Congress: The
Basics
Essential Information
IV. Institutions of National Government: The
Congress, the Presidency, the
Bureaucracy, and the Federal Courts
35–45%
A. The major formal and informal institutional
arrangements of power
B. Relationships among these four institutions and
varying balances of power
C. Linkages between institutions and the
following:
1. Public opinion and voters
2.Interest groups
3. Political parties
4. The media
5. State and local governments
HW: Read chapter 7
pp. 228 – 260 by 10/1 A day & 10/2 B day
Answer this question
• Should Congress reflect the will of the people?
• Or should they pay attention to their own points of
view, even if they disagree with their constituents?
Legislative Branch =
Congress
• Location in Constitution
oArticle I
• Term of Congress = 2 years
o2 one year Sessions
oSession = JanuaryDecember
Connecticut
Compromise
• Bicameral Legislature
o two chambers
o Senate & House of Representatives
• Senate
o states represented equally
• House of Representatives
o states represented according to the size of their population population represented equally
o in 1789 1:30,000 / Today 1:600,000
Why is Congress
bicameral?
What are the differences between
the House and the Senate?
What are the differences between the
•
House and the Senate?
Special Powers
Constituency
The people a politician
represents
• Senate
o people living in the state
• House of Representatives
o people living in the district
Size and apportionment
• Reapportionment = reallocation
• Constitution guarantees at least 1 representative
per state
o 7 states with one seat
• Congress reapportions House seats every 10 years,
after a census
• Reapportionment Act of 1929 set permanent size of
the House at 435 members.
o 1 seat = about 700,000 people
o Increases or decreases the number of seats a
state has in the House plus electoral votes
o Influence increases with representation
Districts
• 1842:
o Congress stipulated all seats in the House
would be filled from single member
districts
o each state legislature assigned the
responsibility of drawing the boundary
lines of its congressional district.
Figure 7.2: What is
gerrymandering?
What is gerrymandering?
• Legislative process by which the majority party in
each state legislature redraws congressional districts
to ensure the maximum number of seats for its
candidates
• Consequences?
o Protects incumbents and discourages challenger
o Strengthens majority party while weakening the
opposition
o Increases or decreases minority representation
Supreme Court and
redistricting
• Historically rural areas dominated state legislatures,
so congressional districts often favored less
populous rural areas.
• Wesberry v Sanders (1964) – “one person, one vote”
o Triggered widespread redistricting
o Gave cities and suburbs greater representation
• Limits on redistricting:
o
o
o
o
Districts must be equally populated
Districts must be compact. Lines must be contiguous
Cannot dilute minority voting strength
Districts lines CANNOT be drawn based solely on race, but
race can be a factor
o Gerrymandering has not been eliminated
Legislative Branch
• Seniority
o length of time spent in office
o length of continuous time spent assigned to a
particular committee
o committee assignments & reelection of incumbents
• Incumbents
o Single most important factor in determining outcome of
election
o person currently holding public office and seeking
reelection
o Over 90% get reelected each term in the House of
Representatives
o in the Senate, incumbents are reelected at a rate over
75%
To Learning Objectives
Table 7.4: What are the
advantages of incumbency?
Money $$$$ - raise more campaign contributions
PACs contribute more to incumbents
outpend challengers 2:1
Why are incumbents
reelected?
• More multiple choice questions related to this paradox
than any other topic:
o A majority of Americans disapprove of the job Congress is
doing.
o Same polls report that most Americans believe their own
representative deserves to be reelected.
Make sure you can explain
the reasons why
incumbents are usually
reelected.
Consequences?
• Congress contains a large number of
experienced leaders
o Continuity of leadership
o Continuity of policy
• Continuity discourages radical change
o Encourages close relationships with interest
groups
• No incentive to reform campaign finance
laws
o Incumbents benefit
So, is the high rate of
reelection a good thing or
a bad thing? Explain.
Watch this video and
answer the following:
This clip shows:
• The power of committee chairmen
• Congressional oversight of departments
The video clip shows lively banter between the Committee
Oversight & Government Reform Chairman Darryl Issa and
Department of Labor officials regarding a change in the
process for reporting labor statistics.
1. Who has a great deal of influence over the issues that
the committee chooses to investigate?
2. The committee chair of any committee is typically a
member of the ______________?(hint: which party?)
3. Why might this discussion be described as “partisan”?
How Congress is
organized
• Role of Political parties
1. Key role in organization
2. Majority party = party with the most votes
3. Minority party = party with the 2nd most votes
4. Majority party advantages
o
o
o
o
o
o
Committee chairs
Chooses Speaker of the House
Assigns bills to committees
Holds majority on each committee
Controls the House Rules committee
Sets the legislative agenda
The House of
Representatives
• More formal structure than the Senate; why?
o Example: debate is much more restricted
• Speaker of the House
o Presides over the House
o Oversees House business
o Stands second in line for presidential succession
• Other House leaders
o Majority leader – elected leader of the party in control
o Minority leader – elected leader of the minority party
o Elected whips – maintain close contact with members & try
to ensure party unity on important votes
The Senate
• Smaller, less formally organized
• Vice President
o Constitution: president of the Senate
• Other Senate leaders
o President pro temp presides in the absence of the vice
president; held by a member of the majority party with the
longest service in the Senate.
o Majority leader – elected leader of the party that controls
the Senate; this is the true leader of the Senate
o Minority leader – elected leader of the minority party
Committee System
• Importance
o Dominant role in policymaking
o Particularly in the House
• Standing committees
o Permanent; focus on legislation in a particular area
o ex: foreign relations, agriculture
o All bills referred to standing committees: amended, passed,
killed
o Fosters development of expertise
o Divided into subcommittees (ex: committee on Energy and
Commerce, subcommittee on Environment and the
Economy)
Other types of committees
• Select committees – formed for a specific
purpose, for a limited time
o Usually to conduct an investigation (Senate Special
Committee on Aging)
• Joint committees – include members of both
houses
o Focus public attention on a major issue
o Ex: Joint Committee on Taxation
• Conference Committees
o Temporary
o Resolve differences between House and Senate versions of
a bill
o Members appointed by party leaders
o From the committees that originally considered the bill
House Rules committee
• Controlled by the Speaker
o “traffic cop”, Speaker’s “right arm”
• Sets guidelines for floor debate
o Gives each bill a rule that places it on the calendar, limits
time for debate, determines the type of amendments that
will be allowed
• Closed rule
o Strict time limits on debates
o Forbids amendments from the floor
• Open rule
o Less strict time limits on debates
o Permits amendments from the floor
Committees
• House Committee on Ways and Means
o Taxation, tariffs, other revenue raising measure
• Committee Chairs and the Committee
System
o Chairs have great power and privilege
• Call meetings
• schedule hearings
• hire staff
• Recommend majority members to sit on
conference committees
• Select all subcommittee chairs
• Receive favors from lobbyists, contribution
from PACs
Committee Chairs
• Historically: chosen by seniority system
o Majority party member with the most continuous
service on the committee automatically became
the chair
• Now elected
o Seniority is still the norm for selecting chairs in
both chambers
Legislative Process
• ≅ 5,000 bills introduced each year
• Only about 125, or 2.5%, become laws
• Process
o Lengthy, deliberate, fragmented
o Formidable obstacles that defeat most
bills
Creating bills
• Anyone can write a bill
• Most are not written by members of
Congress
• Most originate in the executive branch
• Business, labor, agriculture and other
interest groups often draft bills
• Only members of Congress can
introduce bills
o Drop them in the “hopper”, a box hanging on the edge of the clerk’s
desk.
Process
• Committees
o Subcommittee – study, hearing, revisions,
approval
o Most bills die in committee (pigeonholed or
buried)
o House: discharge petition can blast a bill out of
committee – needs majority of the House
• Floor Action
o House: Rules Committee decides time for
debate, if amendments are allowed
• Floor debate & vote
o Senate: allows unlimited debate
• Filibuster, cloture
• Senators can threaten filibuster
Conference Action
• Made up of members from original House
and Senate committees
• this version is returned to each chamber for
a vote
How Members Vote
• delegate model: cast votes that reflect
preference of constituents
• Trustee model: use best judgment to make
policy in the interests of the people
Congress & the Executive Branch
• Oversight
o Review of executive agencies, departments or
offices
o Senate confirms cabinet heads and presidential
appointments to federal courts
o Methods of oversight
• Guidelines for new agencies
• Hearings and investigations
• Budget control
• Reorganizing an agency
• Evaluating an agency’s program
Congress & the Executive Branch
• Foreign Policy
o Constitutional division of power
• Congress declares war; Senate ratifies treaties
• President = Commander-in-chief; can wage
war and negotiate treaties
o War Powers Resolution( most exams ask about this)
• Passed by Congress in 1973
• Response to Vietnam
• Ensures Congress has a voice in presidential
decisions committing troops
• President must notify Congress within 48 hours
of deploying troops and
• Must bring troops home within 60 -90 days
unless Congress extends it