Congress
Congress
• “Pro and con are • “The only
opposites, that
difference between
fact is clearly
death and taxes is
seen. If progress
that death doesn't
means to move
get worse every
forward, then
time Congress
what does
meets.” - Will Rogers
congress mean?”
- Nipsey Russell
Congress
US CAPITOL BUILDING
Legislative Branch – “makes laws”
Founders’ Intentions
1. Strongest branch
2. Separation of lawmaking power from
executive
3. The process was intentionally design to
move slowly
4. Bicameralism balances large/small states
• House – more connected to people (2 yr term)
• Senate – allows for mature, independent thinking (6
yr term)
• The “cooling saucer”
Constitutional Powers
Article I, Section 8
• To lay and collect taxes, duties, imports
• To borrow money
• To regulate commerce (states and foreign)
• To establish rules for naturalization
• To coin money
• To create courts (except Supreme Court)
• To declare war
• To raise and support an army and navy
Evolution of Powers
Elastic clause has extended Congress powers
• Oversight of budget – can restrict the
federal budget prepared by executive branch
• Appropriations – set amount of money made
available for various activity in a fiscal year
• Investigation – Congress can launch
investigations (Watergate, Clinton-Lewinski
hearings, Steroids in baseball, Bengazi)
113th Congress
The Members
– 535 Members – 100 Senators and 435
Representatives.
– House members – At least age 25 and U.S.
citizens for 7 years.
– Senators – At least age 30 and U.S. citizens
for 9 years.
– All members must reside in state (and district)
from which they are elected.
The Members
• Most members were lawyers (211) or
business persons (214)
– this includes some overlap, released exams have stress
LEGAL as the most common profession
• 93% of House Members and 99% of Senators
hold at least a Bachelor’s Degree
• 98% of current members cite a specific
religious affiliation
The Members continued
Of those with specific affiliation:
• 98% self identify as Christian
• 56% are Protestant (Baptist is most represented)
• 31% are Catholic
•
•
•
•
•
6.2% are Jewish
2.8% are Mormon
3 members are Buddhist
2 members are Muslim
1 Member is Hindu
A Representative
Democracy…
HOUSE
MEMBERS
SENATE
MEMBERS
% of 113th
Congress
% of U.S.
Population
HISPANIC
43
33
2
4
8.3
6.9
13.1
16.9
ASIAN
AMERICAN
12
1
2.4
5.1
2
81
0
20
.37
18.7
1.4
50.8
AFRICAN
AMERICAN
NATIVE
AMERICAN
FEMALE
Why Not More
Women?????
• Women are the most under
represented “minority” group
in Congress.
• The 113th Congress is a record high for number of
female members.
• Women with children run for office less than
men because of child care responsibilities.
• Women are less likely than are men to run
when they perceive their odds to be poor.
Elections
• House members have always been
directly elected by the citizens
• Senators are directly elected after
passage of the 17th Amendment
• Incumbents have an advantage – Why?
– We tend to think very little of Congress, but
we love our own congressman!
– This is the most frequently tested concept on
the AP Government Exam!!
THE INCUMBENCY
ADVANTAGE
• Incumbents – Those already holding office.
• In congressional elections,
incumbents usually win.
• House elections – 90% of the incumbents
seeking reelection win and most of them win
with more than 60% of the vote.
• Senate elections - 75% of Senate incumbents
seeking reelection win.
THE INCUMBENCY
ADVANTAGE
• MONEY
– Incumbents usually raise more than
challengers
– PACs usually contribute to incumbents that
have a proven record of support instead of
challengers
– Incumbents usually outspend challengers by
a 2 to 1 margin
THE INCUMBENCY
ADVANTAGE
• VISIBILITY
– Incumbents usually are better known by the
voters than their challengers
– Incumbents have more opportunities for
public appearances in their home districts and
for more free media coverage than do
challengers
– Senators tend to have state-wide visibility
which can sometimes hurt them more than
House members
THE INCUMBENCY
ADVANTAGE
• CASEWORK (a.k.a. constituency service)
– Incumbents have the opportunity to do things
that help their constituents and get a
favorable reputation for taking care of the
voters.
– This can be accomplished…
• individually (application to a service academy or
cutting through bureaucratic “red tape”)
• collectively with “pork” (bringing money and jobs to
their district through government contacts,
business incentives, or special projects)
THE INCUMBENCY
ADVANTAGE
• THE FRANKING PRIVILEGE
– Members of Congress “don’t need no stinkin’
stamps!!” (with apologies to the The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and B. Traven)
– Members of Congress can send mail to their
constituents at the government’s expense
– This has recently been extended to e-mails
and recorded phone calls
THE INCUMBENCY
ADVANTAGE
• GERRYMANDERING
– district boundaries are redrawn in strange
ways to make it easy for candidate of one
party to win
– Easley v. Cromartie (2001) – upholds the
practice of redistricting for political ideology
– Gerrymandering remains constitutional and
widely practiced
Illinois 4th District
Pa. 17th in 2008
Pa. 15th in 2012
Gerrymandering NOT
Incumbency through
the years…
Congressional Turnover
• Incumbents lose when:
• One tarnished by scandal or corruption becomes
vulnerable to a challenger.
• Redistricting may weaken the incumbency advantage.
• Major political tidal wave may defeat incumbents.
• Open Seats
• Greater likelihood of competition.
• Most turnover occurs in open seats.
Changing Congressional
House Districts
• Reapportionment
– House districts are redrawn to reflect the gain or
loss of seats as a result of a census
– Reapportionment Act of 1929 set the permanent
size of the House at 435 seats
– In 1842 Congress established that all House seats
would be filled from single-member districts
– That same law established that state legislatures
would be responsible to draw the boundary lines
of its congressional districts
Limits on
Reapportionment
• Malapportionment
– Baker v. Carr (1962) – established that the
courts could rule on reapportionment cases.
– Wesberry v. Sanders (1964) - found unequal
district population totals unconstitutional based
on the 14th amendment
– Reynolds v. Sims (1964) - established the idea
of “one person, one vote”
****The exception is that each state is entitled to
at least 1 seat in the house
Limits on
Reapportionment
• Districts must be equally populated
• Districts must be compact and have
contiguous boundary lines
• Redistricting cannot dilute minority strength
• District lines cannot be drawn solely on
basis of race (race can be one of a variety
of factors that are considered)