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Nov 13 – Comp – Congress Debrief

Nov 13 – Comp – Congress Debrief. Agenda: We Care Survey Exam 2 – Pass-back Congress: Final Vote Debrief. Take Out: Pen/Pencil Notebook Homework: Find, print, read and annotate the following article: http:// pjmedia.com/zombie/2010/11/10/gerrymandering-101 /. Free-Write (1).

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Nov 13 – Comp – Congress Debrief

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  1. Nov 13 – Comp – Congress Debrief Agenda: • We Care Survey • Exam 2 – Pass-back • Congress: Final Vote • Debrief Take Out: • Pen/Pencil • Notebook Homework: • Find, print, read and annotate the following article: http://pjmedia.com/zombie/2010/11/10/gerrymandering-101/

  2. Free-Write (1) • Consider the bill-board, and then answer the following questions: • Explain: What happened to your bill? • WHERE and WHY did it pass/fail • Describe each step that it went through • Why wasn’t there more legislation passed?

  3. Tricks of the Trade • Your term is up and now you have become a lobbyist whose advice is sought by a freshman Senator. • What advice do you give him about how to get his bills passed? • What tips or tricks would you recommend? (Create a list)

  4. Making Connections How does ___________ impact what becomes policy? • Standing Committees • Committee chairmen • Other Committee members • Leadership • House Minority leader • House Majority leader • House Speaker • Senate Majority Leader • Sen Minority Leader • Bicameralism • House of Reps • Senate • Divided government/gridlock • Other members (logrolling) • Political Parties

  5. We still have a very limited view of legislators • BIG QUESTION: What/who is going to affect how a legislator serves the people? • Make a visual of the many influences on a congressperson. • For each influence…write how the influence is felt or what is used to influence.

  6. Influences on Members of Congress • Represent the Constituents • Difficult to gauge constituent opinions • Most constituents are not even aware of the issues faced by Congress • Diversity of interests throughout districts and states • Represent themselves • Other members of Congress • e.g., party leaders, committee leaders, state delegations, other members with a similar ideology or districts • Organizational voting • Reciprocity (exchange of favors) and logrolling (exchange of votes)

  7. Influences on Members of Congress • Interest groups/lobbies/PACs influence through: • campaign contributions. • "report cards" • targeting. • providing information. • testifying before committees. • paying for "junkets." • Campaign contributors • probably have the greatest effect on narrow issues that are not well known or publicized. • Party membership • The bestpredictorof congressional voting • strong influence on economic and social welfare issues

  8. Influences on Members of Congress • The media, • e.g., through its "watchdog" role. • Iron triangles (aka: subgovernments, issue networks, policy networks) • a congressional committee, the related federal agency, and the impacted interest groups • Congressional staff members.Can influence by: • controlling information that members receive. • controlling access to members. • helping to set committee agenda. • making recommendations on legislation. • helping to write legislation. • analyzing info from presidential staff.

  9. Influences on Members of Congress • Congressional caucuses, • e.g. black caucus, Hispanic caucus, blue collar caucus, women's caucus, etc. • The President • can campaign for or against members, he can attend or not attend members' fund raisers, he can speak out for or against members, and he can use his "electronic throne" to gain leverage (“going public”)

  10. What makes a good legislator? • So…if a legislator does balance all these interests, does that mean that they are best serving the people? • What is important in representation?

  11. DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF CONGRESS IN THE YEARS 1975, 2005 AND 2012 API = Asian/Pacific Islanders Source: US Census Bureau

  12. Demographics • How does this relate to representation? • How much do demographics matter to representation?

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