Chapter 12: Congress
Congress
• Representing the American people
• The organization of Congress
• Rules of lawmaking: How a bill becomes a
law
• How Congress decides
• Beyond legislation: Other powers
Representing the American
People
• House and Senate: Differences in
representation
• House and Senate: Differences in roles
• Sociological vs. agency representation
• The electoral connection
• Direct patronage
House and Senate
Definitions
• Constituency refers the individuals who
reside in the area from which an official is
elected.
• Bicameral refers to a legislative assembly
composed of two chambers.
House and Senate
Differences in Representation
• House
– 435 members (number of
representatives from each
state based on population)
– Two-year term
– Elected by the voters of the
congressional district
– Designed to represent the
people
• Senate
– 100 members (2 per
state)
– Six-year term
– Originally selected by
the state legislators
– Designed to represent
the elite of society
– Seventeenth
Amendment (1913)
provides for direct
election of senators
House and Senate
Differences in Roles
• House
– More reactionary
– More centralized and
organized
– Leaders have more control
over the legislative process
– Members specialize in
particular areas of
legislation
– Represent well-organized
local interests
• Senate
– More deliberative
– Less organized and more
open
– Leaders have less control
over the legislative
process
– Members not encouraged
to specialize
– Represent national
interests
The Job of Congress
Representing Their Constituencies
• Elected representatives serve their
constituents.
– Senators serve the residents of their state.
– Representatives serve the residents of
their districts.
Sociological Representation
• Sociological representation is a type of
representation in which representatives have
the same racial, ethnic, religious, or
educational backgrounds as their
constituents.
• Sociological similarity helps promote good
representation and demonstrates that groups
are taken seriously by the government.
Social Composition of Congress
• Congress is overwhelmingly white, AngloSaxon, Protestant, male.
• Lawyers have traditionally dominated
Congress.
• Women and minorities have made gains in
the last twenty years but still lag behind.
The Failure of Sociological
Representation
• Despite the gains of women and minorities over
the last twenty years, Congress does not mirror
the American population.
• The absence of sociological representation
threatens the legitimacy of Congress as a
representative body because groups may not
believe that the government takes them
seriously.
• Must find another way to hold representatives
accountable.
Agency Representation
• The type of representation in which
representatives are held accountable to their
constituency if they fail to represent that
constituency properly—in essence, they are
being hired and fired by their constituents.
• The ballot box can be used to “throw the
rascals out.”
Serving the Constituency
• Agency representation works because
representatives strive to serve their constituents
back home, ensuring continued employment
• “Home-style politics” includes the following:
– Communications with constituents
– Trips back home
– Sponsoring legislation
– Casework (e.g., cutting red tape)
– Pork-barrel projects
The Importance of Constituent
Service
• Members of Congress may oppose their
party’s position if necessary to ensure
reelection.
• Party leadership will not endanger the
party’s strength in Congress.
The Electoral Connection
• Three factors contribute to the composition
of Congress:
– Who decides to run
– The incumbency effect
– Congressional redistricting
The Electoral Connection
Who Decides to Run
• Candidates are self-selected.
• The decision is influenced by the following:
– Ambition
– Money and PACs
– District
The Electoral Connection
The Advantage of Incumbency
• An incumbent is someone running for the
office that he or she already holds.
• Advantages:
– Name recognition
• Constituent service
• Pork-barrel projects
– Money
The Electoral Connection
Congressional Redistricting
• Districts are redrawn every ten years by the
state legislatures, after the national census
has been taken.
• Political gerrymandering may create open
seats or change the electoral advantage of
individual representatives (e.g., pitting
incumbents against one another).
The Electoral Connection
Rules of Redistricting
• Congressional districts must be equal in
population
– Baker v. Carr (1962) on state legislature
– Wesbury v. Sanders (1964) on
congressional districts
• The Supreme Court applies the “one person,
one vote” principle.
The Electoral Connection
Congressional Redistricting
• The Department of Justice attempted to use
affirmative racial gerrymandering in the
1990s to achieve sociological
representation.
• It was struck down by the Supreme Court as
a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.
– Miller v. Johnson (1995)
– Bush v. Vera (1996)
The Electoral Connection
Direct Patronage
• Patronage is the ability to provide direct
benefits to constituents.
– Pork-barrel projects
• Project or funding for a specific district
or state (e.g., Johnson Space Center)
– Intervention or casework
– Private bill
The Organization of Congress
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•
•
•
•
Party leadership
The committee system
The staff system
The caucuses
The members
Party Leadership
House
Congressional leadership is chosen every two years at
the beginning of each new congressional session
• Majority party
–
–
–
–
Speaker of the House
Majority leader
Majority whip
Committee on
Committees
• Minority party
– Minority leader
– Minority whip
– Steering and Policy
Committee
Party Leadership
Senate
• Formal
– President of the Senate
• Vice president
• Votes to break ties
– President pro tempore
• Ceremonial
position
• Given to ranking
member of the
majority party
• Informal
– Majority leader
• Whip
– Minority leader
• Whip
– Majority Policy
Committee
– Minority Policy
Committee
The Committee System
• Standing committees and their respective
subcommittees
• Select committees
• Joint committees
• Conference committee
Standing Committees
• Standing committees are the most important arenas
of congressional policy making.
– Permanent
• Exist from session to session
– Power to receive and process legislation
• Exception: House Rules Committee
– Jurisdiction specified by subject matter and
generally mirrors major cabinet department
– Assignment based on needs of members
– Leadership based on seniority on the committee
The Organization of Congress
Other Committees
• Select committee
– Temporary legislative committee set up to
highlight or investigate a particular issue
• Joint committee
– Legislative committee with members from both
chambers formed to study particular issues
• Conference committee
– Joint committee created to reach compromise
on legislation passed by both chambers
The Staff System
• Staffs are maintained in Washington, D.C. and back
home.
– Work with constituents
– Work on legislation
• Congressional committees are also provided staffs.
• Support agencies provide information support.
– Congressional Budget Office
– General Accounting Office
– Congressional Research Service
The Caucuses
• Caucuses are groups of senators or
representatives who share certain opinions,
interests, or social characteristics
– Democratic Study Group
– Congressional Black Caucus
– Hispanic Caucus
– Caucus for Women’s Issues
Rules of Lawmaking
How a Bill Becomes a Law
•
•
•
•
•
Filing with clerk
Committee deliberation
Debate
Conference committee
Presidential action
How a Bill Becomes a Law
• Legislation must be introduced in either the
House or the Senate before it officially
becomes a bill.
• The bill is assigned a number (e.g., HR1 or
S1).
• It is then assigned to the appropriate
committee based on the jurisdiction of the
standing committees.
Committee Deliberation
• Most of the work on legislation is
conducted at the committee level.
• Most bills die at the committee or
subcommittee level.
• Discharge petition may be used to pull a bill
out of committee.
House Rules Committee
• Each bill that survives committee must go
through the Rules Committee.
• This committee determines the length of
debate and the nature of amendments that
may be offered to the legislation.
The Senate’s Unanimous Consent
Rule
• The Senate lacks a rules committee.
• The Senate uses the unanimous consent rule
to permit bills to reach the floor.
• Any Senator can kill a bill by withholding
consent.
Debate
• Contrary to the House, the Senate permits
open and lengthy debate on legislation.
• A filibuster can be used to “talk a bill to
death.”
• A cloture vote is used to defeat a filibuster.
– Sixty votes necessary to end filibuster
Conference Committee
• A conference committee is called when
different versions of a bill are passed by the
Senate and the House and a compromise is
needed.
• Members of the committee that worked on
the legislation serve on the conference
committee.
• Compromise must be approved by both the
House and the Senate.
Presidential Action
• The president may do the following:
– Sign the bill into law
– Allow the bill to become law without his
signature
– Veto (reject) the bill with a formal veto
message
• Can be overridden by a two-thirds vote
of both chambers
– Pocket veto
How Congress Decides
• External influences
– Constituency
– Interest groups
• Internal influences
– Party discipline
– Congressional colleagues
– President
External Influences
Constituency
• On many issues, a legislator must act in
accordance with the wishes of his or her
constituents.
• This is particularly true for issues important
to the voters back home.
External Influences
Interest Groups
• Interest groups attempt to influence
members of Congress on issues important to
the group.
• Groups engage in lobbying, make campaign
contributions, and mobilize voters.
Internal Influences
Party Discipline
• The party has a significant amount of
influence over the rank-and-file members of
Congress.
• Congressional leaders can set the direction
of the party’s policy agenda and stress
cohesion.
Internal Influences
Colleagues and the President
• Legislators are also influenced by other
legislators, particularly their friends and
allies.
• Deference is given to members of other
committees who specialize in particular
areas of legislation.
• The president may also affect decisions.
Weighing Diverse Influences
• A legislator’s decision on a particular issue will
be influenced by factors that are relevant to that
particular question.
• The initial question is whether constituents will
hold the legislator accountable for his or her vote
and fail to reelect their representative.
• If so, the legislator is more likely to vote
consistently with the constituents’ policy
position
• If not, other influences may come into play.
Beyond Legislation
Other Congressional Powers
• Oversight
• Advice and consent
• Impeachment
Oversight
• Oversight is the effort by Congress—
through hearings, investigations, and other
techniques—to exercise control over the
activities of the executive agencies as
legislation is being implemented.
• The appropriations process is an important
oversight tool.
Advice and Consent
• The Senate must approve presidential
appointments by a simple majority.
• Treaties must be approved by the Senate
with a two-thirds vote.
– Executive agreements circumvent this
process.
Impeachment
• The president and other high-ranking
officials may be removed from office by
being impeached by the House and
convicted in the Senate.
• Grounds include treason, bribery, and other
high crimes and misdemeanors.