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Chapter 12

Chapter 12. Congress. Congress. House and Senate: Differences in Representation. Bicameral system: two chambers Result of the Connecticut Compromise Each state has two senators. Each state’s number of House representatives is determined by state population.

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Chapter 12

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  1. Chapter 12 Congress

  2. Congress

  3. House and Senate:Differences in Representation • Bicameral system: two chambers • Result of the Connecticut Compromise • Each state has two senators. • Each state’s number of House representatives is determined by state population. • Predicated on different representation models • Senate: states, with longer terms • House: districts, with shorter terms

  4. House and Senate: Differences in Representation • Senate: 100 senators • Since 1913, directly elected by voters statewide • Six-year terms • Two per state (fixed) • House of Representatives: 435 members • Elected by districts • Two-year terms • Population determines number per state (varies).

  5. House and Senate: Differences in Representation

  6. House and Senate: Differences in Representation • Congressional districts can be relatively homogeneous by many standards. • Ideal for organized interests claiming to represent constituents • Members tend to specialize in one committee. • States are far more heterogeneous. • Senators have to be generalists. • More open to a wider array of interests

  7. House and Senate: Differences in Representation • How representatives “represent”: • Sociological representation: shares demographic traits, experiences, and interests with constituents • Agency representation: representative has electoral incentive to act on constituent interests.

  8. Women, African Americans, andLatinos in Congress (1971–2008) Sociological Representation

  9. Who are the Members of Congress? CHAPTER 12

  10. Gender 49% U.S. Pop. 51% 83% House 17% 83% Senate 17% Male Female U.S. Population Key Senate House of Representatives SOURCE: Jennifer E. Manning, “Membership of the 112th Congress: A Profile,” CRS Report R41647, March 1, 2011, www.senate.gov (accessed 8/15/12).

  11. Race U.S. Pop. 64% House 82% Senate 96% White Black Hispanic Asian/Pacific Native American U.S. Population Key 13% 10% 0% 16% 7% 2% 5% 3% 2% 1% .002% 0% Senate House of Representatives SOURCE: Jennifer E. Manning, “Membership of the 112th Congress: A Profile,” CRS Report R41647, March 1, 2011, www.senate.gov (accessed 8/15/12).

  12. 21% 4% 4% All Others Religion U.S. Pop. 51% House 57% Senate 56% Protestant U.S. Population Key 24% 30% 24% Catholic 2% 2% 5% Mormon 2% 6% 12% Jewish Senate House of Representatives SOURCE: Jennifer E. Manning, “Membership of the 112th Congress: A Profile,” CRS Report R41647, March 1, 2011, www.senate.gov (accessed 8/15/12).

  13. 2% 38% 55% 18% 26% 24% Professional/ law degree Bachelor’s degree 58% 8% 1% High school grad. Education U.S. Pop. 15% House 0 Senate 0 < High school 8% 28% 20% Other advanced degree U.S. Population Key Senate House of Representatives SOURCE: Jennifer E. Manning, “Membership of the 112th Congress: A Profile,” CRS Report R41647, March 1, 2011, www.senate.gov (accessed 8/15/12).

  14. Average Age U.S. Pop. 37 House 57 Senate 62 SOURCE: Jennifer E. Manning, “Membership of the 112th Congress: A Profile,” CRS Report R41647, March 1, 2011, www.senate.gov (accessed 8/15/12).

  15. The Electoral Connection • Who gets elected? • Who decides to run • Incumbency advantage • Districting and gerrymandering issues

  16. The Electoral Connection • Who runs? • Candidates must “self select” to run. • Some encouraged by parties more than others. • Strong candidate qualities: • Good name recognition • Success in prior elected offices • Ability to raise funds • Willingness to campaign • Ability to reach out to voters

  17. The Electoral Connection • Incumbency advantage • Members of Congress have an array of tools to keep them in office. • Constituency services • Ranking privilege • Name recognition and title • Pork-barrel spending for district • Otherwise strong potential challengers do not run

  18. The Power of Incumbency

  19. The Electoral Connection • Districting and Redistricting • Congressional districts are typically drawn in a manner that clearly benefits one party or the other. • The vast majority of incumbents represent “safe districts,” where most voters support one party. • Primaries are the critical election in safe-seat districts because there is little party competition.

  20. Results of Congressional Reapportionment

  21. The Electoral Connection Apportionment

  22. The Electoral Connection • Direct patronage • Pork-barrel spending • Earmarks • Patronage • Some local and state elected officials have jobs to offer to constituents. • Constituent services • Private bills

  23. How Members of Congress Represent Their Districts

  24. The Organization of Congress • Building blocks of Congress • Parties • Committees • Staff • Caucuses • Parliamentary rules

  25. The Organization of Congress • Speaker of the House is the leader of the majority party. • Both parties also elect a majority and minority leader and whip. • The parties determine which of their members sit on various committees.

  26. The Organization of Congress • The vice president officially chairs the Senate, but only presides at ceremonial events and in the event of a tie vote. • The president pro tempore usually chairs the Senate, but often hands off to another member for routine business.

  27. Majority Party Structure in the House of Representatives

  28. Majority Party Structure in the Senate

  29. The Organization of Congress • Committee system • Standing committees • Select committees • Joint committees • Conference committees

  30. The Organization of Congress • Standing committees are permanent and are where the majority of legislation is written.

  31. The Organization of Congress

  32. The Organization of Congress

  33. The Organization of Congress • Select committees • Formed temporarily to focus on a specific issue • Cannot present bills to the chamber • Bring attention to a specific subject

  34. The Organization of Congress • Joint committees • Formed from members of both chambers • Gather information • Cover issues internal to Congress

  35. The Organization of Congress • Conference committees • For a bill to become a law, the same wording of the bill must be passed by both chambers. • Conference committees are formed to write the final wording when both chambers pass similar bills that need to be reconciled.

  36. The Organization of Congress • The number of seats the minority party has on a committee is roughly proportionate to the seats it has in the House, but at an unfavorable rate. • Seniority determines committee assignments. • Chairs can be removed by the party caucus. • Chairs are term-limited.

  37. The Organization of Congress • Congressional staffers • Specific topic or issue expertise • Constituent services • Over 11,500 staff in D.C. and district offices • Another 2,000 staff for committees

  38. The Organization of Congress • Congressional Research Service • Research arm of Congress • Congressional Budget Office (CBO) • Assess program costs and income from tax plans • General Accounting Office • Audits federal agencies and programs

  39. The Organization of Congress • Congressional caucuses • Groups of senators or representatives who share common goals or interests; may be bipartisan. • Organized around issue, ideological, party, and/or demographic traits • Some have large budgets and staffs, and are capable of pressuring Congress and the executive branch.

  40. How a Bill Becomes a Law

  41. How a Bill Becomes a Law • A bill is a proposed law that has been sponsored by a member of Congress and submitted to the clerk of the House or Senate. • The bill is given a number and assigned to a committee, which typically refers it to a subcommittee. • Bills taken seriously are given a hearing. • Most bills (95 percent) do not get through committee.

  42. How a Bill Becomes a Law • The subcommittee and/or full committee writes the language of the bill. • The full committee sends the bill to the floor. • Bill must pass through the Rules committee in the House first. • Rules committee gives bill an open or closed rule • Senate requires a consent agreement

  43. How a Bill Becomes a Law • The House rule determines how much time is allocated for floor debate. • The debate time is divided equally between those for and against the bill. • The Senate allows for unlimited discussion, requiring 60 votes to end a filibuster via cloture.

  44. How a Bill Becomes a Law • Once a bill clears in one chamber, it is sent to the other where the process starts over. • If both chambers pass the same wording, the bill is sent to the president. • If not, both chambers create a conference committee.

  45. How a Bill Becomes a Law • The president is given 10 days to veto a law. • Vetoes can be overridden by a two-thirds vote in each chamber. • Pocket veto: if there are less than ten days left in the congressional calendar and the president does not sign the bill into law, it dies and must begin again from scratch in the next session.

  46. How Congress Decides

  47. How Congress Decides • Many factors influence members of Congress. • Constituents • Legislators take constituents seriously if they believe it will affect their support at the next election. • This includes voters as well as industries with a large presence in the district. • Electoral incentives make constituents a priority.

  48. How Congress Decides • Interest groups • Can supply legislators with very detailed information and data about pending bills • Can make sizeable donations • Do they represent the interests of constituents?

  49. Party Discipline

  50. How Congress Decides Party Discipline: Congress increasingly partisan since 1990s

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