Legislative Branch: Congress

1. Legislative Branch: Congress

2. Founders’ Intentions • Strongest branch • Lawmaking – most important power given to Congress • Separation of lawmaking power from executive • Feared abuse of power • Apportionment • After each U.S. census • Adjusts number of House seats allocated to each state

3. Founders’ Intentions • Bicameralism balances large/small states (“Great Compromise”) • House – more connected to people (2 yr term) • Why is the House often thought of as being “closer” or “more connected” to the people? • Senate – allows for independent thinking (6 yr term) • How were Senators originally elected per the Constitution? • Which amendment changed this & how are they now elected? • What was the original intention of the framers with respect to the Senate?

4. Founders’ Intentions • Why did Founders create a bicameral legislature? • “Great Compromise” – compromise btwn lg. states (Virginia Plan) and sm. states (New Jersey Plan) • Compromise btwn competing interests – to protect minority interests (i.e., the small states interests) • An intrabranch check – to prevent majority tyranny • Provide for different types of representation – state vs. smaller districts • Slow the process of making laws – to protect against whims (wild swings) of public opinion and make sure all new ideas are well deliberated (safeguard against the tyranny of the masses)

5. Characteristics of Congress • With your partner: • Complete the worksheet titled “Section Review” (Chapter 9, Section 1) • Read the sentence and decide whether it describes the House of Representatives, the Senate or both houses of Congress • Write the answer in the space provided

6. House vs. Senate

7. House vs. Senate HouseSenate Constitutional Differences Term length 2 years 6 years Minimum age 25 30 Citizenship required 7 years 9 years Residency In state (customary w/in district) In state Apportionment Changes with population Fixed at 2/state Representation District w/in state only Entire state Impeachment Impeaches official Tries impeached official Treaty-making power No authority 2/3 approval Presidential appointments No authority Majority approval Revenue/Tax/Budget Bills Originate May not originate Chose President when Electoral College fails Yes No Organizational Differences Size 435 members 100 members Number of standing committees 20 16 Total committee assignments per member Approx. 6 Approx. 11 Rules Committee Yes No Limits on floor debate Yes (strict rules) No (filibuster) possible) Source: Roger Davidson and Walter Oleszek, Congress and Its Members, 11th ed. (Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2008), 63, 209; Federal Election Commission data compiled by Center for Responsive Politics; calculations by authors – as edited by Ms. Joyce.

8. Powers of Congress • With your partner: • Complete the worksheet titled “Section Review” (Chapter 9, Section 3) • Read the sentence and decide whether it describes a power granted to the House, Senate, Congress as a whole or to neither house • Write the answer in the space provided

9. Congress Review – 5 Questions • What were the intentions of the founders? • What are the benefits of bicameralism? • Describe the organization of Congress? • What are the characteristics of each body in the United States Congress? • What current events reflect our current Congress?

11. Evolution of Congressional Powers • Elastic clausehas extended Congress’ powers; they have the “Implied power” to make all laws “necessary and proper” to carry out delegated powers • Oversight of budget – can restrict the fed. budget prepared by executive branch • Appropriations – set amount of money made available for various activity in a fiscal year by Congress • Investigation – Congress can launch investigations • Ex. Watergate, Clinton-Lewinski hearings, steroids in baseball

12. Limits on Congressional Powers(Article I, Section 9) Congress cannot: • Take away citizens’ right to a writ of habeas corpus: paper that orders police to bring you into court so you won’t be held in jail without a judge or trial • Pass bills of attainder: Laws that convict a person of a crime without a trial • Pass ex post facto laws: Law that makes a particular act a crime, and then punishes people who committed the act before the law was passed

13. Functions of Congress • The United States Congress essentially serves four major roles: • Representation • Lawmaking • Budget • Oversight

14. Representing the American People • Policy Representation: work to advance the issues and ideological preferences of constituents • Allocative Representation: work to secure projects, services, and funds for the represented district • Pork Barrel Projects: public works projects and grants for specific districts paid for by general, national revenues (also known as “ear-marks”)

15. Representing the American People • Casework: work on behalf of individual constituents to solve their problems with government agencies and programs • Discussion: Talk with your partner and come up with three different examples. • “Franking privilege” • Symbolic Representation: stand for American ideals or to identify with common constituency values

16. Representing the American People • Congressional Demographics • Better Educated than General Population • Two-thirds of members hold advanced degrees. • Wealthier than General Population • Senate “Millionaires Club” • Recent Increases in Minority Representation

18. Representing the American People • Delegate (Representational) • Representative follows wishes of constituents. • Trustee (Attitudinal) • Representative uses own judgment. • Organizational (Party) • Representative follows the party

19. Representational Strategies • Delegate (Representational) View • Assumes that members vote to please their constituentsbc they want to be reelected. • This view has merit when constituents have a clear opinion on an issue • Very strong correlation on civil rights & social welfare bills • BUT very weak correlation on foreign policy • Weakness of representational explanation: often no clear opinion in the constituency • May be conflict between legislator and constituency on certain measures: gun control, abortion • Generally found members from “marginal districts” to be as independent-minded as those from “safe districts” • Marginal district – candidates elected to House win in close elections by less than 55% of the vote; Safe district – incumbents win by margins of 55% or more

20. Representative Strategies • Trustee (Attitudinal) View of Representation • Assumes that members of Congress vote based on their own ideology (views). • House members tend more than senators to have opinions similar to those of the public. • Senators tend to be less in tune with public opinion. • What might be a valid explanation for this difference? • Politico – an elected representative who acts as a trustee or delegate, depending on the issue

21. Representative Strategies • Organizational View • Assumes members of Congress vote to please the colleagues from their political party. • Problem is that party and other organizations do not have a clear position on all issues • What party a member belongs to explains more about a member’s voting record than any other single factor.

23. Running for Congress • Who can run? • Age, citizenship, and residency qualifications • Why would anyone want this job? • Sense of duty, policy, ideology • Pay, perks, power • Downside: hard work, low job security, expensive

24. Running for Congress Strategic politicians – office-seekers who base the decision to run on a rational calculation that they will be successful. They ask themselves… • Is this the right district or state for me? • What is the strategic situation in the district? • Incumbency advantage or “open- seat” • Do I have access to the funds necessary to run a vigorous campaign? • How are the national tides turning? • Coattail effect, Midterm loss (“off-year” elections)phenomenon

25. Staying in Congress • Incumbency • Incumbency Rates – 96% of incumbents who seek re-election win • HOR – higher re-election • “Sophomore surge” - increase in votes that HOR candidates usually receive when running for their first re-election • Senate – lower than house, still high • Question: Why do Incumbents have such an advantage?

26. Incumbency Advantage

27. Incumbency Advantages • What might be consequences (both positive & negative) that arise from incumbency advantage? • Positives: • Continuity over time • Less radical change • More experienced political leaders • Policy specialization • Negatives: • Discourages challengers • Limits infusion of new ideas • Lack of responsiveness

28. Choosing Members • Everything is political… • Reapportionment – a reallocation of congressional seats among the states every ten years following the census

29. Choosing Members

30. Choosing Members • Everything is political… • Redistricting – process of dividing or drawing states into legislative districts after each census; done by state legislatures • Gerrymandering – redistricting to benefit a particular group

31. Gerrymandering • READ NOW! “Gerrymandering 101” (http://pjmedia.com/zombie/2010/11/10/gerrymandering-101/?singlepage=true) • While reading, answer the following questions: • What happened in 2010 with respect to state legislatures that has people concerned? • What do people fear will happen as a result? • Who is responsible for redrawing Congressional district lines? • On what part of government might this have a huge impact? • What type of gerrymandering is at issue here? • Why are Democrats keeping silent about this fear? • What would happen if the Republicans refrained from redistricting? • What is the origin of the word “gerrymander” – i.e., what two words is it made up of and why? • Read about “fair redistricting”, “majority districting”, and “minority districting” and be able to explain to the entire class how it each works (with a possible demonstration). • Explain how majority districting or minority districting can thwart the will of the voters. • Explain the two aims of gerrymandering (also known as “packing” and “cracking”) • How can gerrymandering backfire on a party? • Explain the concept of “defensive gerrymandering” and the potential pitfall of it.

32. 3 Types of Gerrymandering • Pro-incumbent gerrymandering – creating districts that reinforce the current power structure (state legislature is so closely divided). • Partisan gerrymandering – drawing districts to maximize the number of house seats a party can win. • Racial gerrymandering – redistricting to enhance or reduce the chances that a racial group will elect members to the legislature. • “Majority-minority districts” after Voting Rights Act (1982) • But bad for Democrats – why? • Deemed unconstitutional by Supreme Court

33. Supreme Court & Redistricting • Baker v. Carr – “one person, one vote”(1963) • Westberry v. Sanders (1964) • found unequal district pop. unconstitutional because of the 14th amendment • “Malapportionment” – unequal population in districts • Districts must have equal population (average size district is approx. 700,000)

34. Supreme Court & Gerrymandering • Shaw v. Reno (1993) • NC’s 12th district held unconstitutional bc redistricting based solely on race is unconstitutional. • Remember: race is a “suspect classification” subject to “strict scrutiny” (whenever a law treats citizens differently, the law must fulfill a compelling state purpose – regardless of whether it hurts or benefits them) • Easley (Hunt) v. Cromartie (2001) • redistricting of NC’s 12th district for political ideology was constitutional, led to increase in minority reps • Moral of the story: • Racial gerrymandering BAD; Partisan gerrymandering OK.

35. N.C. Congressional Districts after 1990 Census

37. Republican Gerrymandering Success

38. N.C. Congressional Map

39. Practice Essay • DO NOW! 2008 #1 Free Response Essay • You have 20 minutes to write an essay responding to this question. • Compare and contrast your answers with your partner, noting similarities, differences, anything you realized you might have missed in your essay. • Using the AP rubric, grade your own by underlining, circling or highlighting at each place where you feel that you earned a point according to the rubric.

40. Practice Essay • Congressional reapportionment and redistricting are conducted every ten years. When redistricting is conducted, politicians often engage in gerrymandering. • Define congressional reapportionment and explain one reason why it is important to states. • Define congressional redistricting. • Explain two goals of politicians when they gerrymander during redistricting. • Describe two limits that the United States Supreme Court has placed on congressional redistricting. How did you do?

41. How Congress Works: Organization • Parties are central to how Congress functions. • Parties frequently vote in unison in Congress • Majority party controls leadership structure (as a result, has significant advantages in lawmaking especially in the HOR) • Majority party: party with the most seats in a house of Congress • Who currently is the majority party in the House? • Who currently is the majority party in the Senate? • Minority party: the party with fewer seats in a house of Congress • Rise in polarization and hyperpartisanship

42. How Congress Works: Organization

43. Leadership • Speaker of the House(Nancy Pelosi, D-CA) • Chosen by majority party members in HOR • 2nd in line for Presidency • Rules on motions • Allows people to speak on the floor • Announces order of business • Assigns bills to committees • Influences which bills are brought to a vote • Appoints members of special and select committees • Speaker has more power in House than majority leader has in Senate

44. Leadership • Vice President • official head of Senate (per Constitution) • only votes to break a tie vote • President Pro Tempore • Presides over Senate when VPis absent • Chosen by members of the Senate • Usually the senior member of majority party • Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)

45. Leadership • Senate – Majority Leader(Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.) • Schedules Senate business & when legislation will be heard (crucial to a bill’s success) • Prioritizes bills • Can pull a bill from consideration

46. Leadership • Floor Leaders: (4; 2 in each house) • Guide bills through Congress • Persuade party members to accept compromises or tradeoffs in order to win votes • Senate majority floor leader makes comm. assignments • Whips: (4; 2 in each house) • Assistant floor leaders • Try to persuade members of their party to support party’s position and be present when it’s time to vote

47. Leadership • Minority Leadership

48. Leadership • Committee assignments (i.e., which members from a party are assigned to which committee) are made by: • Steering Committee(Democrats) • Committee on Committees(Republicans)

49. Committee System • Committee System • Most real work happens here. • Bills are passed, changed, ignored, or killed. • Committees are further divided into subcommittees. • 4 types of committees: Standing, Select, Joint, and Conference

50. Committee System • Standing Committee • permanent committee responsible for legislation in particular policy areas (both drafting & oversight) • (ex. Appropriations, Agriculture, Armed Services, Science, etc.) • most important and have been “standing” (existing) for a long time • every committee has Rep. and Dem. members, but a majority of members and chairperson come from majority party • Committee chairs wield considerable power: • which bills their committee will study • if and when committees will meet • getting on “right” committee essential for members of Congress