CHAPTER 11
CONGRESS
"If con is the opposite
of pro, is congress the
opposite of progress?
THEME A - The Power of
Congress in the American
System
See Powers of Congress - Article
I, Section 8, US Constitution
Congress: the "first branch"
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This branch has considerable power
Many consider this branch to be the
one most badly in need of repair
The puzzles, processes and actions of
this branch say a great deal about
America's representative democracy
Congress versus Parliament
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Parliamentary candidates are selected by party
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Congressional candidates run in a primary election,
with little party control
Members of Parliament select prime minister and other
leaders
Party members vote together on most issues
Renomination depends on loyalty to party
Principal work is debating national issues
Very little power, very little pay
Vote is for the man or woman, not the party
Result is a body of independent representatives
Members do not choose the president
Principal work is representation and action
Great deal of power, high pay; parties cannot discipline
members
The Evolution of Congress
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Intent of the Framers
To oppose concentration of power in a
single institution
To balance large and small states:
bicameralism
Traditional criticism: Congress is too slow
Centralization needed for quick and
decisive action
Decentralization needed if congressional
constituency interests are to be dominant
Development of the House
Always powerful but varied in organization
and leadership
– Powerful Speakers
– Powerful committee chairmen
– Powerful individual members
Ongoing dilemmas
– Increases in size have lead to the need for
centralization and less individual influence
– Desire for individual influence has led to
institutional weakness
Development of the Senate
Structural advantages over the House
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Small enough to be run without giving authority to small
group of leaders
Interests more carefully balanced
No time limits on speakers or committee control of debate
Senators not elected by voters until this century
Chosen by state legislators
Often leaders of local party organizations
Major changes
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Demand for direct popular election
Intense political maneuvering and the Millionaire's Club
Senate opposition and the threat of a constitutional
convention
17th Amendment approved in 1913
Filibuster restricted by Rule 22 - though tradition of
unlimited debate remains
Reassertion of Congressional
Power in 1970s
Reaction to Vietnam and
Watergate
War Powers Act of 1973
Congressional Budget and
Impoundment Act of 1974
Increased requirement for
legislative veto
THEME B - Who Gets to
Congress
WHO IS IN CONGRESS?
Sex and Race
Years of Service
Who is in Congress
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The beliefs and interests of members of Congress can
affect policy
Sex and race
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Incumbency
House has become less male and less white
Senate has been slower to change, but several blacks
and Hispanics hold powerful positions
Low turnover rates and safe districts common in
Congress before 1980s
Incumbents increasingly viewed as professional
politicians and out of touch with the people by the
1980s
Call for term limits; however, natural forces were doing
what term limits were designed to do by the mid-1990s
Influx of new members should not distort incumbents'
advantage
Who is in Congress
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Party
Democrats are beneficiaries of incumbency
Gap between votes and seats: Republican vote
higher than number of seats won
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One explanation: Democratic legislatures redraw
district lines to favor Democratic candidates
But research does not support; Republicans run best
in high turnout districts, Democrats in low turnout
ones
Another explanation: incumbent advantage
increasing
But not the reason; Democrats field better
candidates whose positions are closer to those of
voters
Who is in Congress
Advantages of incumbency for
Democrats turn into disadvantages
by the 1990s
Republicans win control of Congress
in 1994
Republicans replace conservative
Democrats in the South during the
1990s
More party unity, especially in the
House, since the 1990s
GETTING ELECTED TO
CONGRESS
Determining Fair Representation –
House Member Represents
Approximately 670, 000 people
Gerrymander and Malaportionment
Malapportionment
Drawing the
boundaries of political
districts so that
districts are unequal
in population.
Gerrymander
Drawing the boundaries of
political districts in bizarre or
unusual shapes to make it
easier for candidates of a
particular party/ethnic group
to win
THEME C - Congressional Organization and
Procedures
1. Party Organization - Senate
A. President pro tempore presides, member
with most seniority in majority party.
B. Leaders are the majority leader and
minority leader — elected by party.
C. Party whips — keep leaders informed,
round up votes, count noses.
2. Party Organization - House. House rules give
leadership more power.
A. Speaker of the House is leader of the majority
party- presides over house.
Decides whom to recognize to speak on
floor.
Rules on germaneness of motions
Decides to which committee bill goes.
Appoints members of special and select
committees.
B. Majority leader (floor leader) and minority
leader
C. Party Whip
3. Opinion and interest
groupings
4. Committees - Standing,
Select, Conference, Staff,
Staff Agencies
THE ORGANIZATION OF CONGRESS:
PARTIES AND INTERESTS
CAUCUSES
Democratic Study Group (DSG)
Conservative Democratic Forums
Wednesday Group
Congressional Black Caucus
State Delegations
Specialized Caucuses
THE ORGANIZATION OF CONGRESS:
STAFF AND SPECIALIZED OFFICES
Tasks of Staff Members
Staff Agencies
1. Congressional Research Service (CRS)
2. General Accounting Office (GAO)
3. Office of Technology Assessment (OTA)
4. Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
HOW A BILL BECOMES LAW
Introducing a Bill
Study by Committee - most bills die in
committee
Floor Debate - The House — Amendments
must be germane. Closed rule sets time limit
on debate.
Floor Debate - The Senate - Amendments
need not be germane. Time limit only
established by cloture to stop filibuster. 3/5
vote to end debate.
How a bill becomes a law
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Bills travel through Congress at different speeds
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Introducing a bill
Bills to spend money or to tax or regulate business
move slowly
Bills with a clear, appealing idea move fast
Examples: "Stop drugs," "End scandal"
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Introduced by a member of Congress: hopper in House,
recognized in Senate
Most legislation has been initiated in Congress
Presidentially-drafted legislation is shaped by Congress
Resolutions
Simple--passed by one house affecting that house
Concurrent--passed by both houses affecting both
Joint--passed by both houses, signed by president (except
for constitutional amendments)
How a bill becomes a law
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Study by committees
Bill is referred to a committee for
consideration by either Speaker or
presiding officer
Revenue bills must originate in the House
Most bills die in committee
Hearings are often conducted by several
subcommittees: multiple referrals
(replaced by sequential referral system in
1995)
Markup of bills--bills are revised by
committees
How a bill becomes a law
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Committee reports a bill out to the House or
Senate
If bill is not reported out, the House can use the
discharge petition
If bill is not reported out, the Senate can pass a
discharge motion
House Rules Committee sets the rules for
consideration
Closed rule: sets time limit on debate and restricts
amendments
Open rule: permits amendments from the floor
Restrictive rule: permits only some amendments
Use of closed and restrictive rules growing
Rules can be bypassed by the House
No direct equivalent in Senate
How a bill becomes a law
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Floor debate, House
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Floor debate, Senate
Committee of the Whole--procedural device for expediting
House consideration of bills but cannot pass bills
Committee sponsor of bill organizes the discussion
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No rule limiting debate or germaneness
Entire committee hearing process can be bypassed by a
senator
Cloture--sets time limit on debate--three-fifths of Senate must
vote for a cloture petition
Both filibusters and cloture votes becoming more common
Easier now to stage filibuster
Roll calls are replacing long speeches
But can be curtailed by "double tracking"--disputed bill is shelved
temporarily--making filibuster less costly
Methods of Voting
Voice Vote
Division Vote
Teller Vote (House Only)
Roll Call
Bill, in final form, goes to the
president
– President may sign it
– If president vetoes it, it returns to
the house of origin
Either house may override the
president by a vote of twothirds of those present
If both override, the bill
becomes law without the
president's signature
How a Bill
Becomes a
Law
THEME D
Does Congress Represent
Constituents' Opinion?
1. Representative
2. Organizational
3. Attitudinal
Representational view
Assumes that members vote to please their
constituents
Constituents must have a clear opinion of the issue
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Very strong correlation on civil rights and social
welfare bills
Very weak correlation on foreign policy
May be conflict between legislator and constituency
on certain measures: gun control, Panama Canal
treaty, abortion
Constituency influence more important in Senate
votes
Members in marginal districts as independent as
those in safe districts
Weakness of representational explanation: no clear
opinion in the constituency
Organizational view
Assumes members of Congress vote to
please colleagues
Organizational cues
– Party
– Ideology
Problem is that party and other
organizations do not have a clear position
on all issues
On minor votes most members influenced
by party members on sponsoring
committees
Attitudinal view
Assumes that ideology affects a legislator's vote
House members tend more than senators to have
opinions similar to those of the public.
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1970s: senators more liberal
1980s: senators more conservative
Prior to 1990s, southern Democrats often aligned
with Republicans to form a conservative coalition.
Conservative coalition no longer as important since
most southerners are Republicans
Ideology and Civility in Congress
Members of Congress more sharply divided
ideologically than they once were
New members of Congress are more
ideological
Members of Congress more polarized than
voters
– Democrats more liberal/Republicans
more conservative
– Voters closer to center of political
spectrum
Members of Congress (especially the
House) do not get along as well as they
once did
Reducing Power and Perks
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Many proposals made to "reform" and "improve" Congress
Common perception it is overstaffed and self-indulgent
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Quick to regulate others, but not itself
Quick to pass pork barrel legislation but slow to address
controversial questions of national policy
Use of franking privilege to subsidize personal campaigns
Proposals to abolish it
Proposals for restrictions on timing of mailings and a taxpayer
"notice"
Congressional Accountability Act of 1995
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For years Congress routinely exempted itself from many of the
laws it passed
Concern for enforcement (by Executive branch) and separation
of powers
1995 Act
Obliged Congress to obey eleven major laws
Created the Office of Compliance
Established an employee grievance procedure
THEME E - Ethics and Congress
ETHICS AND CONGRESS
1977 Code of Ethics
1. Financial-Disclosure Statement
2. Honoraria prohibited by House. Senate must
be donated to a charity.
3. House and Senate - maximum of 15% of
salary in outside earned income not including
stocks and bonds.
Problem of defining unethical
conduct
Violation of criminal law is obviously unethical
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Since 1941, over one hundred charges of misconduct
Most led to convictions, resignations, or retirements
Ethics codes and related reforms enacted in 1978,
1989, and 1995 have placed members of Congress
under tight rules
Other issues are more difficult.
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A substantial outside income from speaking and
writing does not necessarily lead to vote corruption.
Personal friendships and alliances can have an undue
influence on votes.
Bargaining among members of Congress may involve
exchange of favors and votes.
Summary: The old and the new Congress –
Since Second World War
House has evolved thru three stages
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Mid-1940s to early 1960s
Powerful committee chairs, mostly from the South
Long apprenticeships for new members
Small congressional staffs
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Early 1970s to early 1980s
Growth in size of staffs
Committees became more democratic
More independence for members
Focus on reelection
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Early 1980s to present
Strengthening and centralizing party leadership
Senate meanwhile has remained decentralized
throughout this period
Self Test
For more information about this topic,
link to the Metropolitan Community
College Political Science Web Site
http://socsci.mccneb.edu/pos/polscmain
.htm
http://www.house.gov
http://www.senate.gov