I. Contrast parliament v. congress

1. I. Contrast parliament v. congress • A. Compare w/ GB • 1. Parl- candidates selected by their party • a. Become candidate by asking your party • b. Voters choose between natl parties; not people • c. MP’s select Prime Minister and leaders • d. Party members vote together on most issues • e. Renomination depends on being loyal to party

2. f. Principal work is debating natl issues • g. Members have very little power, low pay • 2. Congressional candidates run in primaries • a. Vote for person, not party • b. Result is independent reps from ind. district • c. Members do not choose chief exec • d. Principal work is representation & action • e. Party discipline limited • f. Members paid well, many perks

3. Evolution of Congress (History) • Text. 6 Phases, plus Senate • Historical Timeline (dates, characteristics, leaders, where the power is, events and issues • “Highlight” Phases

4. 3 Theories on how Members of Congress Behave Think of this as an essay question

5. Representational want to get reelected, so they vote to please the constituency • 1. Assumes constituent’s have a clear view on issues • 2. Find out the correlation between constituent’s opinions and rep’s votes -strong on civil rights and welfare; weak on foreign policy • 3. On divided issues their stuck (may leave) • 4. Marginal districts are just as independent

6. PROBLEMS • -P.O is not clear on most issues • -Relying on Interest groups can be misleading • -Even though the public may not pay attention to your votes, your opponent will

7. Organizational • constituency doesn't follow reps vote, so it doesn't matter what they think, but it is important to please other reps

8. 3 POLITICAL CUES • 1. Principle “cue” is from the party • 2. Opinions of “ideological similar” reps • 3. Members of their party who are on the sponsoring committee

9. Attitudinal • with so many conflicting interests, they cancel each other out allowing the rep to be free to vote on their own beliefs

10. Speaker of the House (powers) • 1. Decides who speaks • 2. Assigns bills to committees • 3. Rules on Motions • 4. Appoints members to special committees (and Rules) • 5. Informal powers such as offices and patronage

11. Senate Majority Leader • Harry Reid, Runs the Senate

12. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi

13. House Majority leader Steny Hoyer • D- Md

14. Senate Minority Leader • Mitch McConnell, R, Kentucky

15. Organization of Congress Committees (4 Types) • 1. Standing (permanent) • 2. Select (limited, temp) • 3. Joint (both reps and senators) • 4. Conference (joint to resolve difference between sen and rep bill)

16. General Functions of Committees • 1. Consider bills • 2. Oversight of exec agencies • 3. Conduct investigations • *1995 Repubs “slimmed down” committees

17. Advantages of Majority Party • 1. Always have a majority of members (ratio) • 2. Allowed to select chairperson

18. HBBL • Advantages • Lee Hamilton speech • His goal is to increase understanding of Congress • 10 lessons to Read, take notes, and explain.

19. Open Rules v. Closed Rules • Closed rules--, powerful chairman, strong speakers • 1. Makes it easier to get things done • 2. Puts House in good bargaining position w/Pres • 3. Reduces the power of special interests • ‘;

20. Open Rules • Weak chairs, more sub comm, public • 1. Individual members have more power and say • 2. Everyone gets heard, public open • 3. HARDER TO GET THINGS DONE

21. Committees Match Interests • -policy oriented (foreign, finance, budget) • -Constituency oriented(Small business, vets)

22. Filibuster Only allowed in the Senate Prolonged Speech to delay a bill Rule 22 Cloture could stop with 60 votes

23. Party • From 1933 to 2004 36 Congresses convened (every 2 years) • Democrats controlled both houses in 25 of them (page 328 practice essay) • Vote seat gap included

24. AP Free Response Practice • Q. The Democratic Party experienced great success in legislative elections, even when the Republicans have won Presidential elections. During the mid 1990’s however, the Democratic domination appears to have ended. Discuss and examine the reasons for the Democratic domination, and for the subsequent decline.

25. Organize your thoughts • Understand what is being asked • Jot down notes • Brainstorm • Each paragraph could be a new piece of evidence and support • Keep in the scope of the question • 25 minutes per question!

26. Why Democrats Dominated Congress (Historically) • 1. Vote Seat Gap • 2. District apportionment • 3. Incumbent Advantage • 4. Better, experienced candidates • 5. More activist support

27. Why Democratic Domination Ended • 1. 1990 anti-incumbency feelings • 2. “Mess” in Washington • 3. Budget Deficits • 4. Gridlock and arguing • 5. Congressional scandals • 6. Public Respect for the Institution down • 7. Dems less unified/ loss of South/unions

28. Incumbency Advantages • Review It is worth 8%

29. Conservative Coalition • What is it? • Why is it not as important today?

30. Congressional Staff- What Do They Do? • 1. Constituency Service • 2. Legislative Functions • 3. Advocates of their Employer

31. Growth of Staff • With many subcommittees, more staff is needed (snowball effect) • Members of Congress do not deal with each other as much

32. Staff Agencies • CRS • 900 employees • Politically neutral • GAO • Headed by comptroller general (15yr) • 5000 employees • OTA, CBO

33. How a Bill Becomes a Law • Some bills move slow while others move fast • ($ and regulations move slow/ bills w/ clear, appealing ideas move fast) Why the difference?

34. Advantages and Challenges • Complexity of law making gives advantages to opposition • Easier to block than pass

35. Two things that are essential for law makers: • 1. coalition building 2. understanding popular sentiment

36. Ways to introduce a bill: • 1. House can hand it to clerk, or place in the “Hopper” • 2. In Senate, they must be recognized by the presiding officer

37. If Bill Fails…. • Considered dead • Has to be introduced again in the next session

38. Who Initiates legislation?? • Congress? • President?

39. Congressional Scandals • Find a scandal described in your text from the 104-108th congress. Write a quick news article (5 w’s) Include any consequences.

40. Read all pages except pages 321-324, up to Filibuster for Test on Ch 13 • pp. 317-20 (skim) • Read/ review notes • Pp. HBBL Worksheets and terms • reforming congress notes/ handout

41. Type of Question • Straightfoward such as “Choose 2 of the following Supreme Court cases and explain the position of each side, state the SC ruling, and discuss whether it increased or decreased the rights of individuals”

42. Short Answer Review • Obvious from notes! • Dominance of Democrats in leg • End of Democratic domination • Powers of the Speaker • Current Congressional leaders • Types of Committees

43. Review • Functions of Committees • Advantages of Majority party • Characteristics and effects of closed rules and open rules • Functions of congressional staff • How a Bill becomes a law • Checks on the Executive branch • Power of Lobbies

44. Review Cont. • Incumbency Advantages • Franking • Gerrymandering • Pork barrel projects • 3 views of Representation • Effects of Party Polarization • 3 General types of caucuses

45. 1970’s Bill of Rights • 1. Secret ballots for chair elections. • 2. Each member can only chair one • 3. Mandatory subcommittees • 4. More staff, open to public • 5. Overall, decentralized

47. Effect of 70’s Bill of Rights • Gave more power to individual members • Lessen the power of party leaders and chairpersons • Made it harder for chairs to block legislation

48. AP Ch 11 Quiz • When? • Tuesday, March 7th, 2006 • What? • All VOCAB and HBBL study guide