Chapter 11: CONGRESS
Bicameral Congress due to: “Great Compromise”
1. Lower House- House of Representatives
Ohio has 16 members due to population
Every ten years a census is held to reapportion districts in states
2. Upper House- Senate
Each State has two due to equality
THE DUTIES OF CONGRESS
**See chart on the front page of this packet
SHARED POWERS:
known as expressed or delegated powers= written in the Constitution
The Necessary and Proper Clause also known as the Elastic Clause:
Gives congress the means to execute the enumerated/expressed powers.
It is the basis of Congress’s implied powers.
ELECTING CONGRESS:
Incumbents - have a high rate of return to office
(Since 1950) House members have a higher rate than 96%
of returning to office
Senate members have a more difficult time due to more qualified challengers
Paradoxically- the public seems not to hold Congress in high esteem,
but they like their own representatives
Due to widespread dissatisfaction with congress, voters in many states have passed
TERM LIMITS
In the Ohio General Assembly – 99 House Representatives- 33 Senators
Term Limits were passed by an initiative!
4- 2 year terms for House members
2-4 year terms for Senate members
1995- The National House voted against a constitutional amendment for
term limits on National representatives
Incumbents are protected by district lines that are gerrymandered to protect
the dominant party “SAFE SEATS”
Other Advantages of Incumbents
* having good local staffs creates a history of providing assistance
to constituents (casework)
* receiving financial support ---- PAC's favor incumbents
Challengers cannot always find the campaign financing to
run a viable campaign
Challengers are most effective when the incumbent appears vulnerable
(age, scandal, unfavorable redistricting)
The Makeup of Congress is not representative of our population
*they are usually highly educated (many lawyers)
*relatively few women and minorities
Complete: Congressional Profile Activity
Two schools of thought regarding lack of female and
minority representation
1. Descriptive Representation- the idea that congress
should resemble the demographics of the constituents
a. those that advocate the above often times advocate
racial gerrymandering
2. Remain Colorblind and elect the best representatives,
regardless of ethnicity or gender
Racial Gerrymandering: has been used to make Congress more representative
of our public
1993 Shaw v. Renoverdict went against racial gerrymandering due to violations
of the Voting Rights Act
How Issues get on the congressional agenda
*Visible Trend or event draws our attention to a problem
(crime on tv, coal mine disaster, technological development)
*Presidential support—Social Security reform by George W. Bush
*Congressional Party leaders and committee chairs have the
BEST opportunity to influence the agenda
The Dance of Legislation- Only about 10% of all bills become law!
*Introduction of a bill
bills go to Committees
then go to subcommittees (research)
* Most Bills die in committee
*after a bill has passed voting in the committees
*Full Membership vote on the bill
the House then goes to a “RULES Committee”
*After being passed in BOTH HOUSES then it goes to a
CONFERENCE COMMITTEE
compromises are struck to get an identical bill
*After the new bill is made, it is voted on by both full memberships again
*If it passes, then it gets sent to the President who signs or vetos the bill
IF, a veto occurs then Congress can override by a 2/3 majority
*If the president doesn’t sign it within ten days it becomes LAW
* Pocket veto- If the Congress adjourns within 10 days of the bill
passing the president can refuse to sign it and it dies
* Line Item Veto- The President or Governor can strike out one line
but pass the rest of the bill
**Congress gave more power to the executive branch (President 1996)
The Supreme Court deemed LINE ITEM vetos by the President
UNCONSTITUTIONAL – 1998 Clinton v. City of NY
COMMITTEES: The workhorses of Congress
A. Congress has committees for the same reasons large
organizations are subdivided into specialized groups or
divisions: to develop and use expertise in specific areas
B. There are a number of different types of committees –see chart next page
1. Joint committees: made up of members of both houses
2. Standing committees: Permanent committees that specialize
in an area of public policy
3. Select Committees: Temporary Committees created for
specific purposes - "Watergate", “9-11”
4. Conference Committees: work out the differences of a bill
C. Influence on committees grows formally with seniority and
informally with increased expertise
D. Usually, the senior member of the majority party in each committee
becomes Committee Chairman. Ultimately, the Speaker of the
House and Senate Majority leader decide these positions
In recent years, leadership has been chosen not just by seniority,
but by experience/knowledge on the topic.
E. Committees and Sub Committees are where the REAL WORK
on legislation takes place
STEPS of legislation
1. collect data on the issue - research
2. Hearings are often held and are an opportunity to attract attention to
a particular problem
(lots of Drama now that they are televised on C-Span)
3. members decide on the provisions of a bill at the
markup sessions
4. The committee chair or subcommittee chair strongly influence the way a
committee handles its work.
OVERSIGHT: following through on legislation
Oversight: reviewing agency operations to determine whether an agency is
carrying out policies as Congress intended.
As the executive branch has grown larger, oversight has become more difficult
Congress has responded by adding resources:
1. Congressional Budget Office--CBO
2. Office of Technology Assessment
Although Congress has long been accused of not enough oversight, (IRS)
recently they’ve been accused of too much oversight.
Leaders of Congress
*they follow a hierarchy
House of Representatives
#1 Speaker of the House
#2 Majority leader
#3 Minority Leader
Senate
President of the Senate is the Vice President of the U.S.
a. his/her job is just to break ties in the senate
b. Count electoral votes
c. before the modern era would monitor debates
President Pro-Tempore- honorary position- elected by the
majority party and is supposed to chair in the absence of
the VP
REAL POWERMajority Leader- schedules legislation- sets the agenda
Power in the Minority
Minority Leader- leads the interest of the minority party
Leaders of Congress- spend much of their time “striking deals”
As recently as the 1950’s there have been strong leadersExample----LBJ the “Johnson Treatment”
Party Leaders are Coalition Builders, not autocrats
Norms of Behavior:
* Show respect and try to Compromise
* Since 1994: Decline of norms due to aggressive junior members
Both Houses abide by Rules, but the House of Representatives uses its
Rules Committee to govern floor debate-“traffic cop”
 no member is allowed to speak for more than an hour
without unanimous consent
The Senate can Filibuster- talk a bill to death
This action can be stopped with a cloture vote 60/100
In order to talk you must have unanimous consentalmost always happens
Norms of Behavior- Most of our members of congress are
very CIVIL !!!!
Policymaking demands COMPROMISE!
Legislative Environment
How do legislators vote?
They are influenced by
Look back at previous chart
1) Political Parties
2) The President
3) Constituents
4) Interest Groups
Trustee or Delegate????
As a trustee the congress member decides based on their own knowledgeYou TRUST that your delegate will make the best decision for you
As a delegate the congress member makes their decision based on what the
Constituents want he represents their beliefs
*Few members act consistently as just one of the above two.
*If their district is vocal, they tend to play the delegate role.
*Acting as a delegate = pluralism being followed
*Acting as a trustee = no guarantee of majoritarianism being followed
Define Partisan:
Define Politicos:
PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEMS= reflect the majoritarian model better than our Congress
Parliamentary System- Chief executive is the legislative leader
Example Great Britain has a parliament and the Prime Minister
(executive) is selected by the majority party and runs the
Parliament (legislature)
The inability of our congress to balance the budget shows our pluralistic nature.
*legislators more concerned about their individual districts and “PORK”
*however, there is a rise recently in majoritarianism due to increased
political party unity recent