stability and Change

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11.2
Who Wins Elections?

• Incumbents
• Over 90 win reelection in House
• Senators do not have it as easy
• Incumbents perceive themselves as vulnerable
• Hence fundraising and campaigning

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11.2
FIGURE 11.1 Incumbency factor in congressional
elections
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Advantages of Incumbency
11.2

• Advertising
• Constituent contact
• Credit claiming
• Casework
• Pork barrel projects

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11.2
Big Dig
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Advantages of Incumbency
11.2

• Position taking
• Weak opponents
• Campaign spending

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Role of Party Identification
11.2

• Parties and districts
• Drawn for one-party dominance

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Defeating Incumbents
11.2

• Challengers are naïve
• But sometimes incumbents are vulnerable
• Redistricting
• Public mood

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Open Seats and Stability and Change
11.2

• Vacant seat no incumbent running
• Most turnover occurs here
• Stability from incumbency
• Development of expertise
• Term limits?

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11.2
11.2 Why do incumbents have such a strong
electoral advantage?

1. They attract more campaign contributions
2. They can use the congressional franking privilege
3. They have more name recognition
4. All of the above

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11.2
11.2 Why do incumbents have such a strong
electoral advantage?

1. They attract more campaign contributions
2. They can use the congressional franking privilege
3. They have more name recognition
4. All of the above

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How Congress is Organized to Make Policy
11.3

• American Bicameralism
• Congressional Leadership
• Committees and Subcommittees
• Caucuses Informal Organization of Congress
• Congressional Staff

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American Bicameralism
11.3

• Bicameral legislature
• Bills must pass both houses
• Checks and balances
• Result of Connecticut Compromise
• House
• More institutionalized and seniority-based
• Rules Committee
• Senate
• Filibuster
• Less centralized and seniority-based

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11.3
TABLE 11.2 House versus Senate Some key
differences
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Congressional Leadership
11.3

• Chosen by party
• House
• Speaker of the House
• Majority and minority leaders
• Whips
• Senate
• Vice president
• Majority leader

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11.3
Congressional Leadership
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Committees and Subcommittees
11.3

• Four types of committees
• Standing committees
• Joint committees
• Conference committees
• Select committees

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11.3
TABLE 11.3 Standing committees in the Senate
and in the House
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Committees and Subcommittees
11.3

• Committees at work Legislation
• Legislative oversight

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11.3
Congressional committee at work
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11.3
TABLE 11.4 Sharing oversight of homeland security
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11.3
Committees and Subcommittees

• Getting on a committee
• Constituent needs
• Appealing to leadership

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Caucuses Informal Organization of Congress
11.3

• As important as formal structure
• Dominated by caucuses
• 500 caucuses today
• Goal is to promote their interests
• Black Caucus, Hispanic Caucus

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11.3
Congressional Hispanic Caucus
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Congressional Staff
11.3

• Personal staff
• Casework
• Legislative functions
• Committee staff
• 2,000 staff members
• Legislative oversight
• Staff agencies
• Congressional Research Service (CRS)
• Government Accountability Office (GAO)
• Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

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11.3
11.3 How many staff members does Congress employ
to help it do its job?

1. More than 11,000
2. 3,200
3. Less than 2,000
4. Staff are volunteers from the members
   constituency, and their numbers vary

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11.3
11.3 How many staff members does Congress employ
to help it do its job?

1. More than 11,000
2. 3,200
3. Less than 2,000
4. Staff are volunteers from the members
   constituency and their numbers vary

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Video In Context
11.3
http//media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDI
A_1/polisci/presidency/Seg3_Congress_v2.html
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Congressional Process and Decision Making
11.4

• Presidents and Congress Partners and
  Protagonists
• Party, Constituency, and Ideology
• Lobbyists and Interest Groups

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11.4
FIGURE 11.2 How a bill becomes a law
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Presidents and Congress Partners and Protagonists
11.4

• Presidents legislative agenda
• Persuade Congress
• Work at the margins but usually win
• Yet Congress is quite independent

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Party, Constituency, and Ideology
11.4

• Party influence
• Economic and social welfare policies
• Polarized politics
• Parties more internally homogeneous
• Less likelihood of compromise

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11.4
FIGURE 11.3 Increasing polarization in Congress
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Video Thinking Like a Political Scientist
11.4
http//media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDI
A_1/polisci/presidency/Seg4_Congress_v2.html
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Party, Constituency, and Ideology
11.4

• Constituency opinion versus member ideology
• Trustees versus instructed delegates

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Lobbyists and Interest Groups
11.4

• D.C. is crawling with lobbyists
• 12,000 of them
• Spent 3 billion in 2011
• Former members of Congress
• How lobbyists persuade
• Provide policy information
• Provide promises of money
• Ghostwrite legislation
• Status quo usually wins
• Disclosure requirements

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Explore the Simulation You Are a Consumer
Advocate
11.4
http//media.pearsoncmg.com/long/long_longman_medi
a_1/2013_mpsl_sim/simulation.html?simulaURL7
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11.4
11.4 On what tactics do lobbyists rely to
influence policy in Congress?

1. Promising money for reelection campaigns
2. Providing expert policy information
3. Ghostwriting legislation
4. All of the above

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11.4
11.4 On what tactics do lobbyists rely to
influence policy in Congress?

1. Promising money for reelection campaigns
2. Providing expert policy information
3. Ghostwriting legislation
4. All of the above

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Explore Congress Can Congress Get Anything Done?
11.4
http//media.pearsoncmg.com/long/long_edwards_mpsl
gia_16/pex/pex11.html
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11.5
Understanding Congress

• Congress and Democracy
• Congress and the Scope of Government

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Congress and Democracy
11.5

• Democracy depends upon successful representation
• Congress unrepresentative
• Members are elites
• Leadership chosen, not elected
• Senate based on states, not population
• Obstacles to good representation
• Constituent service
• Reelection campaigns
• Representativeness versus Effectiveness

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Congress and the Scope of Government
11.5

• Does size of government increase to please
  public?
• Pork barrel spending
• Contradictory preferences
• Against large government, for individual programs

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11.5
11.5 How does the Senate undermine democratic
representation?

1. Its members tend not to show up for roll call
   votes
2. It is forbidden from overriding a presidential
   veto
3. It represents states rather than people
4. None of the above

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11.5
11.5 How does the Senate undermine democratic
representation?

1. Its members tend not to show up for roll call
   votes
2. It is forbidden from overriding a presidential
   veto
3. It represents states rather than people
4. None of the above

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Video In the Real World
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A_1/polisci/presidency/Seg5_Congress_v2.html
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Discussion Questions
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Based on what you have learned in this chapter,
do you prefer the trustee or instructed delegate
model of representation? Which model is closer to
the system we have now?
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Video So What?
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v.html
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