Evolution of Congress
Intentions of Founders
 Fear of excessive power in single institution
 Fear of mob rule by majority
 Concern over representation
 Solution to these concerns: bicameralism
 1. Creation of “upper house” in which senators elected by
state legislatures rather than people.
 2. Representation concern settled by equal representation in
the Senate and proportional in the House
 Belief that Congress would be dominant branch
Conflict Over Distribution of Power
 Basic Conflict: centralization v. decentralization
 Centralization allows Congress to act quickly under
several conditions (at expense of constituents)
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Strong central leadership w/ authority over rank and file
Restrictions on debate
Few opportunities for stalling tactics
Minimal committee interference
A streamlined legislative process
Opportunity to conduct business w/ minimal public scrutiny
Conflict (Cont’d)
Decentralization
 Weak central leadership
 Few restrictions on debate
 Numerous opportunities for stalling tactics
 Powerful committee influence
 Complicated legislative process
 Close public scrutiny
Developments in the Senate
 The Senate is a more naturally decentralized and
informal body
 Fewer members, fewer formal rules
 Lack of Speaker
 Lack of strong Rules Committee
 Democratization of Senate: passage of the 17th
Amendment---> direct election of Senators
 Concern over length of debate allowed on floor
 Use of fillibusters
 In 1917, Senate provided means to kill fillibusters: 3/5 vote
for cloture
Recent Developments: Use of the 1st days
 Election of 104th Cong.----Republican “Contract w/ America” (12
items voted on in first 100 Days)
 Under Newt Gingrich (104th) some senior Republicans passed
over for young, aggressive members
 Under Gingrich, House adopts term limits for committee chairmen
 Speaker Pelosi’s “Hundred Hours of Cong.” (2007)
 (minimum wage, embryonic stem cell research, implementation
of 9/11 commission recommendations, cuttting of oil/gas tax
breaks, cutting of student loans, allow Medicare to negotiate drug
price discounts)
Organizing Congress: Rules and
Norms
 Filibuster: Unlimited debate in Senate use to avoid voting
on legislation or confirmation
 Cloture: Rule declaring the end of a debate in the Senate.
Three-fifths of the Senate necessary.
 Hold: Senator indicates that he or she will use delaying
tactics to prevent a final vote. Can be overruled by threefifths majority. (60 votes)
Recent Developments (Cont’d)
Filibuster Issue has become
controversial
 Republicans complain that democrats use
of filibuster to block judicial
nominations/appts is unprecedented (under
Bush), but now Democrats are complaining
 The facts: 79 nominees blocked under Obama; 68
total prior to Obama presidency for a total of 147