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Congress

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The Nature and Style of RepresentationDifferentiate between the various ways legislators represent the interests of their constituents.

Congress and the ConstitutionIdentify the key constitutional provisions that shape the way Congress functions.

Organizing Congress: CommitteesEstablish the importance of committees in organizing the legislative process.

Organizing Congress: Political Parties andLeadershipAssess how political parties and leaders manage the legislative process while advancing their own initiatives.

Key Objectives

6.1

12.6.4

6.3

6.2

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Organizing Congress: Rules and NormsShow how the rules and norms of behavior help ensure a more orderly, efficient legislative process.

How a Bill Becomes LawOutline the process by which a bill becomes a law.

Who Sits in Congress?Determine whether members of Congress mirror America’s demographic diversity and why this matters.

Are Americans Losing Faith in the “People’s Branch”?Compare the state of congressional ethics with Americans’ perception of the legislative branch.

Key Objectives

6.5

6.8

6.7

6.6

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The Nature and Style of Representation

• A republic is a democracy in which representatives speak and act on behalf of the citizens

– Trustee Model

– Delegate Model

– Politico Model

– Conscience Model

• Symbolic representation

Differentiate between the various ways legislators represent the interests of their constituents.6.1

Back to Learning Objectives


The philosophy that legislators should adhere to the will of their constituents is represented by which model?

A. Trustee ModelB. Politico ModelC. Delegate ModelD. Conscience Model

6.1



Congress and the Constitution

• Article I describes both the structure and the function of the bicameral legislature.

• This bicameral body would be composed of a House of Representatives and a Senate.

Identify the key constitutional provisions that shape the way Congress functions.6.2



Who Can Serve in Congress?

• Art I, Sec. 2: House members– Length of term– Age, citizenship, and residency requirements.

• Art. 1, Sec 3: Senators– Establishes the method for selecting senators– Age, citizenship and residency requirements– Length of term, dividing the Senate into

classes for the purpose of rotation.

6.2



House of Representatives

• 435 members

• 2-year term, with no limits on re-election

• Qualifications for office

– 25 years of age

– US citizen for at least seven years

– A resident of the state they represent

6.2



Senate

• 100 members• 6-year terms, in staggered rotation• Originally selected by each state legislature,

changed by the Seventeenth Amendment• Qualifications for office

– 30 years old– A US citizen for at least nine years– A resident of the state he or she represents

6.2



Which of the following is not true about members of the House

A. Members must be at least 30 years old.B. Members must be a US citizen.C. Members must reside in the state they

represent.D. Members must win election in their state.

6.2



Congressional Elections

• Article I, Sec. 4 outlines the election process but Congress has intervened– Fifteenth Amendment– Voting Rights Act of 1965– National Voter Registration Act (Motor Voter

Law)– Help America Vote Act of 2002

6.2



Functions of Congress

• Represent constituents

• Make laws

• Provide oversight

• Serve as a check on the Executive and Judicial branches

6.2



Lawmaking

• Article I, Section 7 addresses how a bill becomes law and also specifies the checks and balances between the two houses of Congress and between the other branches of the government.

• Article I, Section 8, lists the expressed powers of the legislative branch, butalso includes the controversial necessary and proper clause.

6.2



Reapportionment and Redistricting

• Following the decennial census, Congress is reapportioned based upon population shifts between the states

• Reapportionment has significant economic and public policy consequences

• After the Congress is reapportioned, the burden then falls upon states to redraw electoral boundaries within their respective states

6.2



Redistricting

• In the early years, many states used at-large districts

• The idea of changing legislative districts in response to population shifts stems from the American idea of geographic representation

• Redistricting can be problematic

6.2



Gerrymandering

• Gerrymandering is the creation of oddly shaped districts as a means of shaping the results of future elections in those districts

6.2

• Packing involves lumping as many opposition voters as possible into one district

• Cracking involves splitting up voters thought to favor the opposition so that they do not make up a majority in any district and thus cannot win in any district.



In Baker v. Carr, the Supreme Court determined that

A. The creation of majority-minority districts is constitutional.

B. Single member districts are constitutional.C. House districts must contain equal numbers

of voters.D. The Voting Rights Act of 1964 was

unconstitutional.

6.2



Organizing Congress: Committees

• The issues of structure and organization are also important when considering how policy change might be accomplished through the legislative process and how individual citizens might make a difference

• The Constitution empowers each house of the legislature to create rules and structure for operation

Establish the importance of committees in organizing the legislative process.6.3



Standing Committees

• Members of each committee become experts• Dividing the legislature’s work is efficient• Enhances the representation process • Provides a “safety valve” function for public

debate and controversy • Offer citizens many points of access into the

legislative process

6.3



Other Types of Committees

• Select committees

• Conference committees

• Joint committees

• Standing joint committees

6.3



What Committees Do

• Referral and jurisdiction– Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946– By the early 1970s, the House adopted a

process of multiple referrals.• Hold hearings and conduct investigations• Markup legislation• Rules report• Provide bureaucratic oversight

6.3



The Importance of Committee Staff

• “Committee staff spend a lot of their time on policymaking activities.” “They research issues and generate information relevant to administrative oversight; draft bills; prepare speeches, statements, and reports; organize and help run committee hearings; and sometimes engage directly in legislative bargaining.

6.3



Organizing Congress: Political Parties and Leadership

Parties in the legislatures– Parties in the legislature serve an orientation function – Parties set the agenda for the coming session and

establish priorities– Parties and whips provide voting cues– Parties organize the committee appointment process

Assess how political parties and leaders manage the legislative process while advancing their own initiatives.6.4



The Importance of Majority Status in the House

• The majority party sets the ratio of party representation on each committee

• The majority party selects the chair of each committee and subcommittee

• The majority party is able to vote a member of their own party as Speaker

• The majority party controls the flow of legislation to the floor

6.4



Legislative Parties and Change

• There are numerous partisan-based groups in Congress, allowing members in each chamber to come together to promote issues of mutual concern

• The largest caucus is the party conference, which is comprised of all members of a political party in each chamber

• Members of the party are expected to support other members, particularly on votes for leadership positions

6.4



Legislative Leadership

• The Constitution states that each chamber will have “leaders”– In the House, a speaker is chosen– In the Senate, a president is selected

• Leaders were to be impartial, but this didn’t last long

• Today a hierarchy of leadership now exists for both parties in both chambers.

6.4



The Senate Leadership

• The vice president is the president of the Senate, but can only vote in the case of a tie

• In the vice president’s absence, the president of the Senate is the president pro tempore

• Majority and minority leaders are the elected leaders representing the respective parties

6.4



Speaker of the House• Specific powers include

– Refers legislation to specific committees– Presides over floor proceedings– Appoints members to conference and joint

committees– Sets rules for debate– Determines agenda for the floor

6.4



In the House of Representatives

• Both formal and informal powers can be used. – Formal powers

• Referral power• Presiding over floor • Appointment power• Setting rules for debate of legislation

– Informal powers• Prestige of the office• Personality of the individual

6.4



Senate

The majority leader of the Senate has broad powers, but not as extensive as in the House for a couple of reasons:

- Internal Senate rules limit the leader’s power, even over his own party members

-The Senate’s status as the ‘upper chamber” affords members with more status

- Senate norms dictate more egalitarian| treatment of the members

6.4



The leader of the Senate is called

A. The speakerB. The president pro tempore C. The majority leaderD. The whip

6.4



Organizing Congress: Rules and Norms

• The Constitution states that each house establishes its own rules– House is larger, with more committees and rules– Senate is smaller with fewer committees and

rules• Unanimous Consent• Filibuster and Cloture• Holds

Show how the rules and norms of behavior help ensure a more orderly, efficient legislative process.6.5



Unwritten Rules of Congress

• Seniority

• Apprenticeship

• Civility

• Specialization

• Reciprocity or logrolling for pork-barrels, earmarks

6.5



How a Bill Becomes a Law

• Introduction

• Referral

• Committee Consideration

• Rules for floor action determined

• Floor consideration and action

• Conference Committee

• Presidential action

• Overriding a veto

Outline the process by which a bill becomes a law.6.6



Unorthodox Lawmaking

• Multiple referrals are increasingly common• There are occasions when bills will bypass

committees altogether• Increasingly common for each chamber to pass

generic bills, allowing conference committees to craft the details

• “Ping-ponging” has increased• Increase in omnibus legislation• An increase in congressional-executive summits

6.6



Emergency Legislation

• Occasionally, emergencies arise during which the legislature is called upon to act quickly and to condense the process into a few days.Congress can move quickly, but not nearly as rapidly as the executive branch can.

6.6



Making Laws: A Summary

• Only about 400 laws are actually passed out of over 10,000 bills introduced over a 2-year period

• Most of the laws passed are low-profile, technical adjustments to existing laws and only a handful are significant measures

• The road from introduction to presidential signature is long and difficult

6.6



A bill offered by one house in one version and not offered in the same version by the other house is called a

A. one-house bill.B. single measure.C. single-action item.D. House measure.

6.6



Who Sits in Congress?

• Why are there so few women and ethnic minorities in Congress?– Historically, fewer women and minorities have

sought office– Single-member districts

• Members are still largely, white, male, and wealthy

Determine whether members of Congress mirror America’s demographic diversity and why this matters.6.7



Gender

• After steady increases in the number of women serving in Congress, the 112th will see a decline

6.7



Race and Ethnicity• Congress has hardly been an diverse body • Some Americans still find it difficult to vote for

minority and female candidates– African Americans

• Only five African Americans have ever been elected to the Senate

• In the House, just over 100 African Americans have served

– Hispanics• About 25 members of the national legislature, or

about 5 percent, are of Hispanic descent

6.7



Income and Occupation

• The national legislature does not reflect America very well on this front either

• Members of Congress are far better educated and far wealthier than the average American

• By and large, attorneys and executives in the business and financial industries make up the majority of the membership

6.7



Are Americans Losing Faith in the “People’s Branch”?

• The gap between perception and reality– Pervasive media coverage of Congress– Recent high-profile cases of scandal– Tighter ethic rules– Concerns over partisan-based gridlock

Compare the state of congressional ethics with Americans’ perception of the legislative branch.6.8



Public Opinion Poll on Congressional Ethics


6.8


Public trust in government has been most affected by

A. heightened awareness due to increases in investigative journalism.

B. the increased role of the Department of Justice in investigating corruption.

C. an increasingly active Ethics Committee in the House.

D. the increased level of American education and a better understanding of how Congress works.

6.8



What do you think?

Should the Constitution be amended to limit terms for members of Congress?

YES. Too few people participate in elections today and limiting terms ensures that members do not lose touch with the electorate.

NO. Congressional members that are doing a good job should be allowed to continue winning if that is what voters want.



What do you think?Is gridlock in Congress a good thing?

YES. This ensures that bad legislationdoesn’t get passed and creates stability.

NO. It indicates extreme polarization of Congress and doesn’t allow work to be done on important issues.



Credits

176 CREDIT TO COME; 178, left to right: The Granger Collection; Bettmann/Corbis; AP Images/Kevin Rivoli; Bettmann/Corbis; 179 AP Images/The Ledger Independent, Terry Prather; 181 AP Images/Seth Perlman; 188 Chuck Kennedy/KRT/Newscom; 191, left to right: Scott J. Farrell/Getty Images; Matt Kryger/Indiana Star/PSG/Newscom; 194 Strom Thurmond Photograph Collection, Special Collections, Clemson University Libraries, Clemson, South Carolina; 196 Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; 197 Ron Niebrugge/Alamy; 199, top middle: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; 199, bottom middle: Larry Downing/Reuters/Landov; 203: AP Images/Michael Dwyer; 209, top to bottom: AP Images/J. Scott Applewhite; CREDIT TO COME; Strom Thurmond Photograph Collection, Special Collections, Clemson University Libraries, Clemson, South Carolina; AP Images/

Carolyn Kaster


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