Congressional Procedures and the Policy Process: Understanding the Role of Rules and Representation

1. February 14, 2005

2. Where have we been?

3. Congressional Procedures and the Policy Process Walter J. Oleszek

4. The Constitutional Context • Limited Government • Separation of Powers • Checks and Balances • Federalism

5. Functions of Rules and Procedures • Stability (and predictability) • Legitimacy • Division of Labor • Protection of Minority Rights • Conflict Resolution • Distribution of Power

6. Rules and Policy Making in Congress • Procedure and Policy Procedures affect outcomes. Procedural moves express policy decisions. The nature of policy determines the use of procedure. Procedural expertise helps members impact policy. • Conventional versus Unconventional Lawmaking “I’m just a bill…” • Precedents and Folkways Precedents: “…the accumulated past decisions on matters of procedure…” Folkways: “…unwritten norms of behavior that members are expected to observe.”

7. Congressional Decision Making •Decentralized Power Structure Political and structural realities More than 200 committees and subcommittees Parties can provide cohesion. • Multiple Decision Points • Bargaining and Coalition Building Logrolling Compromise Nonlegislative Favors • The Congressional Cycle Two-Year Deadline

8. House versus Senate • The Big Three Size of Body Size of District Length of Term • Complexity of Rules

9. House versus Senate continued • Policy Incubation • Specialists versus Generalists • Distribution of Power More even in Senate • Similarities Equal power Lawmaking, oversight and representation Heavy workloads Decentralized committee and party structures Dependence on staff

10. Pressures on Members • President & Executive Branch • The Fourth Estate • Constituent Pressures • Washington Lobbyists

11. What is Representation?

12. District-Based Conception Yes No Policy/Issue Collective High Policy Content Service/Allocational Symbolic/Descriptive Low Conceptions of Representation

13. Service/Allocational • Obtaining projects that help the district (“pork) or interceding in the bureacracy (“cutting through red tape) • Motives • Sense of duty • Grateful constituents = Reelection • Studies on impact of pork for reelection mixed • Issues: necessary for constituents to have help?, votes for district at expense of nation?

14. Symbolic/Descriptive • Legislator as “symbol” that represents public • Representation may extend beyond geographic boundaries of the district • Individual Examples: female legislator as advocate for women nationally, minority legislator as advocate for minorities nationally • Group Example: legislative caucuses

15. Collective • Represent constituents with a more collective view • political parties • Congress as representative of the nation as a whole • May lead to conflict with district constituents

16. The Great Divide • Trustee Representation (Burkean) • Delegate Representation

17. Policy/Issues • Style • Delegate: follow the mandate of constituents • Trustee: exercise independent judgment • “Politico”: switches roles or may engage be a delegate and trustee at same time • Focus • The constituency that is being represented

18. Policy/Issue Studies • Wahlke et al (1952): divide members into trustee, delegate, and “politico” • Miller & Stokes (1958): attempt to link constituent opinions to legislator’s behavior • Social Welfare: Vote by Party • Civil Rights: Delegate Role • Foreign Affairs: Deference to Executive • Fenno (1977): “home style”; members convince constituents that they represent them regardless of the extent of agreement

19. Policy/Issue Studies Continued • Browne (1995): constituents influence vote on agricultural legislation • Hall (1987, 1996): district influences legislator membership on committees

20. “Perceptions of the Constituency”Richard F. Fenno, Jr.

21. Concentric Constituencies • Geographic • Reelection • Primary • Personal

22. Geographical Constituency • “The District” • Physical: specified by boundaries • Internal Demographic and Political Variables: socioeconomic status, ethnicity, ideology, partisanship, religion, diversity, etc. • Heterogeneity v. Homogeneity: variable that seems to determine members’ perceptions of their districts

23. Reelection Constituency • “The Supporters” • Who she thinks will vote for her • Reference points in determining reelection constituency • Cross-Sectional • Longitudinal • Partisans, Cross-Party, Least-Likely • “Last Time” v. “This Time” • Challenger has greatest potential for altering the size and composition of reelection constituency • Issues can alter reelection constituency

24. Primary Constituency • “The Strongest Supporters” • Weak supporters: follow routines (straight party) or are temporary (waiting for alternative) • Strong supporters: more political activity, will not support any challenger • Difficult to delineate primary constituency in some cases, members who recently emerged from a primary election can determine their primary constituency

25. Personal Constituency • “The Intimates” • Few individuals: closest advisors and confidants, sometimes a spouse (“Kitchen Cabinet”) • Usually the people who have been by an official since their first race • Thought of as “friends”

26. “The Electoral Connection and Congress”David R. Mayhew

27. Proximate Goal • Reelection • Universal • Cannot achieve other goals if member is not reelected • “All members of Congress have a primary interest in getting re-elected. Some members have no other interest.”

28. Activities Useful for Reelection • Advertising • visiting constituency, non-political speeches to home audiences, letters of condolence and congratulation, newsletters, opinion editorials • Franking Privilege

29. Activities Useful for Reelection • Credit Claiming: generating belief that the legislator is personally responsible for a government change • Particularized Benefits • Given to specific individual or group that allows the single legislator to be recognized • Done in an ad hoc fashion

30. Activities Useful for Reelection • Position-taking: “public enunciation of a judgmental statement on anything likely to be of interest to political actors” • roll call vote, floor addresses, speeches, television appearances, letters, press releases, interviews, etc.

31. Institution Meets Electoral Needs • Benefits Associated with the Office • Staff, casework capabilities, franking privilege • Seniority • Committee Structure • Platform for position-taking, particularized benefits, allows division of labor among members • Parties • Majority party could cut off particularized benefits from minority party, but this has not happened

32. “Member Goals”Richard F. Fenno, Jr.

33. Basic Goals of a Legislator 1. Reelection 2. Influence within the House 3. Good Public Policy X. (career beyond house, private gain) • Committee membership reflects the goal of a legislators

34. Appropriations, Ways & Means • “Power,” “Prestige,” “Importance” • Reflects desire to have influence within the House

35. Interior, Post Office • “District Interests,” “Projects,” “Political Help” • Reflects goal of reelection by helping constituents

36. Education, Labor, Foreign Affairs • “Interesting,” “Exciting,” “Controversial,” “Important” • Reflects goal of making good public policy

37. LIBERAL CONSERVATIVE Congress: A Political-Economic History of Roll Call VotingKeith T. Poole, Howard Rosenthal et al

38. Motivation of Legislator • Ideology • Liberal to Conservative Spectrum • Constraint Hypothesis: issues tend to be mapped onto a fixed ordering or placement of legislators • Voting tends to be highly consistent over a member’s time in office. • History: http://www.voteview.com/h461051.htm

39. Partisanship and Elections • Party-ID is a form or brand loyalty • Usually passed generation to generation • SD, D, ID, I, IR, R, SR • But the pillars have begun to crumble • Campaigns have become ever-more candidate-focused. • Growing disconnect between the partisanship of voters and elected officials

40. “The Traditional Right” Religious Support Bush 72%-17% US should use preemptive strike Gay relationships are “morally wrong” Religion should play more important role in government Oppose affirmative action Tax cuts are best way to stimulate economy Liberal Conservative “Traditional Conservatives” 16% Secular

41. “The Traditional Left” Religious Support Kerry 79%-8% US should not use preemptive strike Support gay rights Pro-immigration Pro-affirmative action Oppose tax cuts as economic policy Basic health insurance is a right “Traditional Liberals” 32% Liberal Conservative Secular

42. “The Secular Center” Religious Split evenly for President (42% Bush, 41% Kerry) Strongly supports gay rights Supports free trade Believes strongly in separation of church and state Oppose affirmative action Less supportive of environment Less likely to believe basic health insurance is a right Liberal Conservative “Secular Centrists” 29% Secular

43. “The Religious Center” Religious “Religious Centrists” 23% Liberal Conservative Lean Bush 51%-34% Support affirmative action Support the environment Gay relationships are “morally wrong” Religion should play more important role in government Highest concentration of African Americans and Latinos Secular

44. The Political Personality of a New Generation Religious “Traditional Liberals” 32% “Religious Centrists” 23% Liberal Conservative “Secular Centrists” 29% “Traditional Conservatives” 16% Secular

45. L S R C Democrat Republican L S R C Liberal Conservative Political Personality Index L=Traditional Liberals R=Traditional Conservatives R=Religious Centrists S=Secular Centrists R S C L Politically Inactive Politically Active L R S C Optimistic Pessimistic

46. S L C R Not Religious Religious L S R C Foreign PolicyLiberal Foreign PolicyConservative Political Personality Index L R S C Economic Policy Liberal Economic Policy Conservative L R S C Domestic Policy Liberal Domestic Policy Conservative R C L S Gay Rights Liberal Gay Rights Conservative

47. The Politics of Congressional ElectionsGary C. Jacobson

48. Interpreting Election Results • Based on economic conditions • National events at the time of elections • Scandals • Foreign affairs • Public dissatisfaction with Executive

49. Models of Congressional Election Results “The better the economy is performing, the better the congressional candidates of the president’s party do on election day.” • Tufte: division of Congressional vote related to economy and presidential popularity • Jacobson: 70% of change in % of House seats held by President’s party explained by Exposure, Change in Real Income per capita, Presidential approval • Most aggregate studies are based on the assumption that personal financial well-being is the criterion used by voters

50. Presidential Coattails • Winning presidential candidates lead some congressional candidates of the same party to victory • Erratic and usually modest in recent elections