Congress: Balancing National
Goals and Local Interests
Chapter 11
Congress as a Career: Election to
Congress

Using incumbency to stay in Congress
 The
service strategy: taking care of constituents
 Campaign fund-raising: raking in the money
 Redistricting: favorable boundaries for incumbents
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2
Recent Reelection Rates of
House and Senate Incumbents
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3
Congressional Campaign
Expenditures, by Decade
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4
Allocation of PAC Contributions between
Incumbents and Challengers in Congressional
Races That Included an Incumbent, 1980–2010
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5
Congress as a Career: Election to
Congress

Pitfalls of incumbency
 Disruptive
issues
 Personal misconduct
 Turnout variation: the midterm election problem
 Primary election challengers
 General election challengers: a problem for
senators
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6
Congress as a Career: Election to
Congress

Safe incumbency and representation
 Who are the winners in congressional
elections?
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7
Parties and Party Leadership

Parties and party leadership
 Party
caucus—closed session
 Party unity in Congress
 Heightened
 Party
unity seen through roll-call votes
leadership in Congress
 Demonstrated
leadership ability
 Ability to gain trust
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8
The Number of Democrats and Republicans in
the House of Representatives and the Senate,
2001–2012
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9
Parties and Party Leadership

House leaders
 Speaker
of the House
 Elected by
the House membership
 By default a member of the majority party
 Said to be the second-most-powerful official in
Washington, after the president
 House
majority leader
 House majority whip
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10
Percentage of Roll-Call Votes in House
and Senate in Which a Majority of
Democrats Voted against a Majority of
Republicans
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11
Party Leadership in Congress

Senate leaders
 Majority
party leader is the most powerful senator
 The vice president presides over the Senate;
however, has power only to cast tie-breaking vote
 Senate president pro tempore presides over the
Senate in the vice president’s absence
 Largely
an honorary position held by the majority
party’s senior member
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12
Committees and Committee
Leadership

Committee jurisdiction
 Bills
introduced must be referred to the proper
committee for deliberation

Committee membership
 Typically

Committee chairs
 Typically

mirrors the party ratio of the body
the senior member of the majority party
Committees and parties: Which is in control?
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13
The Standing Committees of
Congress
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14
How a Bill Becomes a Law

Committee hearings and decisions
 Most

From committee to the floor
 Rules

work on legislation is done in committee
for debate are defined
Leadership and floor action
 Debate,

changes, and vote by full membership
Conference committees and the president
 Reconcile
differences between similar legislation
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15
How a Bill Becomes a Law
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16
Congress’s Policymaking Role

Lawmaking function of Congress
 Makes
laws authorizing federal programs
 Broad issues: fragmentation as a limit on
Congress’s role
 Congress in the lead: fragmentation as a
policymaking strength
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17
The Major Functions of
Congress
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18
Congress’s Policymaking Role

The representation function of Congress
 Representation
of states and districts
 Representation of the nation through parties

Oversight function of Congress
 Sees
that executive branch carries out the laws
faithfully
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19
Public Confidence in Congress
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20
Congress: Too Fragmented?

Pro (advantages):
 Culturally
representative of nation
 Diverse interests represented

Cons (disadvantages):
 National
interest subjugated to special interests
 Disproportionate influence of the minority
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