The First Branch of
Government
The United States Congress
3 types of behavior

Advertising
– Nobody’s senator but yours

Credit claiming
– Has to be credible
– Pork barreling; casework

Position taking
– Inherently costly

http://www.house.gov
A Map of Congress
Congress is bicameral

Bicameral (House and Senate)
– different time perspectives
– different rules and norms
Senate and House

Senate

House
– 6 year terms
– 2 year terms
– 100, prestige
– 435
– More moderate
– More partisan
– generalists
– specialists
– Individuals senators
– Most individual Reps
are powerful
are not important
Bicameralism: Two Equal Chambers
House
• 435 members
• Citizen representation
• 2 year terms
• Hierarchical
• Partisan
• Committees and leaders
dominate
• Speaker and Rules
Committee
Senate
• 100 members
• State representation
• 6 year terms
• Collegial
• Less partisan
• Members matter
more
• Filibuster
Effect of Bicameralism

Fragmentation
– Geography
– 435 and 100 people sharing power

What would policy be like if Congress was
unicameral and elected in at large elections?
Congressional Staff

Authorized Budget per Legislator
– House = $570,000
– Senate = $2.3 million

free mailings to districts.

54$ million in 1946; $2.2 billion in 1994.
659% increase controlled for inflation.

House Staff 870 in 1930, 7,400 in 1993
How a
Bill
Doesn’t
Become
a Law—
Congress as
a lawdefeating,
not
lawmaking
institution
What does Congress do?
What does Congress do?

http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/d106/hotsubj.html
 21 bills on defense economics
 27 bills on taxation
 only 46 Major Bills Enacted Into Law This
Congress
Congressional Committees

W. Wilson, Congress in Committees is
Congress at work
 What do Committees do
– Hold hearings
– Write legislation
– Exercise oversight
Committees

International Relations Committee
 Agriculture Committee
Features of Committees








19 committees, 84 subcommittees
Division of labor
Fixed membership
Fixed jurisdiction, like a monopoly
Legislative Specialization
Manage flow of legislative business
Importance of seniority
http://clerk.house.gov/committee_info/index.html
Committee Membership

Determined by Political Parties
 Guided by members’ seniority and
preference
 Preferences based on constituency needs to
better chances of reelection
Policy Consequences of
Committees

PROs
– more opportunities for credit claiming
– Facilitate specialization serve institutional
policy needs

Cons
– reinforces fragmentation
– Encourages log-rolling
Congressional Committees

W. Wilson, Congress in Committees is
Congress at work
 What do Committees do
–
–
–
–
–
Hold hearings
Write legislation
Exercise oversight
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/
http://energy.senate.gov/public/
Congressional Leadership







House
Speaker: Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
http://speaker.house.gov/
http://www.dems.gov/
Minority Leader: John
Boehnerhttp://republicanleader.house.go
v/
House GOP Conference
http://www.gop.gov/web/guest/
home
Senate Leadership

Majority Leader: Harry Reid (R-NV)
 Minority Leader: Mitch McConnell (RKY)
Leadership and Parties
Party caucuses
– Elect leaders and committee chairs
– structure the workings of Congress
– Develop common policy positions
– Weaker in senate than House
Leadership powers

Control committee appointments
 Refer bills to committees
 Control Rules Committee

According to Sinclair, why is the House
more likely to pass major legislation than
the Senate?
Party Discipline and Voting

US Congress
– rose to near 70% in 1996

UK Parliament --90%
 German Bundestag -- 98%
Evaluating Leadership

More useful for what they are not than what
they are
– 1994 Freedom to Farm Act

No Sanctions
 Do not do anything to undermine the
electoral needs of members
Criticisms of Congress

Process
– Lengthy and inefficient
– Favor policy minorities

Results
– Members focus on getting constituency
benefits, NAFTA
– Process of bad legislation- ESEA, EDA
Why do we hate congress, but
love our
senator/representative

Evaluate Congress by collective standards
 Evaluate Senator/Representative in
representative term
 Standards are mutually exclusive
Representation vs.
Lawmaking

Congress plays two important roles
– Lawmaking or getting things done
– Representation or Legitimacy- airing points of
view
Impact on Institutions

Congress is a reelection machine.
 Mayhew-- "If a group of planner sat down
and tried to design a pair of American
national assemblies with the goal of serving
members' electoral needs year in and year
out, they would be hard pressed to improve
on what exists."