Unit Four: Branches of
Government
Congress
Learning Objectives
Characterize the backgrounds of members of
Congress and assess their impact on the
ability of members of Congress to represent
average Americans
Interpreting Quotes about
Congress
What does the quote mean (i.e. your
interpretation)?
What does the author seem to think of Congress
(i.e. what’s her/his bias)?
What does the quote show us about how Congress
works?
Key Questions we need to ask as
we examine Congress
• WHO GOVERNS?
1. Are members of Congress representative of the
American people?
2. Does Congress normally do what most citizens want it
to do?
• TO WHAT ENDS?
1. Should Congress run under strong leadership?
2. Should Congress act more quickly?
Video: The Big Picture
What do we already know about
the workings of the US
Congress?
Examine the US Constitution
Article One
• Create the chart in your notebook
• Be ready to discuss your findings
• Be sure to use your Constitutional Study Guide as
well to help.
• 15 minutes
Bicameral Legislature
• Two house Congress
• House of Reps. = 435
members
• 5 non-voting members =
Puerto Rico, Virgin
Islands, Guam,
Washington D.C.,
American Samoa
• Senate = 100 members
Connecticut Compromise @
the Constitutional
Convention
Congressional Organizer
Size
# based on state
population by the
Census every 10
years. The 435 seats
are reapportioned.
All 435 elected each term
by district. Some state’s
districts have
gerrymanders.
Leader
Speaker of the House
chosen by majority
party John Boehner is
current Speaker (R)
Term
Serve 2-yr
terms-no limit
on times
Unique Powers:
All Appropriation bill start in HOR.
Have impeachment power.
Qualifications
Must be 25, 7-yr. Citizen &
Leader
The Vice
President is
President of the
Senate. The Pro
Tempore takes
over usually.
Size
Each state has 2
Senators, for a total
of 100.
1/3 elected every 2
years. The 17th
Amendment allows
for election of
Senators.
Term
Unique Powers:
Serve 6-yr terms- Must approve Presidential
no limit on times appointments. 2/3 must approve
Presidential treaties.
Holds impeachment trials.
Qualifications
Must be 30, 9-yr. Citizen
The Representatives and Senators
• The Job
–
–
–
–
Salary of $174,000 with retirement benefits
Office space in D.C. and at home with staff
Travel allowances and franking privileges
Requires long hours, a lot of time away from
family, and pressure from others to support
their policies
Who’s in Congress?– How
representative of US citizens is
the legislative branch?
• Examine and analyze recent trends of
representation within the House and Senate
for the 113th Congress (2014) .
(demographics - selected population characteristics as used in government,
marketing or opinion research; commonly-used demographics include
race, age, level of education, gender, religion, political affiliation and
occupation. )
Website link
Questions for Discussion
1. Identify at least six characteristics of a typical representative
in the 113th Congress based on the data.
2. List three groups of people who might have reason to
question whether or not the Congress adequately represents their
interests. Explain each.
3. Identify and explain several differences between the make-up
of Congress and the general public.
4. How important is it to elect someone of the same statistical
profile as the majority in the district in order to gain good
representation? Provide pros and cons.
5. What did you find interesting about the make-up of
Congress?
Congressional Elections
Congressmen from Wisconsin
Senate
Reps
HOR Reps
Incumbency in Congress
Individuals who already
hold office usually
win 90% of elections
Incumbents not always the
winners!
• Recent Senate change 2010
• Another example
What changed the outcome of the Senate election in
WI?
Do you think we will see this again in 2016?
World Perspective 2010
MNBC Perspective 2010
Myths and Theories of why
incumbents win
• IMAGE! (Citizens know how their reps vote on VIP
policy issues and agree) FALICY!
• Voters assessments of presidential
candidates influence voting for Congress
• Voters motivated by pocketbooks
Congressional Elections
• The Advantages of Incumbents
– Advertising “Visibility” , Franking privilege,
technology
– Position Taking:
• Portray themselves as hard working, dedicated individuals
• Occasionally take a partisan stand on an issue
– Weak Opponents:
• Inexperienced in politics, unorganized, and underfunded
– Campaign Spending:
• Challengers need to raise large sums to defeat an incumbent
• PACs give most of their money to incumbents
• Does PAC money “buy” votes in Congress?
Money in electing Congressmen
• Most of the turnover in the
membership in Congress
results from vacated seats,
particularly in the House
• It costs a great deal more
money to elect a
congressperson than to
elect a president
• 2000, all presidential
candidates spent a total of
$200 million
• 2000, general election
Senate races alone cost
$350 million
Servicing the Constituency
(Credit Claiming)
• Constituents: citizens that
the Congressperson
represents
• Casework: helping
constituency as
individuals (cutting
through red tape to give
people what they think
they have a right to get
• Pork Barrel: List of
federal projects, grants
and contracts available to
cities, businesses, colleges
and institutions
Defeating Incumbents
•
•
•
•
•
Hard not to be naïve
Corruption/scandal
Funds
Re-districting (Gerrymandering)
Political tidal waves (ie. Health care,
Federal shutdown/budget)
Quote
• Perception of Congress on themselves
– “ Unsafe at any margin” –Thomas
Mann
– Stability is created with incumbents
winning, yet particular seats will then
be “safe/protected” from the voice of
the people.
Homework:
Read “You are the policymaker” page 369
Write a reflection (look at syllabus for format)
on your position of favor or oppose term
limits in Congress.
Video: In Context
Comparing the Senate and the
House of Representatives
Learning Objectives
11.3
11.4
Compare and contrast the House and
Senate, and describe the roles of
congressional leaders, committees,
caucuses, and staff
Outline the path of bills to passage
and explain the influences on
congressional decision making
House of Representatives
• More centralized,
hierarchical, less anarchic
• Party loyalty to leadership
and party-line voting more
prevalent
• Leaders do more leading
• Speaker appoints
committee members
• Five calendars based on
kind of bill
• House can impeach
officials (16 so far)
House Rules Committee
• Most important committee in the House
• Reviews most bills coming from a house committee before
they go to the full House (traffic cop)
• Gives each bill a “rule”, which schedules the bill on the
calendar, allots time for debate, and can even specify what
kind of amendments to bill can be offered
• Initiates all revenue bills in House
Senate
• Less disciplined, less
centralized
• Ratifies treaties
• Confirms important
presidential nominations
• Tries impeached officials
• Party leaders schedule
bills
• Pro Tempore seniority
rule
Congressional Leadership
How Congress is Organized
to Make Policy
Congressional Leadership
• The House
– Led by Speaker of the
House—elected by House
members
– Presides over House
– Major role in committee
assignments and legislation
– Assisted by majority leader
and whips
• The Senate
– Formally lead by Vice
President
– Really lead by Majority
Leader—chosen by party
members
– Assisted by whips
– Must work with Minority
leader
Speaker of the House
• Most important person
in Congress
– Presides over House
– Makes committee
assignments
– Appoints party’s
legislative leaders
– Exercises substantial
control over which
bills get assigned to
which committees
•
•
•
Other
Congressional
Leaders
Majority Leader in each
house
Minority Leaders in each
house
Whips: A member of a
legislative body, charged
by his or her party with
enforcing party
discipline and ensuring
attendance
Majority Leader Senate: Harry Reid
Eric Cantor: HOR Majority
Leader
Whips…in the Senate
• Richard Durbin (D) Majority whip
• Jon Kyl (R) Minority whip
Whips...in the House
• Kevin McCarthy (R) majority whip
• Steny Hoyer (D) minority whip
Logrolling
• Logrolling means exchanging votes for
favors.
• “I’ll vote for your bill if you vote for my
bill.”
Day in the Congress
• Purpose of the Filibuster
Committees in Congress
"Congress in session is Congress on public
exhibition, whilst Congress in its committeerooms is Congress at work.”
The Big Picture
• Why are committees necessary?
• How many lawmakers serve on a
committee?
• How many committees does a lawmaker
serve on?
• What do committees do?
– Hold hearings
– Markup and amend bills
– Vote on bills
Committees in Congress
• Standing committees: Permanent committee in a
legislative body to which bills in a specified subject matter
area are referred
• Joint committees: Legislative committee composed of
members of both houses (usually permanent also)
• Conference committees: Temporary joint committee
created to reconcile any differences between the two
houses’ versions of a bill
• Select committees: Legislative committee created for a
limited time and for some specific purpose; also known as
a special committee
House STANDING Committees
• There are 19 standing
committees in the House
of Representatives.
• Representatives are
normally assigned to one
or two standing
committees.
• The most important
committees in the House
are: Rules, Ways and
Means, Appropriations,
Armed Services,
Judiciary, International
Relations, and Agriculture
Senate STANDING Committees
• There are 17 standing
committees in the Senate.
• Senators are normally
assigned to three or four
committees.
• The most important
committees in the Senate
are: Foreign Relations,
Appropriations, Finance,
Judiciary, Armed
Services, and Banking,
Housing and Urban
Affairs.
Important Facts about
Committees
Committees are where most bills
receive thorough consideration.
The fate of most bills is decided
in the various standing
committees.
Most bills DIE in the
committees (action) to which
they are referred!!!
More than 9,000 bills are submitted
Important facts continue
• What is Seniority System?
• What factors go into who serves on a standing
committee?
– Specialization—for example if you’re from a farm
state you want to serve on the agricultural committee
• “General Rule”
• News rules have been implemented (limited
chairs to three consecutive 2 yrs terms.
committees; Comm. Chairs have lost the power
to cast proxy votes for those not in attendance. )
Legislative Oversight
• Congress’s monitoring of the bureaucracy
and its administration of policy (hearings)
• Can pressure agencies…cut budgets
• Revision existing policies
What are some set backs to
Congressional Oversight?
1. Expansion and growth hard to monitor
2. Congress members are torn and have to
prioritize where they will be most effective
and what has the most benefits to them
3. Fragmentation of committee jurisdictions,
which inhibits Congress from taking a
comprehensive view of complex issue areas
4. Majority party determines when and if a
committee will hold hearings.
TABLE 11.4: Sharing oversight of homeland
security
Intelligence Committee and
Congress
• Video
• What problems are associated with
committees and subcommittees especially
within the area of intelligence?
Congressional Caucus
• Informal organization of
Congresspersons who share
some interest on characteristics
• Promote the interests around
which they are formed
• Interest group within Congress
• Over 500
• Representation more direct
– Women, Hispanic, Black,
demographic groups, Sunbelt
Caucus (regional)
– Economic Caucus (Bourbon)
Online resources
• http://www.house.gov/house/CommitteeWW
W.shtml
• http://clerk.house.gov/committee_info/index.h
tml
• http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/committees
/d_three_sections_with_teasers/committees_h
ome.htm
• http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate/sc
links.html
Congressional Staff
 Personal staff
 Casework
 Legislative functions
 Committee staff
 2,000 staff members
 Legislative oversight
 Staff agencies
 Congressional Research Service (CRS)
 Government Accountability Office (GAO)
 Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
Video: The Basics
Congressional process
The Congressional Process
Congress in the Hot Seat
• How would you characterize the interview?
• Watching this as a typical middle American,
what issues and solutions were you able to
pick out from the interview?
• Knowing we did go through a shut down,
what insight did this interview provide?
• How would you define “Common ground”
Budget and Appropriations Bills
• Must start in the House
• Provide the legal authority to spend or
obligate the U.S Treasury
• Senate has an appropriations committee as
well (how and when to spend “Controlling
the purse string”)
Party, Constituency, and
Ideology
 Party influence
 Economic and social welfare policies
 Polarized politics
 Parties more internally homogeneous
 Less likelihood of compromise
 Constituency opinion versus member
ideology
 Trustees versus instructed delegates
Lobbyists and Interest Groups
 D.C. is crawling with lobbyists
 12,000 of them
 Spent $3 billion in 2011
 Former members of Congress
 How lobbyists persuade
 Provide policy information
 Provide promises of money
 Ghostwrite legislation
 Status quo usually wins
 Disclosure requirements
Congress and Democracy
 Democracy depends upon successful
representation
 Congress unrepresentative
 Members are elites
 Leadership chosen, not elected
 Senate based on states, not population
 Obstacles to good representation
 Constituent service
 Reelection campaigns
 Representativeness versus Effectiveness
Congress and the Scope of
Government
 Does size of government increase to
please public?
 Pork barrel spending
 Contradictory preferences
 Against large government, for individual
programs
Will Democrats and Republicans
ever agree on anything?
Video: In the Real World