Download ppt - Congress Congress & Constitution (1789) Sources of Power: How Should Congress Be Elected? Lower house: popularly elected Upper house: sent by state legislatures

Congress

Congress & Constitution (1789)

Sources of Power: How Should Congress Be Elected? Lower house: popularly elected Upper house: sent by state

legislatures Powers of Congress

Does Congress elect President? No, Electoral College does Yes, when no candidate receives a

majority votes in the College


Powers of Congress “Power of the Purse”

Appropriation of money Authorization of borrowing taxation

Regulatory Power Regulation of currency Punishment of counterfeiting Regulation of inter-state & int’l trade


Powers of Congress Law-making Power

Establishing rules of naturalization Making patent & copy-right laws Making bankruptcy laws Making amendments to Constitution

War-making & Military Power War declaration Raising & supporting armed forces Providing for militia


Powers of Congress Power of Personnel Appointment

Confirm presidential appointments i.e. Secretary of State, US

ambassador to the UN Confirm federal judge nominations

Federal court judges (lower courts) US Supreme Court justices

Power of Impeachment Bring impeachment charges (House) Try impeachments (Senate)

REMEMBER-to impeach means to charge, not to kick out of office!


Powers of Congress Other Powers

Establishing post office & post roads Fixing weights and measures Providing for the government of D.C. Admitting new states Establishing lower federal courts

Number + size

Senate vs. the House Size

435 members in the House (since 1911) 100 Senators in the Senate

Qualifications House

25 years of age Citizenship for at least 7 years Residency in district: 1 year Term of service: 2 years 1 member per 550,000 people

How often are congressional elections? How many members face election each

time?

Senate vs. House Congress & Constituency

House of Representatives Closer to the voters More reflective of voter preferences More answerable to constituents

Senate More remote to the voters

Allows for political stability & policy continuity Less responsive to changes in popular opinion

Can act as a dispassionate counter-weight to the more popular & radical House

Qualifications Senate

30 years of age 9 years of citizenship Residency requirement in state: 1 year Term: 6 years 2 seats per state in Senate

How often are senators elected? How many senators face election each

time?

Senate vs. House

Legislative role differences Senate

More deliberative Why?

Less structured House of Representatives

More centralized & organized Why?

More routine & structured

Senate vs. House

Congress vs. US Society

Congress vs. US Society Minorities in Congress

A typical member of Congress is Middle-aged Male White Lawyer Whose father is of the professional or

managerial class Native born or from northwestern or

central Europe, Canada

Congress vs. US Society

2000 Senatorial Race of New York

To run for Congress…

Three success factors #1: Who’s actually running? Some attributes give a candidate an

edge over others, like A record of prior public service National name recognition

Hillary Clinton versus Rep. Rick Lazzio Fund-raising capability


To run for Congress… Why do members of Congress so easily

win re-election?

To run for Congress… #2: Incumbency Advantages

Visibility Advertise thru contacts with constituents Stay visible thru trips to home districts

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Received mail from I

Saw I on TV

Read about I

Heard I on radio

Met I personally

Contact with Members of House(blue=Incumbents; brown=challengers)

#2: Incumbency Advantages More visible than challengers

Media pays more attention to incumbents

Campaign contributions Donations tend to go to those in office Donations to challengers can offend incumbents

Take credit for services to individuals & district Casework

Attend to voter concerns, requests, and problems Pork barrel legislation

Representatives try to steer federal projects, grants & contracts towards their district


#2: Incumbency Advantages Incumbent resources

Institutional connections and access to channels of communications

“franking privilege” (free use of the US mails) As long as it is “congressional business”

Tax-funded travel allowance to stay visible in one’s own district

Incumbents scaring challengers away


Congressional Districts-Gerrymandering!

District 23 (Texas) and District 3 (Florida in ’92 and ’96)


#3: Redistricting Congressional districts redrawn every

10 years after the census To avoid under- or over-representation

Re-drawing districts is highly political Used to create advantage for one party-

(new law being considered in Ohio to limit this!)

Gerrymandering legal on a political, but not a race, basis


Cost to Get Elected Congressional elections are getting

more costly Over $3 billion spent on 2014

Congressional election Incumbents outspend their opponents Candidates of major states spend more NC Senate race in 2014 most expensive

in history-$108 million spent

Cost of Congressional Race…

Cost of Congressional Race… Rising Cost

Congress not only represents, it also legislates.

Internal complexity makes it hard to conduct business without organization.

Congress is organized around: Political parties A committee system Parliamentary rules of the House &

Senate

Organization of Congress

Political Parties House leader election every two years Majority party leader = House Speaker Each party has a Committee on Committees

(Democrats call theirs: the Steering & Policy Committee) Assign new legislators to committees Transfer incumbents to new committees on

request Seniority system

Senators and Reps who have served the longest typically receive chairmanships/committee requests before newer members.

Representation on committees is proportional to party representation in Congress, e.g. a 60% Republican House gets 60% of the seats on committees-can serve on multiple committees


Party Structure in the Senate

President pro tempore presides; this is the member with most seniority in majority party (a largely honorific office)

Leaders are the majority leader and the minority leader, elected by their respective party members

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Party Structure in the Senate

Party whips: keep leaders informed, round up votes, count noses

Each party has a policy committee: schedules Senate business, prioritizes bills

Committee assignments are handled by a group of Senators, each for their own party

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Party Structure in the House Speaker of the House is leader of

majority party and presides over House

Majority leader and minority leader: leaders on the floor

Party whips keep leaders informed and round up votes

Committee assignments and legislative schedule are set by each party

Committee SystemStanding Committees Important policy-making bodies Permanent- Exist from Congress to

Congress Parallel executive agencies

Foreign Affairs Committee - State Department

Intelligence Committee – CIA & others Have power to report legislation for a

vote (or not!)


Select Committee Temporary committees No power to report legislation Set up to handle specific issues that fall

between the jurisdiction of existing committees

A special committee for investigating the Watergate scandal (1973)


Joint Committee Has members from both parties Can be permanent No power to report legislation Four types of joint committees

Economic Taxation Library printing


Conference Committee Temporary Members appointed by Speaker &

Senate presiding officer For reconciling any differences on

legislation once it has been passed by House & Senate

The Committee System

A number of staff members for every legislator

Staff members (8,853 in House alone, 2009): Handle constituency requests Take care of legislative details Formulate & draft proposals Organize hearing, deal with administrative

agencies, reporters and lobbyists…

The Staff System

What is a caucus?Informal group or committee composed of Senators or Representatives who share opinions, interests or social characteristics. Ideological causes

Liberal Democratic Study Group Issue-oriented caucuses

Travel & Tourism Caucuses Congressional Friends of Animals

Common background caucuses The Congressional Black Caucus

The caucuses

What is a caucus? Objectives of the Caucuses

To advance interests of the groups they represent by promoting legislation, encouraging Congress to hold hearing, and pressing administrative agencies for favorable treatment

The caucuses

How a Bill Becomes Law

Some facts: For a bill to become law, there are

many routine hurdles It is easier for opponents to kill a bill

than to pass it The law-making process is highly

political


The Law-making Steps1. Introducing legislation

Who can suggest legislation? Members of Congress Executive branch Interest groups Constituents ONLY a MEMBER of Congress can

introduce a bill into Congress. No one else. Ever.


The Law-making Steps2. Assignment to Committee

Given a number in House preceded by “H. R.” and by “S” in Senate

Bill referred to a committee Most bills assigned to the appropriate

committees Complex bills referred to several

committees Controversial bills are sometimes handled

by temporary or ad hoc committees set up for that purpose


The Law-making Steps2. Assignment to Committee

Often, nothing happens to the bills in committee. Neglect leads to death of many bills

Bills to be acted on are often referred to the appropriate sub-committees.


The Law-making Steps3. Hearing

Once the sub-committee or full committee decides to act, hearings are held in which the public/interested parties can testify on the bill

In a typical two-year Congress Senate: 1200 hearings House: 2300 hearings


The Law-making Steps4. Reporting a Bill

When a sub-committee decides to act on a bill, it drafts it line by line

It reports it to the full committee The full committee accepts, rejects or

amends the bill.


The Law-making Steps5. Schedule Debate

When a committee agrees to submit a bill to the two houses, it is put on the House & Senate calendar, a list bills for action

Each house has different calendars for different bills In House, non-controversial bills are put on

the Consent Calendar or Private Calendar to be passed without debate


The Law-making Steps5. Schedule Debate

Each house has different calendars for different bills Controversial or important bills are placed

on the Union Calendar or house Calendar. Rules & procedures (length of debate) are requested from the Rules Committee.

Define the following:filibuster, cloture, open rule, closed rule.


The Law-making Steps6. Debate & Amendment

Opponents & proponents have equal debate time

Relevant amendments, if allowed, can be added

Floor debate seldom change views of others

In Senate, debate can last long time In Senate, filibuster can be used Senators can propose amendments

irrelevant to the bill.

How a Bill Becomes LawThe Law-making Steps7. The Vote

How do members vote? What impact their voting behavior? Personal views Opinions of the constituents Advice of knowledgeable & trusted

colleaguesOccasionally, President can win over wavering members of their Party to stick with the team or by cutting deals with pivotal members.

It is important for members to cast an explainable vote, one that is defendable in public when challenged.

How a Bill Becomes LawThe Law-making Steps7. The Vote

How do members vote? What impact their voting behavior?

It is important for members to cast an explainable vote, one that is defendable in public when challenged.

Not every vote has to please the constituents. But, too many “bad” votes are costly and show distance with one’s folks at home.

How a Bill Becomes LawThe Law-making Steps8. In Conference Committee Once passed, a bill is sent to the other

chamber for consideration If the 2nd chamber passes the bill, it is then

sent to the White House for action. But, controversial bills need to go to a

Conference Committee to reconcile the differences in the two versions of the bills

After Conference, details of the bill are reported back to each chamber before sending to the President.

How a Bill Becomes LawThe Law-making Steps7. To the President

Approve the bill into law Ignore it, with the result it becomes law in

10 days (not including weekend & when Congress is still in session)

Veto it (& facing override in Congress) Pocket veto it (if Congress adjourns before

the 10 days are up)When President vetoes a bill, he usually explains why he does so.

How a Bill Becomes LawThe Law-making Steps7. Congressional Override of Veto

A two-thirds majority is required in each chamber to override the Presidential veto

There are two major forces impacting Congressional law-making

External influences Constituency Interest groups

Internal/governmental influences Party leadership Congressional colleagues President/executive branch

Influences on Law-making

Influence from the Constituency Members of Congress comply with views

of constituents due to re-election need They voluntarily anticipate or find out

constituents’ positions 1998, 31 House democrats crossed the party

line and voted in favor of an impeachment inquiry (e.g., Congressman Gary Condit)

Influences on Law-making

Mobilize followers in a member’s congressional districts “Astroturf lobbying”

Provide information

Influences from Interest Groups

Party leaders in Congress have influence over members

Party organizations have resources: Leadership PACs

PACs (1) raise funds and then (2) distribute to members for running for election

PACs enhance party power PACs create bond between leaders & members who

receive money Committee Assignments Access to Floor The whip system

communication network, with info on member intentions in voting

Logrolling

Influences from Party Org

Since 1940s, President submitted yearly legislative proposals to Congress

Since mid-1950s, Congress has looked to the President for legislative proposals

Influences from the President