congress branch of the people. powers of congress duties of the house and senate the house of...
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congressBranch of the people
Powers of Congress
Duties of the House and Senate
The House of Representatives
-Initiates impeachment proceedings against a President or other government official
-Originates revenue bills
The Senate -Votes to convict impeached President or other
officials
-Must approve major presidential appointments
-Sole power to affirm treaties
IncumbentIncumbents have a high reelection rate
However, public hold members of Congress in low regard, but they believe failures are due to not their member of congress
Members of Congress use gerrymandering and franking powers to hold on to their seats
Public Confidence
Off year elections
elections held on off years (non presidential) usually have big gains for the opposing party of the White House
2002 was only election since civil war where presidents party gained seats in Congress
in 2006 the Democratic party to back control of congress leading up to this years presidential election
Diversifying congress
Minorities have been underrepresented in Congress
Racial gerrymandering has lead to more minority members of Congress
Shaw v. Reno said racial gerrymandering was unconstitutional, however that decision was modified to allow it to be a consideration in drawing districts.
Issues to Agenda
Issues may reach the agenda in many ways
-A highly visible event (like Sept. 11th) draws our attention to a problem
-Presidential support
-Congressional party leaders and committee chairs
-Interest group efforts
Legislation -Intro to law
Series of specific steps, but legislation can be treated differently at each step
Introduction > Assigned to committee > Assigned to subcommittee > debated and discussed > House and Senate bills reconsiled > sent to a vote
Passed!
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Presidents actionPresident’s action
1)Sign
2)Veto
3)Neither sign nor veto within 10 days bill becomes law
4)Neither sign nor veto within 10 days but Congress adjourns pocket veto
Presidents capitalize on nationwide popular election
Public expects president to be legislator-in-chief
Hundreds of legislative liaison personnel work for executive branch
Expertise and seniority
Congressional Expertise and Seniority
Influence on committees grows formally with seniority
Influence on committees grows informally with increased expertise
Senior member of the majority party usually becomes the committee chair
John Dingell, MI 27 Terms, Consecutive
John Conyers Jr., MI 22 Terms, Consecutive
Robert Byrd, Senate WV
Ted Kennedy, Senate Mass
Behave!
Norms of Behavior
Unwritten codes of behavior to keep things running
Members show respect for their colleagues
Members should be willing to bargain with one another
Some norms have changed in recent years
Political parties in congress
Political parties
Have limited, but important, resources to influence members of Congress
Party leaders can help or hinder rank-and-file members in many ways
Partisanship is rising
whips - Assistants to the floor leaders who are also elected by their party conferences. The Majority and Minority Whips (and their assistants) are responsible for mobilizing votes within their parties on major issues. In the absence of a party floor leader, the whip often serves as acting floor leader.
Interest groups and congress
Interest groups
A way for constituents to influence Congress
Sources of useful information
Recent scandals raise concerns about conflicts of interest
Trustee or Delegate?
Trustees or Delegates?
Trustee: a representative who is obligated to consider the views of constituents but is not obligated to vote according to those views if he or she believes they are misguided
Delegate: a legislator whose primary responsibility is to represent the majority view of his or her constituents, regardless of his or her own view
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