Congress
Chapter 11
The Evolution of Congress
 Congress as the central lawmaking body was a unique
invention – rule by emperors/kings was the common method
 The intent of the Framers:
◦ To oppose the concentration of power in a single institution
◦ To balance large and small states and checks and balances
 Bicameralism
 House = closer/more accountable to the people
 2 year elections, smaller districts
 Senate = more elite, aristocratic, educated House, closer
to President
 6 year elections, represent entire state, stricter qualifications
 They expected Congress to be the dominant
institution but limited by checks
◦ The “First branch” of American government
 Has the “power of the purse”
 BUT checked by president’s veto power (even though Congress Can pass a law
even if president vetoes it)
 Only legislature that exercises almost independently of executive
 Checked by Supreme Court – laws can be deemed unconstitutional
Virginia Plan
New Jersey Plan
Connecticut Compromise
The Legislative Compromise
• Recall the Great (Connecticut) Compromise creating the legislative
(lawmaking) branch of government
• Congress is a bicameral legislature with:
• two coequal houses with substantially equal powers; and
• in particular, legislation (laws, policy, public policy) requires the
support of a concurrent majority in both houses (51% in both houses)
– In the House of Representatives, states have representation proportional
to population
• Members serve two-year terms.
• Representative districts = smaller areas (Hialeah, South Miami, L.C.)
– In the Senate, states are equally represented (2 Senators/state)
•
•
•
•
The size of the Senate =100 members
Senators serve staggered six-year terms.
Senate “districts” = states.
Since ratification of the 17th Amendment (1913), Senators have been popularly
elected, in the same manner as Representatives.
Major Functions of Congress
• Representative of the people
– Closer to the people and directly elected by the people
(smaller group, inhabitants of area)
• Lawmaking (public policy = law)
– Congressional powers defined in Article I, Section 8 (taxes, interstate
and foreign commerce, *elastic clause)
• Consensus building (amongst parties)
• Special, exclusive powers:
• House – Revenue bills must originate in the House (though usually
happen simultaneously) and impeachment power (officials charged in the
house of high crimes)
• Senate – Confirms major presidential appointments, makes treaties with
foreign nations (along with president), and holds hearings for impeached
officials
• Congress Evolutionary powers
(due to elastic clause) – oversight of the budget
($ and presidential proposals approved by
Congress), investigation and hearings of public
officials
Constitutional Differences
House of Representatives
Senate
2 year terms, unlimited
6 year terms, unlimited
435 members (proportional
100 members (equal representation-2
representation) – changes every 10 year per state)  initially elected by state
with census
legislatures - considered “Millionaires’
Club;” 17th Amendment (1913) made
popular election of Senators
“Advice and Consent” on president’s
Initiates all “money” bills (taxation and appointments and treaties
spending)
Initiates impeachment proceedings
Tries impeached officials
25 years old, 7 years a citizen
30 years old, 9 years a citizen
Election of Representatives
• Since 1968, Congress has required states to use single-member
districts for the election of their House members
– Single Member district - The state is divided into several
separate districts with one representative elected from each
district (example: Key West, Aventura, Miami Beach)
• Majority (over 50%) is not needed to win an election, just a
plurality – candidate with the most votes wins
– Encourages a two party system
• Contrasts to proportional representation system in which
legislative seats are given to parties in proportion to the # of votes
they receive in election
Reapportionment of seats in the House of
Representatives
 The [original] Apportionment Clause:
 Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States
which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers,
which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons,
including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not
taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.
 In 1940, Congress permanently set # of reps as 435 seats
 Reapportionment:
• Apportionment (or reapportionment), is the process of distributing seats for a
legislative body (the House of Representatives) among the states
• done proportionally to the population in the states to prevent unequal
representation among different constituencies.
• dividing up the # of representatives per states based on population
• the 435 seats in the House of Representatives are allotted proportionately
between the states, who then (state legislatures) create districts for House
members to run in
 1 representative per apx. 690,000 people (every state has at LEAST one rep)
 In April 2011, the Census Bureau will announce
 the official apportionment population of each state (based on the 2010 census),
and the number of House seats each state will have for the coming decade
The
1990
and
2000
Apportio
nments
Congressional Districting
 Redistricting = Each state with more than one House seat is divided into
districts equal in number to its apportionment of House seats.
 State legislatures determine how Congressional District boundaries
are drawn following each census.
The districting process is highly contested and political and often
partisan.
 Legislative districting involves two controversial:
 Gerrymandering
 drawing a district boundary in some bizarre or unusual shape to make
it easy for the candidate of one party to win election in that district (to
influence outcome of elections)
 Malapportionment - having districts of very unequal size so that one
district is twice as populous as another
 District size:
 If districts with unequal populations each elect one representative
(with one vote in the legislature), the voting power of individual voters
is unequal from district to district.
The Original Gerrymander
What is the purpose of gerrymandering?
To either concentrate opposition votes into a few districts to gain more seats
for the majority in surrounding districts (called packing), or to diffuse minority
strength across many districts (called dilution).
Types of gerrymandering:
Partisan, Racial/ethnic, protecting incumbents, non-partisan
Minority/ majority districting – rearranging a district to allow for the
election of a minority representative
Has led to an increase in Hispanic and Black Reps
Redrawing the balanced electoral districts in this example
creates a guaranteed 3-to-1 advantage in representation for the
blue voters as 14 red voters are packed into the light green
district and the remaining 18 are cracked across the 3 remaining
blue districts.
Cracking and Packing
crack apart areas of support for the other party, and/or
pack supporters of the other party into as few districts as possible
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering
Courts
 Does malapportionment violate the
Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment?
 Baker v. Carr (1963): First malapportionment case taken by Court
 Memphis, TN had not redistricted since 1901 but population drew in
urban areas drastically; Memphis had 10 times as many people as rural
districts
 resident Joe Baker sued TN Sec. of State Carr for unequal representation
under the law
 court ruled that state legislatures must redistrict every 10 years
 Wesberry v. Sanders (1964):
 the Court applied “one man, one vote” specifically to Congressional Districts;
districts must be as equal in size (population) as possible
 “as nearly as is practicable, one man's vote in a congressional election is to
be worth as much as another's.”
 Shaw v. Reno (1993) – GERRYMANDERING
 Race can be a factor, but cannot be the sole factor for gerrymandering
 BUT Easley v. Cromartie (2001) political party gerrymandering is legal
Who is in Congress?
 Typical member = wealthy, well-educated,
white, male (80%), Protestant, middle-aged
(Sen.=61,Rep=57), lawyers (40%)
 Controversial – can this unrepresentative group represent diverse groups?
 The House has become less male and less white
 Between 1950 and 2005:

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
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
Women Senators rose from 2 to 20
Women representatives rose from 10 to 108
Black representatives rose from 2 to 46
Black Senators from 0 to 2
Today, 34 Hispanic Reps, 4 Hispanic Senators
Today, 11 Asian Reps, 1 Asian Senator
Today 2 Native Americans in the House
 Membership in Congress became a career, unlike past
 Incumbents still have a great electoral advantage
 Democratic party largely controlled Congress from 1933-1998
 But in 1994, voters opposed incumbents due to budget deficits, various
policies, legislative-executive bickering, and scandal
Blacks, Hispanics, and Women in Congress, 1971-2002
111th Congress: January 3, 2009January 11, 2011
House of Reps breakdown:
258 Democrats (blue)
177 Republicans (red)
Senate Breakdown:
58 Democrats
40 Republicans, 2 Independent
The Incumbency Advantage
 Incumbency tradition is high in both Senate (generally above 50%)
and House (generally above 80%, incumbent rate more stable than
Senate)
 Media coverage is higher for incumbents
 Incumbents have greater name recognition
due to franking (use govt $), travel to the district,
news coverage
 Members secure policies and programs for voters
 Easier to raise campaign contributions because
lobbyists seek their favors
 Redistricting that incumbents do (gerrymandering and
malapportionment)
 Sophomore surge
 Constituents can see what incumbents are doing in their
community
 Exception to incumbency advantage: scandal or unpopular president
 Consequences?
 + Continuity (less radical change), more experienced, established
relationships with interest groups, policy specialization
 - discourages challengers, lack of responsiveness, fewer
minorities
Incumbent House Members Running for
Reelection, 1964-2006
Number defeated
Number reelected
400
300
200
100
0
1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004
1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006
Reelection Rates of House
and Senate Incumbents, 1946-2006
Percen t reelected
100
90
80
70
60
Hou se Senate
1946
1948
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
50
In 1974, huge drop in House and
Senate Republican seats due to
Watergate scandal; huge drop of
Democratic incumbents due to
Ronald Reagan’s popularity and
Jimmy Carter’s failure
Determinants of voting patterns
 Representative as Delegate vs. trustee
 Delegate: act on what constituents want (agent of the voters, even if they disagree)
 Trustee: members act on their own personal beliefs of what is best for society
 Representational view (Constituent influence): members vote to please
their constituents, in order to secure re-election
 Interest group influence, constant visits at home with constituents, emails, phone calls, town hall meetings
 Organizational/ party view (colleague and party influence): where
constituency interests are not vitally at stake, members primarily respond
to cues from colleagues
 Party leadership pressure, vote along party lines (more than 75% of
the time)
 Attitudinal view (personal views): the member’s ideology determines
her/his vote
 Congressional approval ratings very low (30%)  overall distrust of
Congress as a whole; higher approval of individual members


Anomaly: incumbents
reelected
Confidence in American Institutions, 2007
"I am going to read you a list of institutions in American society. Please tell me how
much confidence you, yourself, have in each one--a great deal, quite a lot, some,
or very little?"
T h e m ilitary
Sm all bu sin ess
T h e police
T h e ch u rch
Ban ks
Su prem e Cou rt
P u blic sch ools
M edical system
T h e presiden cy
T elevision n ews
Newspapers
Crim in al ju stice
Organ iz ed labor
Big bu sin ess
HM Os
Con gress
0
Confidence in
government
institutions is
comparatively low.
10
20
30
40
50
60
Percent responding "great deal" or "quite a lot"
Source: CNN/USA Today/ Gallup poll, June 11-44, 2007.
70
80
Congressional Approval, 1974-2006
“Do you approve or disapprove of the way
Congress is handling its job?”
90
80
Americans are
far more
favorable
towards their
own member
of Congress
60
50
40
30
20
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1996
1997
1995
1994
1992
1986
1990
1978
10
1974
1975
1976
Percent responding " approve"
70
Party Leadership in
Congress Overview
• After legislative election (every 2 years), the party with the most
representatives is the “majority” party
– Significance: majority party holds the most sign. Leadership positions and the
majority of seats in committees
• Political parties are very important in the basic organization of leadership
and member’s voting in the House and Senate
• Overview of leadership positions:
• Speaker of the House (House of Reps) – Paul Ryan
• Majority leader (House and Senate)
• Minority leader (House and Senate)
• Party whips (House and Senate)
• President pro-tempore (Senate)
• President of the Senate (Senate)
-p.300 for roles of leadership
- Currently the 111th Congress  January 2009- January 2011 Democrats
Party Structure in the House
House
Speaker of the House is most impt leader of majority party and presides over House
(once all powerful until revolt in 1910) – voted for by majority party, senior
member w/ leadership exp

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
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Presides over meetings
Recognizes members to speak
Appoints members to select & conference committees
Directs business on the floor
Assigns bills to committees
Exercises behind the scenes influence over
party members
3rd in line for succession
Usually one votes in case of a tie
 Majority leader and minority leader: floor leaders, schedules bills, rounds up
votes for party favors, stepping stone to Speaker position, spokesperson for
minority party
 Party whips keep leaders informed (go betweens for leaders and members),
round up votes of party members, pressure members to support leadership,
inform members of important bills
 Committee assignments and legislative schedule are set by each party
Senate Party Leadership
•
President of the Senate is the Vice President of U.S. (rarely present, only votes
in ties) – symbolic office
• President pro tempore presides; this is the member with most seniority in
majority party (a largely honorific office, no real powers)
• Real leaders are the *majority leader and the minority leader, elected by
their respective party members – first Senator heard on the floor, determines
Senate agenda, influences committee assignments
• Party whips: keep leaders informed, round up votes, count noses
• Each party has a policy committee: schedules Senate business, prioritizes bills
• Committee assignments are handled by a group of
Senators, each for their own party
Committees
 REAL work of Congress
 Bills are worked out or killed in committees
 Investigate problems and oversee the executive branch
 Four types of committees:
 1) Standing Committees (*legislation)
 Most important, basically permanent, handle bills in diff. policy areas, only comm. to
propose legislation by reporting a bill to full House (Senate-16, House-19) *Most
important: Ways and Means (taxes), Senate judiciary, Rules Committee
 2) Select Committees (*special, temporary issues)
 Formed for specific purposes, temporary (but may become standing committees),
sometimes produce legislation
 Ex. Investigated Watergate scandal
 3) Joint Committees (*joint special issues)
 Select comm. consisting of members from both House and Senate,
conduct business between houses, help focus public attention on major
issues, oversee institutions , investigations
 4) Conference Committees (*compromise bill)
 Consist of members from houses, hammer out differences between House and Senate versions of
similar bills, make a compromise bill to be sent back to each house for approval
 1995-1996 (104th Congress, Republicans) reformed # of committees (reduced from
252-198), term limits on committee chairmen (6 yrs)
 Each member of House serves on 1-2 standing committees (unless limited to one of
exclusive); Senators may serve on two major committees (average – 7
subcommittees) and one minor committee
Committee Membership
Chairman and majority of each standing committee comes
from majority party with a minority of minority party
members (try to be proportionate to Congressional party split)
Assignments are based on personal and political qualities of
the member, region, reelection help
 Members from safe districts (elected with more than 55% of the vote,
guaranteed reelection) can be on an important committee that helps
the nation and public welfare, while marginal districts (elected with less
than 55% of vote, reelection is not secure) need committees that suit
the need of constituents (ex. Kansas rep on Agricultural committee)
Method of committee membership:
 Each party has a Committee on Committees
 Speaker of the House selects Select and Conference Committee
members (powerful!)
Committee Chairmen (House)
• Powerful – decides what is on the committee
agenda
– 1910 House Revolt transferred power to chairmen and
away from Speaker of the House
– 1910-1970 Chairmen chosen by seniority system
• Member with the longest continuous service of majority party on
committee is placed automatically as chair
– 1970 reform – secret ballots of majority members
elected chairmen, may only chair 1 committee,
committee meetings usually public, increased staff
size for all
• Before 1970s, work was done primarily by chairmen behind closed
doors
• Reforms gave more rights to members, especially with little seniority
• Took away extreme power of chairmen, but still very powerful
• In practice, most chairmen are still senior members
– 1995 Republican Reforms – 6 year term limits by
House chairmen
Functions of Committees
 Proposed bills are assigned to specific committees, the comm. Controls the life or
death of the bill
 11,000 bills are introduced in each 2 year session, committees wean the bad
bills out
 Pigeonholed – when a bill is put aside in a committee for possible future
consideration
 majority of bills are forgotten forever and never make it out of committee
 Those approved move to subcommittees who hold hearings over bill –
supporters and critics of the bill appear at hearings and are questioned by
subcomm.
 Bill is then marked up (changed or rewritten) and returned to full committee
where more alterations may be made
 Sent to Rules Committee (House – decides on rules for the bill, may be
amended by members, amount of debate) or straight to floor (Senate)
 A Bill’s Destiny:
Option 1:
Killed by committee or
chair (not considered)
Option 2:
Option 3:
Pigeonholed (temporarily Sent to subcommittee for
put aside for future
further consideration
consideration)
How a bill becomes a law
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Bill must be introduced by a member of Congress
Bill is referred to a committee for consideration (amendments, thrown out or
pigeonholed)
– May be referred to multiple committees (multiple referral) or parts
(sequential referral)
Revenue bills (tax reforms) must originate in the House
Most bills die in committee
– Full House or Senate may use discharge petition to get a bill out of committee
(218 mem)
Some sent to subcommittee to hold hearings (individuals, interest groups,
Congressional members speak for/against  inform, public support)
After hearings and mark-up sessions, the committee reports a bill out to the
House or Senate
Bill must be placed on a calendar to come for a vote before either House
House Rules Committee sets the rules for consideration (open vs. closed debate,
time limits set in House)
Senate has unlimited debate
– filibuster – unlimited debate, used to eliminate a bill; more commonly used
today due to double tracking – disputed bill is shelved and business continues
– Filibuster may be ended by a cloture – vote to end debate, 60 senators, must
be bipartisan agreement
– Longest filibusters: Strom Thurmond (24 hours continuously), team of
senators- 57 days for Civil Rights Act of 1964
How a Bill becomes a law (Contd)
•
Bills are debated on the floor of the House or Senate
– Quorum required – minimum number of members present in House to conduct business
(100 members for the Committee of the Whole which is led by a comm. Chairmen and
is debated by members and amended; 218 for House to vote)
– Open v. closed in House
– Amendments must be germane (relevant) to bill in House
– Riders – provisions attached to a bill that is not germane to the bill’s purpose in order
to get a legislator’s “pet project” passed  many riders on a bill = “Christmas tree bill”
– allowed in Senate
•
•
•
If there are major differences in the bill as passed by the House and Senate, a
conference committee is appointed  compromise bill  revote
The bill goes to the president
The president may sign it or veto it (president’s check)
– Pocket veto – bill given to President 10 days before end of Congress session
•
•
•
If the president vetoes it, it returns to house of origin
Both houses must support the bill, with a two-thirds vote, in order to override the
president’s veto
If a bill does not go through entire process within life of 2 year Congress, must be
reintroduced completely next Congress
Founders made the
process long,
cautious, and
deliberate so that
many people could
consider and
approve of a
change
-efficiency and
haste is the
hallmark to
oppressive
government
Methods of voting
• Voice vote
– Shout “yea” or “nay”
• Division (standing) vote
– Members stand to be counted
• Teller vote
– Members file past the clerk, first the “yeas” and then the “nays”
• Roll-call vote
– Call members names to vote, recorded
• Electronic vote
– Roll call vote that permits members to insert plastic card into slot
(House), recorded
– Vote appears on a “score board” marquee
Resolutions
• Congress also passes 3 types of resolutions
• Simple Resolution
–
–
–
–
Either House or Senate
Establishes rules, regulations or practices
Does not have force of law, not signed by president
Ex. Setting a rule, congratulating someone
• Concurrent Resolution
– Comes from both houses
– Settles housekeeping and procedural matters affecting both Houses
– Not signed by president, no force of law
• Joint Resolution
– Requires approval of both houses, signed by president
– Force of law
– Passed when Congress react to an important issue that needs immediate
attention
– Ex. After 9/11 attacks, joint resolution condemning attacks and allowing Bush
to take preliminary military action
Criticisms of Congress
 Pork barrel legislation and Earmarks
 Bills that give benefits to constituents (local bridges and highways) in
hope of gaining votes rather than welfare of entire nation
 Federal money being wasted?
 2005 Consolidated Appropriations Act – funded 11,000 projects (hall of
fames, theme parks)
 Logrolling




 Members of Congress support another member’s pet projects in return
for support of his or her own project, esp. pork barrel
 “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours”
Abusing franking privilege
Special interest group influences
Inefficiency – Gridlock
Term limits needed?
 Members become unresponsive to their constituents but expertise
needed?
Congressional Caucuses
• Caucus: informal groupings of members of Congress sharing the same
interests of point of view
– created to advocate a political ideology or a regional or economic interest
– Goal: to shape agenda of Congress by elevating their issue
– Functions: press for committees to hold hearings and organize votes
on bill in their favor
• Intra-party caucuses: members share a similar ideology (Democratic
study group)
• Personal interest caucuses: members share a common interest in an issue
(environment, arts)
• Constituency caucuses: established to represent groups (race and
gender), regions or both (Congressional Black Caucus, Vietnam Veterans,
Congressional Women’s caucus)
Congressional Staff
 Constituency service is a major task
of members’ staff, many control
local offices
 Legislative functions of
professional staff include devising
proposals, negotiating agreements,
organizing hearings, and meeting
with lobbyists and administrators,
scheduling member’s time, dealing
with media
 Members’ staff consider
themselves advocates of their
employers
# of staffers have increased drastically
over years (over 30,000 staffers;
Senators average 30; House = 15)
Growth of staff from 1930-2000
Functioning differences
House of Representatives
• Germane amendments only
(relevant to the bill)
• Rules Committee, limited
debate
• Formal rules due to size
• Gerrymandering and
malapportionment
senate
• Non-germane riders
• No Rules Committee
• Filibuster- unlimited debate
• Less formal due to small size
• No gerrymandering of
malapportionment due to
not having a district