Bell ringer
• #63 – Party Leadership
Congress 1
AP GOV
Today we will …
OBJ/ Agenda
• Explore how political parties
help to organize the
government and the role
they play in politics.
Agenda
1. FRQ practice – comparative
electoral systems
2. Slide/notes - review questions
for organization of Congress
3. Congress Venn diagram
HW: set 2 RQs – quiz next block
FRQ Practice
• 2011 short answer #3
Warm Up - Article I
• List all of the powers of Congress you
remember
– House?
– Senate?
• List the size, terms, member qualifications of
the House
• List the size, terms, member qualifications of
the Senate
1. Party Organization of the Senate
• http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/reference
/e_one_section_no_teasers/org_chart.htm

Majority Party
 President
 President
Pro-Tempore
 Majority Leader
 Majority Whip

Minority Party
 Minority
Leader
 Minority Whip
Selecting the Leaders:
• Ideology
• popularity, effectiveness on television, favors owed
Policy Committee schedules Senate business
Committee Assignments:
– Democratic Steering Committee
– Republican Committee on Committees
– Assignments emphasize ideological and regional balance
– New Senators want opportunities to help constituents &
supporters
2. Party Organization of House
• http://www.house.gov/leadership/
• Majority Party
– Speaker of the House
– Majority Leader
– Majority Whip
• Minority Party
– Minority Leader
– Minority Whip
2b. Speaker of the House
Leader of majority party; presides over House
 Decides whom to recognize to speak on
the floor
 Rule on relevancy of motions
 Decides to which committee bills go
 Appoints members of special and select
committees
 Has some patronage power (ex: Capitol
jobs & office space)
 http://www.speaker.gov/about
Check for understanding
• What other job does the US Vice President
have?
• Who takes over if the VP is busy?
• What is the leader of the House called?
• Which one of these 3 positions would you like
to have? Why?
3. Newt Gingrich
He changed the structure of the House of Representatives
• Measure of leaders ability to determine party rules & organization
• Committee chairs would have term limits (6 yrs)
• Transparency
4. Civility and Polarization
• Increasingly divided by political ideology
– Role of political elites & caucuses in forming policy
– Staffers often take the lead to negotiate between
their bosses, less personal contact
• Yet, voters are close to the center of the
political spectrum
• Polarization leads to less civility, more attacks
• Are We Doomed to Polarization? | The Center
On Congress at Indiana University
5. Congressional Caucuses
 Association of members of Congress created
to advocate a political ideology or a regional
or economic interest
 Rivals to parties in policy formulation
 Types:
◦ Intra-party
◦ Personal interest
◦ Constituency concern
Check for understanding
• When else have we talked about caucuses?
• What is the same and different between these
types of caucuses?
6. The Committee System
• Where Congress does its work
• Helps to develop specialization among
members
1. Standing Committees
2. Select or Special Committees
3. Joint Committees
– Conference Committees
Standing Committees
– Permanent w/specific legislative responsibilities
– Most are subject related: Judiciary, Foreign Policy,
Armed Services
– Majority party holds majority membership of each
committee
– http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/committees/d
_three_sections_with_teasers/committees_home.
htm
Select/Special Committees
• Temporary - appointed for a limited purpose
and time, or cross purposes
• Oversight functions – to keep things from
going wrong in gov.
• Investigations
• http://www.house.gov/committees/
Joint Committees
– Both Representatives and Senators serve
– Permanent
– House-keeping
– CONFERENCE COMMITTEE: “Third House”
representatives and senators to resolve
differences in the Senate and House versions of
the same piece of legislation before final passage;
creates a “compromise bill” before its sent to the
president
Committee Structure
 Number of committees varies between houses
 Majority party has majority of seats and names
chair
◦ Usually most senior member is elected
 Assignments
◦ Members usually serve on 2 standing committees or 1
exclusive committee
 Subcommittee Bill of Rights 1970s
◦ Secret ballot election of committee chairs
◦ No Rep can chair more than one committee
◦ All House committees w/ 20+ members to have at least
4 subcommittees
◦ Large staffs, open to the public unless vote too close
Roles of Committees
• Rules
• Legislation
• Appropriations - handles all discretionary
federal spending bills. Appropriates money to
the department.
• Oversight
– Fast and the Furious
– Oversight can also be in the form of
Appropriations to the Executive Departments
What committees do representatives
want to be on?
• Policy-oriented members = finance or foreign
policy committees
• Constituency-oriented members = small
business or veteran's affairs committees
• Robert Walker
• Larry Craig
Check for understanding
• Why is the committee structure more
important to the House, instead of the
Senate? (hint: think size)
7. Congressional Staff
• 1/3 of a staff members work in the district, fulltime district office.
• Constituency Casework
• Legislative functions:
– Devise proposals & draft reports
– Organize & monitor hearings
– Meet with lobbyists & program administrators
• Consequences of larger staff
– More legislative work in the chamber
– Results in more individualistic Congress
8. Staff Agencies
• Offer specialized information
– Congressional Research Service (CRS)
– General Accounting Office (GAO)
– Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
How does the majority party have an advantage in the House above the
sheer number advantage?
CLOSURE