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Congress: Representative Pressures

Congress: Representative Pressures. Jamie Monogan University of Georgia February 18, 2014. Objectives. By the end of this meeting, participants should be able to: Debate how members of Congress can best represent constituents. Constitutional Prerogatives: Powers of Congress.

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Congress: Representative Pressures

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  1. Congress:Representative Pressures Jamie Monogan University of Georgia February 18, 2014

  2. Objectives By the end of this meeting, participants should be able to: • Debate how members of Congress can best represent constituents.

  3. Constitutional Prerogatives: Powers of Congress • Designed to be the most powerful branch • Primary lawmaking body • Article 1, Section 8, lists powers • Broadest power is found in the necessary and proper (or “elastic”) clause

  4. Constitutional Prerogatives: Structure • Representation through a bicameral legislature • Comprised of the House and Senate • Connecticut Compromise between large and small states • Compare and contrast the House and the Senate • Principal-agent problem: public representation

  5. Causes of Individualism in Congress: Plurality & SMD • Elections for the House and Senate use single-member districts (SMD) and plurality rule • In single-member districts, each district/state chooses one representative • Plurality means that whoever receives the most votes wins

  6. Causes of Individualism in Congress: Primaries • Candidates for office used to be determined by political parties • Primaries started as a way to nominate candidates in the early 20th century • Primaries allow voters to choose who will appear under the party label on the general-election ballot

  7. Causes of Individualism in Congress: Redistricting • The number of districts in each state is based on population, with each state getting at least one • The total number of districts has been fixed at 435 since 1911 • Most states redraw district lines every ten years even if they don’t lose or gain seats

  8. Redistricting and “One Person, One Vote” • Supreme Court put restrictions on the drawing of districts in the 1960s • Baker v. Carr (1962) • Wesberry v. Sanders (1964) • Reynolds v. Sims (1964) • Districts must adhere to “one person, one vote” standard • Forced states to draw districts with equal populations

  9. Gerrymandering • Politics easily intrudes into the drawing of districts • By redistricting, states can manipulate representation • Districts are frequently drawn in strange shapes to gain political advantage

  10. Redistricting and Minority Representation • Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the election of more minority candidates • Federal examiners under the old Section 6 • Court scrutiny of congressional redistricting • Section 5 provision for preclearance • Shelby County v. Holder (2013) and Section 4(b) • Also a rise in the number of women elected, but Congress still does not demographically mirror the nation as a whole

  11. Partisan and Racial Redistricting

  12. What is the Best Type of Representation? • How does a member determine how best to represent her constituents? • Edmund Burke proposed that sometimes members act like trustees and other times like delegates • Most members try to balance these visions of representation

  13. The Incumbency Advantage • Members of Congress are reelected in very high numbers • What causes this advantage? • Gerrymandering • Pork • Television access • Campaign finance • National party efforts

  14. Assignments • Please download and read the amended syllabus. • For Thursday: Read Kollman pp. 153-183

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