Chapter 11
CONGRESS
Newman Essay
Congress
Q:
Identify the powers that Congress is granted to specifically check the
executive branch from becoming too powerful. OR
Explain the separation of three branches of government and how each can
check the powers of the other branch with specific examples.
The idea of “separate but a sharing of powers” should be discussed.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Many presidential appointments require Senate approval; Senate can disapprove
an appointment; examples, Cabinet and Federal Court appointments
Constitution gives the Senate the power to advise and consent in regard to
treaties made by the president. This can be withheld and a treaty will not be
ratified
Congress has the ability to conduct oversight of the bureaucracy and
administrative agencies; this means it can conduct investigations to see how the
executive is implementing what Congress has decided
The House of Representatives has the power to impeach a president, and the
Senate has the power to try the president on impeachment charges brought by the
House
The United States House of Representatives has the “power of the purse.” A
president’s request for an appropriation to support a particular program can be
rejected and modified by Congress
A veto can be overridden by both Houses of Congress, but it seldom occurs
A power exercised by the president can be overturned by the Supreme Court: For
example, President Harry Truman seized the steel mills to prevent a strike during
the Korean War, and the Supreme Court struck down his decision.
Congress has the power to declare war
Exceeds expectations
Student addresses 6-8 of these points
Meet expectations
student addresses 4-5 of these points
Does NOT meet expectation student addresses fewer than 4 of these points
2
3
Chapter 11 – Scenario 1
Page 351
What things did Congress
do that made it difficult for
President Obama to close
Guantanamo Bay? Why
did the Democratcontrolled Congress
make it so difficult for him
to deliver on his
campaign promise of
closing Gitmo?
You should answer in 1-2
paragraphs.
4
The Origin and Powers of Congress
 The Great Compromise created two
separate, powerful legislative chambers
(bicameral)
 Equal representation in Senate
 Representation by population in House;
House must initiate revenue-related
legislation
 Identical bills must be passed by both
chambers to become law
5
House of
Representatives
Senate
6
Senators
 100 total
Pat
Roberts
 2 per state
 Term: 6 years
Jerry
Moran
Continuous body: 1/3 are elected every two
years
 Initially Senators selected by state
legislatures
 17th Amendment (1913) changed that process to direct
elections
7
House of Representatives




435 total
Based on population of state
Directly elected by people
Term: 2 years; all seats up for election
 Census every 10 years leads to reapportionment
and subsequent redistricting
1 Rep = about 700,000 people
Mike
Pompeo –
District 4
8
Duties of the House and Senate
 Many shared powers
 Declare war
 Raise army/navy
See Article I, Section 8, Clause 1-17
 Borrow money
(Page A-6)
 Coin money
 Regulate interstate trade
 Create federal courts
 Establish rules for naturalization of immigrants
 Make all laws “necessary and proper” for carrying out
foregoing powers. (See Article I, Section 8, Clause 18)
9
Duties of the House and Senate
 House alone responsible for revenue bills
and impeachment charges
 Senate alone responsible for approving
treaties, presidential appointments, and
trials on the articles of impeachment
passed by the House
Only 2 Presidents have been
impeached, A. Johnson (1868) and B.
Clinton (1998). Nixon resigned before
the full House could vote on his
impeachment.
10
Electing Congress
 Congressional elections give voters a
chance to show approval or disapproval
of Congress’s performance
 Incumbents usually re-elected despite
the fact polls show public dissatisfaction
with Congress’s actions
 Some think it’s overly influenced by interest groups
11
Incumbent Reelection Stats
 In majority of elections since 1950:
 More than 90% incumbents won
 2010 elections unusual
 54 House incumbents defeated
 First time since 1974 reelection of House
incumbents fell below 90%
 85% House, 84% Senate
 2012 elections
 91% reelection rate
12
Figure 11.1 – Pg. 301
Incumbents: Life is Good
Despite public’s
dissatisfaction
with Congress,
incumbents win
reelection at an
exceptional rate.
House fares
better than
Senate.
Voters believe
their own
representatives
and senators
aren’t to blame.
13
Figure 11.2 – Pg. 301
We Love Our Incumbents,
But Congress Itself Stinks
Public approval of Congress. Approval has decreased even more in
recent years. As of 11/10/15 – Approval 13%.
14
Redistricting
 After each census, states must re-draw
House districts
 Changing district lines for partisan
advantage is gerrymandering
 Computer programs make gerrymandering
easy to do
 Some argue that gerrymandering increases
partisan polarization
15
History of the term
Gerrymander
 Governor Elbridge Gerry of
Massachusetts
 1812- drew districts in favor of
Democratic-Republicans
 Painter Gilbert Stuart added head,
wings, claws
 “That will do for a salamander”
 “Better say Gerrymander,” growled
editor
16
Gerrymandering Activity – Scenario 2
1
2
3
A sample population distribution with each symbol representing a voting
group (political party stronghold) in a generic state.
Your job is to draw district lines of equal proportions (on the 3 samples
above) in three different ways:
1. A fair/equitable distribution
2. Majority gerrymandering to ensure complete electoral dominance
3. Gerrymandering designed to ensure over-representation for the
smaller party
Work with __
partner
17
Sample population
distribution. Each symbol
represents a voter in a
generic state
A fair distribution
Majority gerrymandering to
ensure complete electoral
dominance.
Gerrymandering
Examples
Gerrymandering designed to
ensure over-representation for the
smaller party.
Kansas Redistricting 2000 &
2010
19
Kansas
Redistricting
2012
Proposals
From 2000
census
20
Reapportionment
21
Name Recognition
 Incumbency has advantages
 Name recognition - press coverage of activities &
speeches
 Franking privileges –send mail free
 $24.8 million worth of mail in 2012
 Twitter accounts
 2012- 90% Facebook, 83% Twitter
 Casework – helping constituents (tracking down
S.S. check, helping someone find appropriate
federal agency, etc.) - grateful
22
 Campaign contributions – (see next slide)
Campaign Financing

Challengers must spend large sums of money
to run campaigns
 Difficult to raise money
 Higher-quality challengers more likely to win,
especially against vulnerable incumbents (age,
scandal, unfavorable redistricting)

In 2012, incumbents raised 53 percent of all
contributions to House and Senate Races
 Challengers received only 22 percent
 PACs prefer incumbents – risky to give $ to longshot challenger and offend incumbent
23
 How much do you think the richest
lawmaker in Congress made in 2011?
24
Whom Do We Elect?
 Those elected not a cross-section of
American society
 Most are upper-class professionals
 Lawyers/business
 Around 50 percent are millionaires (about
1% of Americans are)
 Women & minorities underrepresented
Darrell Issa (R-CA) 2nd
richest lawmaker in
2011 – worth approx
$480 million?
http://www.opensec
rets.org/pfds/overvi
ew.php
 Only 9 blacks in history of Senate
 20 women currently serve in Senate (only 39
in the history of Senate). 13 appointed, 7
followed dead husband
http://www.rollcall.com/50richest/the-50-richest-members-ofcongress-112th.html
Compared with What?
Women in Legislatures – pg. 305
European countries
have a higher
percentage of
women in the lower
house of legislature
than countries from
the Americas.
26
Descriptive Representation
Read page 305-306

Some believe descriptive representation is lacking
 Belief legislature should resemble demographic characteristics of the
population it represents

Voting Rights Act amendments in 1982 designed to
encourage the drawing of minority districts
 Ch. 11 Scenario 2 – pg. 306:
Do you think only members of
someone’s group can truly represent
the interests of that population?
Explain in a paragraph.
27
Figure 11.3 – pg. 360
Minorities in Congress
African Americans make up less than 10% of total membership of the
House/Senate. Hispanics make up about 5%. Representation of both
groups is well below their proportions in the population at large (Hispanics
14% and African Americans 13% of total population)
28
Minorities in Congress
 Efforts to draw districts favorable to
minorities being elected benefited
African Americans, but not Hispanics
 Don’t tend to live in concentrated areas
 23% adult Hispanics can’t vote; not citizens
 Supreme Court’s ruling in Shaw v. Reno
(1993) indicated racial gerrymandering
might violate rights of whites
 Later rulings said race must not be
“dominant and controlling factor” in
drawing district boundaries
29
Ch. 11 Scenario 3
 Write down 3 issues in the past year that
Congress has tried put on their agenda
to fix. This could be problems that are
constant
30
How Issues Get on the
Congressional Agenda
Formal legislative process starts with
introducing a bill in the House or Senate
 Problem or issue must be identified first

 Many major issues constant (S.S., debt, etc.);
others appear suddenly (cyberbullying)
 Technology changes and/or highly visible events
(9/11 – airports, Newtown - guns) focus national
attention on an issue
Presidential or congressional support moves
issues and related bills more rapidly
 Enhances image to sponsor a bill
31

The Dance of Legislation:
An Overview
 Process of bill-writing and passage
follows specific steps (see Figure 11.4 on
next slide)
 Process in House and Senate similar, but
House requires bills to go to Rules
Committee before going to the floor
 Complexity comes with the many ways a
bill can be treated at each step
32
Figure 11.4 – Pg. 309
The Legislative
Process
The process by which a bill
becomes a law is subject to much
variation.
This diagram depicts the typical
process a bill might follow.
A bill can fail at any stage
because of lack of support.
33
Options
 When a bill sent to President, 4 options:
 1. Sign
 2. Veto
 3. 10 Day Rule (automatically becomes law)
 4. Pocket Veto (last 10 days)
34
Bill Process is Slow
 Bills amended again and again
 Often fruitless
 Pluralist
35
http://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=tyeJ5
5o3El0
I’m Just a Bill
36
“Congress at Work”
 President Woodrow Wilson once
observed that “Congress in session is
Congress on public exhibition, whilst
Congress in its committee rooms is
Congress at work.”
 A speech on the Senate floor may influence average
citizens, but less likely to influence other Senators.
37
Committees:
The Workhorses of Congress

Real work of Congressional policymaking happens in
committees, which address specific policy areas http://en.wikipe
 Standing committees and their related
subcommittees – permanent, specializes
dia.org/wiki/Un
ited_States_co
ngressional_co
mmittee
 16-20 Sen, 42 House.
 Majority party controls committees
 Joint committees –both House & Senate.
 Weaker – fact finding
 Select committees – temporary, special issues
 Conference committees – temporary, work out
38
differences on legislation
Congressional Expertise
and Scrutiny
 Influence in Congress increases with
expertise and seniority
 Senior member of majority party usually
committee chair
 Republican leadership policy limits
committee and subcommittee chairs to
six-year terms
 Democrats largely use seniority system
Dave Camp (R – MI) – Former Chairman House
Committee on Ways and Means (taxes, S.S.,
39
Committee Action

First step in drafting legislation is
information gathering
 Research by committee staff
 Public hearings by committees or
subcommittees

Actual debate and amendments on bills in
committee happens during markup sessions
 Committee chairs need to build coalitions
40
Oversight: Following
Through on Legislation
 Once a bill becomes law, it is
administered by a federal agency
 Congress has power of oversight to
ensure bills enacted as intended
 However, magnitude of executive branch
makes oversight difficult
41
Oversight
 Types of oversight:
 Hearings
 Ex: why govt failed after Hurricane Katrina
 Reports
 Ex: treatment of terror suspects
 Informal
 Contact between committee leaders and agency
administrators
 Most oversight wants to improve,
discredit
not
42
xMajoritarian and Pluralist
Views of Committees
Government by committee vests great
power in committees, subcommittees, and
their leaders
 In some ways, this enhances pluralism, since
these people are elected
 Majoritarian aspect of committees comes
through debates and compromises on bills
necessary to get a bill passed

43
Leaders and Followers in Congress
 Party leaders in each house work to
maximize influence of their party and
ensure smooth and efficient functions
 Operation of each chamber based on
rules and norms developed over the
years
44
The Leadership Task in the House
Paul Ryan

Majority party leadership :
 Speaker of the House – chairs sessions
 Majority leader – helps Speaker guide party through
legislative process
 Majority whip – tracks vote count; rallies support for
legislation (“whip” up votes)

Minority party leadership:
 Minority leader
 Minority whip

Kevin
McCarthy
Nancy Pelosi
Both parties have committees for fundraising,
strategy development, and logistics assistance
http://www.house.gov/leadership/
45
The Leadership Task in the Senate

Vice President – President of Senate
(Constitutionally)
 President Pro Tempore usually serves
 Honorary – most senior member majority party

Majority Leader
 Has real power in the Senate

Orrin Hatch
Mitch McConnell
Both majority & minority leader play critical
role in getting bills through congress
through bargaining and negotiations
http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/senators/a_three_sections_with_teasers/leadership.htm
Harry Reid
46
 Party leaders can be aggressive about
enforcing party discipline
 Health care reform 2009
 Max Baucus
47
The Johnson Treatment
Pg. 315
When Lyndon B. Johnson was Senate Majority leader in the 1950s, he was well
known for his style of interaction with other members. In this set of photos, he
applies the “Johnson Treatment” to Senator Thodore Green (D-RI). The following is
a description: “Its tone could be supplication, accusation, exuberance,…threat. It
was all of these together…it was breathtaking…Interjections from the target were
rare…from his pockets poured clippings, memos, statistics. Mimicry, humor, and the
genius of analogy made “The Treatment” an almost hypnotic experience and
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rendered the target stunned and helpless.”
Rules of Procedure

Rules not always the same in House and
Senate
 Bill consideration in Senate requires 60
senators to vote for unanimous consent
agreement
 One Senate rule allows filibusters, which can
be limited by a vote for cloture (3/5 – 60
votes)
 Threatening a filibuster common
 House amendments must be
germane/relevant; Senate’s do not
 House bills must go to House Rules
Committee before floor debate
49
Filibuster Facts/Records
 1947 – Glen Taylor (D-ID)
 8.5 hours on fishing, baptism, Wall Street,
and children
 1957 – Strom Thurmond (R-SC)
 24 hours, 18 minutes against Civil Rights Act
of 1957
50
Norms of Behavior
 Some norms are set rules; others are
unwritten
 Two most important norms:
 Show respect to colleagues, even bitter
opponents (“my good friend”, “my
distinguished colleague”, “senior senator”)
 Be willing to bargain with one another
51
The Legislative Environment
 Decisions about Congress’ votes affected
by:
 political parties
 president
 constituents
 interest groups
 Political parties and the president majoritarian
influences on policymaking
 Constituents and interest groups are pluralist influences
52
on policymaking
Political Parties

Parties strong force in legislative process by
controlling:
 Committee appointments
 (Tim Huelskamp)
 Consideration of a legislator’s bills or
amendments
 Appointments to leadership positions

Parties also showcase differences in
ideologies
53
The President
 Presidents tend to act as though they are
speaking for the majority
 Public expectations for the presidency
grew in the 20th century
 White House openly involved in crafting
legislation
 However, Congress still in charge of
legislation
54
Constituents
 The people in a legislator’s district or
state crucial to decision-making process
 Legislators must consider what voters want
 Constituent influence contributes to
pluralism because of the geographic
basis of representation
55
Interest Groups
 Interest groups prime
example of pluralist politics
 Legislators pay attention to
interest groups because they
represent voters
 Lobbyists also provide key
information and
contributions
 Access is the first step towards
influence
56
The Dilemma of Representation
What a legislator’s constituents want
not always what majority in nation
want
 After working in Washington all week,
legislators fly home to meet with
constituents

 Average of 35 trips back to district
 Average of 138 days back in district
57
Constituents Strike Back
During summer 2009 recess,
members of Congress (Arlen
Specter D-PA pictured here)
traveled home to districts to
attend angry constituents at
town hall meetings about
health-care reform plans.
The intensity proved
influential as Senator Chuck
Grassley (R-Iowa) said the
meetings caused him to
temper support for the
reforms.
“I’ve got to listen to my
people,” he said.
58
Trustees or Delegates?

Must members of Congress vote the way
their district prefers, even if it goes against
their conscience or national interests?
 Trustees vote their conscience
 Delegates vote their district or state

Opinions of constituents not always clear
 More often vote as delegate on important
issues
59
Ch. 11 Scenario 5
 Do you prefer your Congressman to vote
as a trustee or delegate? Explain in a
paragraph.
60
Constitutional Qualifications
 House of Representatives:
 25 years old
 U.S. citizen for 7 years
 Resident of state
 Senate:
 30 years old
 U.S. citizen for 9 years
 Resident of the state
61
x Pluralism, Majoritarianism,
and Democracy
 Voting as delegates supports pluralistic
policymaking
 Majoritarian policymaking relies on
involvement of political parties
 Voting as a trustee not necessarily
majoritarian
62
xParliamentary Governmentx
 In parliamentary system, chief executive
is leader of party with a majority
 In Great Britain, voters only vote for their
member of Parliament
 Voters influence policymaking by their party
choice
 With multiple parties, sometimes must form
ruling coalition
63
xParliamentary Governmentx
 In this system, government power highly
concentrated in legislature
 No separation of governmental power
 Usually have only one house, or a very
weak second house
 Usually no court that can invalidate acts
of parliament
 A very majoritarian form of government
64
Politics of Global Change:
Creating a Legislature

New Iraqi government based on
proportional representation
 Each province has a multimember district
Government is federal and has a unicameral
legislature
 Representatives vote for presidential
council, prime minister, and cabinet
 Disputes mean Iraqi parliament a work in
progress

65
Pluralism Versus
Majoritarianism in Congress

U.S. Congress criticized for being too
pluralist
 Despite public concern about deficit,
legislators put earmarks in appropriations bills
 Democrats recently reformed earmark process
for greater transparency
Growing partisanship means greater
majoritarianism
 So, modern Congress characterized by both
pluralism and majoritarianism

66
Newman Essay
Congress
Q:
Identify the powers that Congress is granted to specifically check the
executive branch from becoming too powerful. OR
Explain the separation of three branches of government and how each can
check the powers of the other branch with specific examples.
The idea of “separate but a sharing of powers” should be discussed.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Many presidential appointments require Senate approval; Senate can disapprove
an appointment; examples, Cabinet and Federal Court appointments
Constitution gives the Senate the power to advise and consent in regard to
treaties made by the president. This can be withheld and a treaty will not be
ratified
Congress has the ability to conduct oversight of the bureaucracy and
administrative agencies; this means it can conduct investigations to see how the
executive is implementing what Congress has decided
The House of Representatives has the power to impeach a president, and the
Senate has the power to try the president on impeachment charges brought by the
House
The United States House of Representatives has the “power of the purse.” A
president’s request for an appropriation to support a particular program can be
rejected and modified by Congress
A veto can be overridden by both Houses of Congress, but it seldom occurs
A power exercised by the president can be overturned by the Supreme Court: For
example, President Harry Truman seized the steel mills to prevent a strike during
the Korean War, and the Supreme Court struck down his decision.
Congress has the power to declare war
Exceeds expectations
Student addresses 6-8 of these points
Meet expectations
student addresses 4-5 of these points
Does NOT meet expectation student addresses fewer than 4 of these points
67
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