Congress as a Policy-Making Institution
Much of national public policy is based on legislative enactments. As the national legislature, Congress therefore plays an integral role in policy-making. In this role, Congress shares national policy-making authority with the executive branch and the courts. The interaction between the Congress and the executive branch particularly produces most of the detailed decisions about which specific policies to pursue and which programs to implement.
Is it possible for Congress, as an institution, to provide the leadership necessary to to challenge the president in setting the national agenda and determine substantive policy commitments? Some political analysts have concluded that there is an inherent conflict between the two principal functions of Congress and that this conflict works against Congress ability to provide the suggested leadership.
What are the two basic functions of Congress?

• law-making [implies decision-making in a unified, integrated process] versus
• representation [implies full deliberation, need for widespread consent, and ample opportunity for a variety of interests to be heard in the decision-making process]

Conditions Supporting A Fragmented Congress
• bicameralism
• constituency focus
SOURCE: Randall Ripley,
Congress: Process and
• large substantive agenda
• power-sharing with bureaucracy
Policy , 2nd edition, W.W.
Norton & Co, Inc., 1978
• openness to organized interests
• well-developed committee system
• weak national parties
• personal ambition of individual members

Conditions Supporting An Integrated Congress
• institutional pride and ambition
• strong party caucuses
• broad substantive policy commitments from leaders
• power-sharing with the president
SOURCE: Randall Ripley, Congress: Process and Policy ,
2nd edition, W.W. Norton & Co, Inc., 1978

Principle Policy Consequences of Fragmentation
• stable policy content [incrementalism]
• emphasis on resource allocation
• low concern with oversight
• policy passivity by individual members
SOURCE: Randall Ripley, Congress: Process and Policy ,
2nd edition, W.W. Norton & Co, Inc., 1978

Principle Policy Consequences of Integration
• chance of change [meaningful reform]
• emphasis on resource extraction and regulation*
• greater concern with oversight
• policy aggressiveness by individual members
*may depend on dominant ideology, relevant events, or party in control
SOURCE: Randall Ripley, Congress: Process and Policy ,
2nd edition, W.W. Norton & Co, Inc., 1978

Types of Congressional Committees
• Standing [Full] Committees are the substantive committees to which proposed bills are referred for consideration. These committees are organized around substantive policy areas. Less than 10% of the more than 10,000 measures sent to committee are ever
“reported out” to the floor, so their main job is to set priorities. They are called standing committees because they continue from one Congress to the next and hence are generally viewed as the permanent workshops of congressional law-making.
• Standing Sub-Committees are responsible for narrow policy issues that fall under the jurisdiction of the full committee. Sub-committees retain a good deal of authority in determining the fate of bills falling within their jurisdiction.
• Select Committees are created to conduct special investigations or studies and report back to the chamber that established them. They ordinarily do NOT draft and report legislation. Some select committees do, however, stay in business over several sessions of
Congress.
•
Joint Committees are formed with members from both chambers of Congress, partly to coordinate investigations or special studies. They are study committees ostensibly set up to expedite business between the chambers and help focus public attention on major issues such as the economy, taxation, or scandals. In practice, joint committees do little to promote efficient consideration of legislation in either chamber.
• Conference Committees are one form of joint committee set up to reconcile differences between House and Senate versions of legislation. The Constitution provides that no bill can be sent to the president for his signature or veto unless passed in identical form by both chambers of Congress. Many major bills must be negotiated in conference committees and sent back to both chambers for approval before being sent to the president.

Standing Committees of the House, 107th Congress
• Agriculture
• Appropriations
• Armed Services
• Budget
• Education and the
Workforce
• Energy and Commerce
• Financial Services
• Government Reform
• House Administration
• International Relations
• Judiciary
• Resources
• Rules
• Science
• Small Business
• Standards of Official
Conduct
• Transportation and
Infrastructure
• Veterans’ Affairs
• Ways and Means

Standing Committees of the Senate, 107th Congress
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
Banking, Housing, and
Urban Affairs
Appropriations
Armed Services
Budget
Finance
Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Foreign Relations
Judiciary
Energy and Natural Resources Small Business
Environment and Public Works Veterans’ Affairs
Governmental Affairs
Rules and Administration
Labor and Human Resources
Committee Jurisdiction : For example, the Environment and Public Works Committee has jurisdiction over the following substantive areas: air pollution, construction and maintenance of highways, environmental aspects of Outer Continental Shelf lands, environmental effects of toxic substances (other than pesticides), environmental policy, environmental research and development, fisheries and wildlife, flood control and improvements of rivers and harbors, environmental aspects of deep water ports, noise pollution, regulation and control of nuclear energy (non-military), ocean dumping, public buildings and improved grounds, public works, including bridges and dams.

Standing Sub-Committees
Senate Foreign
RelationsCommittee
• African Affairs
• East Asian and
Pacific Affairs
• European Affairs
• International
Economic Policy,
Export, and Trade
Promotion
• International
Operations
• Near Eastern and
South Asian Affairs
• Western Hemisphere and Peace Corps,
Narcotics, and
Terrorism
Senate Committee on
Environment and Public Works
• Clean Air, Wetlands,
Private Property, and
Nuclear Safety
• Drinking Water,
Fisheries, Wildlife
• Superfund, Waste
Control, and Risk
Assessment
• Transportation and
Infrastructure
Select Committees
• Indian Affairs
• Ethics
• Intelligence
• Aging
Joint Committees
• Economic
• Library of
Congress
• Printing
• Taxation
• Conference

• Formal representation
• Descriptive or demographic representation
• Symbolic representation
• Substantive representation [delegate, trustee, or politico roles]

Why do sitting members of Congress usually succeed in their reelection bids? Below is a list of some factors contributing to a so-called
“incumbency advantage.” No single factor guarantees a member’s reelection, but skillful use of these and related resources makes it very difficult to unseat a healthy incumbent.
• Name recognition
• Franking privilege
• Campaign contributions
• Campaign experience
• Governmental experience
• Claim credit for federal money in district
• Better informed than challengers

• Congress is entrenched.
• Congress is inefficient.
• Congress is unrepresentative.
• Congress is too representative.
• Congress is unethical.
• Congress lacks collective responsibility; lacks national focus
• Congress delegates too much to the executive branch.

• Move to a parliamentary system
• Extend House terms to 4 years
• Term limitations
• Public financing of campaigns
• Reduce the number and influence of committees and subcommittees
• Strengthen the power and resources of the party leaders
• Reduce staffs
• Enlarge staffs
• Shorter sessions
• Set an agenda at the beginning of a session and abide by it