Chapter 12 - Congress - Northcentral Technical …coursecontent.ntc.edu/soc/mcdonald/government/lp12/lp_12...Chapter 12 1 Chapter 12 Congress Introduction to American Government McDonald

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Chapter 12 Congress

Introduction to American Government McDonald

The Founders’ Congress

The Constitution endowed Congress with the bulk of the federal government’s domestic powers and a great deal of foreign policy power.

Among other things, Article I, Section 8, expressly authorizes Congress to:

  Lay and collect taxes   Allocate government

spending   Regulate interstate commerce

In foreign policy, Congress can:

  Declare war   Raise and regulate the army and

navy   Approve treaties and

appointments of ambassadors (Senate only)

The Founders’ Congress

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Still it seems that with the 20th century’s rise of presidential power many of these functions are now primarily exercised in the White House.

The Shift in Power

The changing balance of power between Congress and the president is best understood in the context of changes in the three chief functions of Congress as an institution.

Congress’ Functions

1.  Representation 2.  Legislation 3.  Competing in the

separation of powers

The Shift in Power

Representing the People

The United States Congress is a bicameral legislature in which power is divided between two chambers: the House and the Senate.

There are important differences between the House and the Senate in terms of functions and representation.

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House and Senate: Functions

The House   More representative   More organized and with

centralized authority   Greater degree of policy

specialization   Generally quicker to act

The Senate   “Filtered” from the

people   Less organized and

more individualistic   Senators tend to be

“generalists”   More deliberative

House & Senate: Representation

Because of the great compromise, the House was meant to represent the people whereas the Senate was designed to represent the states.

As a result, the House and the Senate are of different size and House members and Senators represent their constituencies differently.

Constituency: people of the district or area from which an official is elected.

The constituency of a House member is determined by the congressional district whereas Senators represent people from entire states.

House & Senate: Representation

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The House   435 members   Two year term   Membership per state

varies by population   Tend to have localized,

narrow constituencies

The Senate   100 Senators   Six year term   States represented

equally (2 Senators)   Have broader, more

diverse constituencies

House & Senate: Representation

The size of the average House district has changed dramatically through American history.

In 1789, the average representative had a constituency of 30,000; now it is 550,000.

Senate representation has changed dramatically as well.

In 1789, Senators were selected by state legislatures rather than the people; the 17th Amendment provided for the direct election of Senators in 1913.

House & Senate: Representation

Sociological Representation: a type of representation in which representatives share the racial, ethnic, religious, or educational backgrounds of their constituents

Agency Representation: a type of representation in which representatives are accountable to constituents through elections

Types of Representation

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In terms of sociological representation, how representative is the U.S. Congress of the overall American population? Congress tends to be:

  White   Male   Protestant   Dominated by lawyers

Types of Representation

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As agents, members of Congress and Senators seek to represent the wishes and best interests of their constituents in the hopes of securing re-election.

As agents, members of Congress engage in:   Casework   Staying in touch with district

concerns   Legislating for the district

Agents of Representation

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Incumbent members of Congress enjoy considerable advantages in their efforts to secure reelection:

  Fundraising advantages   Name recognition   Office advantages   Pork barrel legislation and

patronage

The Issue of Incumbency

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Patronage: the special favors higher officials can offer their supporters, usually job appointments, grants, or licenses

Pork barrel: appropriations made by legislative bodies for local projects that are often not needed but that are created to help representatives win re-election

Direct Patronage

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Insert Figure 12.5 here

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

  If members of Congress are good agents of their constituents, why might it matter that Congress does not sociologically represent the population?

  What effect do you think the increase in the size of congressional districts has had on representation? What about the direct election of Senators?

  Is the high incumbent re-election rate an indication that they represent their constituents well or a strong argument to impose term limits?

Organization of Congress

The House and the Senate are both organized by political parties, though party organizations and partisanship tend to be stronger in the House than in the Senate.

The basic congressional party organizations are the gatherings of all Republicans and Democrats. Republicans call such meetings the conference. Democrats call their gathering a caucus.

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The House   The Speaker of the House is its presiding officer and

the top political leader of the House majority party.   Both parties also have floor leaders; these are called

the majority leader and minority leader.   Both the majority and minority parties also have

elaborate whip systems that provide party leadership.

Organization of Congress

Insert Figure 12.6 here

The Senate:   The vice president of the United States is the

Senate’s presiding officer, but its top political leader analogous to the Speaker of the House is the Senate majority leader.

  The top leader of the minority party is known as the Senate minority leader.

  In the Senate, both parties have extensive party organizations though they are not as extensive or influential as their counterparts in the House.

Organization of Congress

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Insert Figure 12.7 here

Congress is also organized by a system of standing committees that propose, research, and write legislation.

Committees enjoy influence due to:   Legislative expertise   Jurisdiction over policy areas   Procedural advantages over the

committee’s legislation

Organization of Congress

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Other types of committees help to organize Congress as well.

Joint Committees: committees formed of members of the House and Senate to collect information and hold hearings

Conference Committees:

committees created of House and Senate members to reconcile differences between House and Senate versions of bills

Organization of Congress

Congressional staff and congressional caucuses are two other increasingly important organizational forces in Congress.

Individual members and committees hire many staff members to supplement the work of members of Congress.

Caucuses, like the Democratic Study Group, the Congressional Black Caucus, and the Travel and Tourism Caucus, are informal but influential groups of members designed as study and action groups.

Organization of Congress

Stages of the Legislative Process

I. Bill Introduction and Committee Referral

When members introduce legislation, it is referred to a congressional committee that has jurisdiction over that policy area.

That committee (and possibly a relevant subcommittee) will study the bill, bring in witnesses, debate it, and vote on whether or not to report it out.

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II. Access to the Floor

Once reported out of committee, legislation must be scheduled on the floor.

In the House, the Committee on Rules issues a rule for consideration of the bill, governs the time allotted for, which debate and the potential for floor amendments.

In the Senate, consultation between the Senate’s majority and minority leaders generally determines the Senate’s floor schedule.

Stages of the Legislative Process

III. Legislative Passage

Legislation generally must pass with a majority vote on the floor; in the Senate, sometimes it requires a three-fifths vote to pass legislation.

Once passed in the House and Senate, the two chambers’ different versions of the legislation must be reconciled. Often this happens in Conference Committee.

Still, after conference, both chambers must approve any changes made in conference.

Stages of the Legislative Process

IV. On to the White House

If both chambers approve, the bill is then sent to the president for a signature or veto.

If the president vetoes the legislation, it can be overridden by a two-thirds vote of each chamber.

Stages of the Legislative Process

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Insert Figure 12.8 here

How Congress Decides

Congressional decision making is affected by a number of factors both outside and inside Congress.

Outside influences include constituents and interest groups.

Inside influences include parties, committees, and member-to-member bargaining and logrolling.

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Although electoral concerns and outside interest groups continue to be important concerns in congressional decision making, in recent years even these factors have reinforced the influence of partisanship and party leaders in Congress.

How Congress Decides

Insert Figure 12.9 here

Other Congressional Powers

In addition to legislating, Congress plays important roles in the separation of powers:

  Oversight   Advice and consent   Impeachment

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In contemporary politics, Congress neither dominates nor is subservient to the presidency. From one year to the next, Congress continues to give advice and consent to the President while performing its institutional functions and meeting the goals of its members.

Advice and Consent

High profile conflicts between Congress and the president including the impeachment of President Clinton, high profile Republican investigations of the Clinton administration, and efforts by Democrats to filibuster President Bush’s judicial nominees typify how partisanship dominates contemporary interbranch relationships.

Impeachment

Although critics decried the Republican Congress’s lack of oversight of the Bush administration, the Democratic takeover of the House and Senate in the 2006 elections will likely return national politics to the kinds of interbranch conflict that typified the 1980s and 1990s.

Oversight

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WHAT DO YOU THINK?

  Is increasing congressional partisanship an example of the increased insider influence of congressional leaders or merely congressional representation of an increasingly partisan electorate?

  What role do you believe Congress should play in foreign policy?

  Do you think it is healthy or dangerous that constitutional questions like nominations for the federal judiciary and the impeachment of the president have become such partisan processes in recent years?

Review Questions

A presidential veto can be overridden by a: A.  Two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress B.  Majority vote in both houses of Congress C.  Three-fourths vote in the Senate D.  Majority vote in the House of

Representatives

Review Questions

__________ is the effort by Congress through hearings, investigations, and other techniques to exercise control over the activities of executive agencies.

A.  Appropriations B.  Oversight C.  Legislative veto D.  Pocket veto