Top Banner
Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher
22

Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher. Congress Bicameralism Enumerated powers Was primary branch Representative democracy.

Dec 22, 2015

Download

Documents

Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Page 1: Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher. Congress Bicameralism Enumerated powers Was primary branch Representative democracy.

Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher

Page 2: Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher. Congress Bicameralism Enumerated powers Was primary branch Representative democracy.

Congress

• Bicameralism

• Enumerated powers

• Was primary branch

• Representative democracy

Page 3: Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher. Congress Bicameralism Enumerated powers Was primary branch Representative democracy.

Organization of Congress

HOUSE• 435 Members (7 for SC)

• Two year terms

• Individual districts

SENATE• 100 Members (2 SC)

• Six year terms (staggered terms)

• State-wide districts

• More prestigious body

Page 4: Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher. Congress Bicameralism Enumerated powers Was primary branch Representative democracy.

Organization of Congress

111th Congress (2009-2010)

House 255 Democrats

179 Republicans

1 Vacant

Senate 57 Democrats

41 Republicans

2 Independent (Democrats)

Page 5: Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher. Congress Bicameralism Enumerated powers Was primary branch Representative democracy.

Organization of Congress

112th Congress (2011-2012)

House 241 Republicans

192 Democrats

2 Vacant

Senate 51 Democrats

47 Republicans

2 Independent (Democrats)

Page 6: Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher. Congress Bicameralism Enumerated powers Was primary branch Representative democracy.

Organization of Congress

113th Congress (2013-2014)

House 234 Republicans

201 Democrats

Senate 53 Democrats

45 Republicans

2 Independents (Democrats)

Page 7: Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher. Congress Bicameralism Enumerated powers Was primary branch Representative democracy.

Organization of Congress

114th Congress (2015-2016)

House 244 Republicans

188 Democrats

3 Vacant

Senate 54 Republican

44 Democrats

2 Independents (Democrats)

Page 8: Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher. Congress Bicameralism Enumerated powers Was primary branch Representative democracy.

The Average CongressMAN

• Male

• Age 50+

• 95% College degree; 50% have law degrees

• Church Goer

• Prior Political Experience

• Fairly wealthy; 50% are “millionaires”

Page 9: Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher. Congress Bicameralism Enumerated powers Was primary branch Representative democracy.

Diversity of Congress 113th

CongressHouse Senate %Congress %Country

Women79 20 19% 51%

African Americans

42 2 8% 13%

HispanicsAmericans

33 4 7% 14%

Asian Americans

12 1 2% 4%

Page 10: Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher. Congress Bicameralism Enumerated powers Was primary branch Representative democracy.

Incumbency

• Sitting members of Congress have tremendous advantages in running for re-election

• Fund-raising, name recognition, media attention, constituency service

Page 11: Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher. Congress Bicameralism Enumerated powers Was primary branch Representative democracy.

Incumbency

Page 12: Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher. Congress Bicameralism Enumerated powers Was primary branch Representative democracy.

Incumbency

2010 – 85% 2012 – 90%

Page 13: Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher. Congress Bicameralism Enumerated powers Was primary branch Representative democracy.

Incumbency

2010 – 84% 2012 – 91%

Page 14: Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher. Congress Bicameralism Enumerated powers Was primary branch Representative democracy.

Incumbency

I hate Congress, but my Congressman is doing a good job

Page 15: Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher. Congress Bicameralism Enumerated powers Was primary branch Representative democracy.

Major Functions of Congress

• Representation

• Constituency Service

• Policy-making and law-making

• Oversight

• Running for re-election

Page 16: Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher. Congress Bicameralism Enumerated powers Was primary branch Representative democracy.

Representation: Theories

• Congressman as Delegate (Robot)Representative /Senator simply votes according

to wishes of his constituents; reflects “majority will”

Problems: uninformed constituents, lack of clear message from voters, 49% unhappy

Page 17: Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher. Congress Bicameralism Enumerated powers Was primary branch Representative democracy.

Representation: Theories

• Congressman as TrusteeRepresentative /Senator is intelligent and

serious; we “trust” them to make good decisions; we can replace them if they disappoint us

Problems: High incumbency return rates suggest that we rarely replace our congressmen

Page 18: Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher. Congress Bicameralism Enumerated powers Was primary branch Representative democracy.

Representation: Theories

• Both theories have problems

Page 19: Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher. Congress Bicameralism Enumerated powers Was primary branch Representative democracy.

What Really Affects a Congressman’s Vote?

• Party ID/Ideology

• Staffers

• Colleagues

• Lobbyists

• President as Lobbyist

• Constituents

Page 20: Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher. Congress Bicameralism Enumerated powers Was primary branch Representative democracy.

Constituency Service

• Bringing “pork” to district/state

• Assisting constituents with Washington “red tape”

• Meeting/communicating with constituents

• Publicizing achievements

Taking care of the people back home

Page 21: Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher. Congress Bicameralism Enumerated powers Was primary branch Representative democracy.

Constituency Service

• This is a major reason why individual congressman are quite popular while Congress as a whole is rather unpopular

• Is this changing in 2014?

Page 22: Presentation by Dr. Kevin Lasher. Congress Bicameralism Enumerated powers Was primary branch Representative democracy.

Major Functions of Congress

• Representation

• Constituency Service

• Policy-making and law-making

• Oversight

• Running for re-election