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The Two Congresses

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The Two Congresses The Two Congresses • Representative/elective institution • reelection is never far from members’ minds. • Lawmaking institution • First branch of government • Unique among representative institutions David Mayhew- 3 types of behavior Congress as single minded seeker of reelection • Advertising • Nobody’s senator but yours • Credit claiming • Has to be credible • Pork barreling; casework • Position taking • Inherently costly • http://www.house.gov • Elise Stefanik, By the Numbers, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9akxB4zFWJ0 A Map of Congress Congress is bicameral • Bicameral (House and Senate) • different time perspectives • different rules and norms Bicameral Bicameralism: Two Equal Chambers House Senate • 435 members • 100 members • Citizen representation • State representation • 2 year terms • 6 year terms • Hierarchical • Collegial • Partisan • Less partisan • Committees and leaders • Members matter dominate more • Speaker and Rules • Filibuster Committee Effect of Bicameralism • Fragmentation • Geography • 435 and 100 people sharing power • What would policy be like if Congress was unicameral and elected in at large elections? How a Bill Doesn’t Become a Law— Congress as a law- defeating, not lawmaking institution What does Congress do? Congressional Committees • W. Wilson, Congress in Committees is Congress at work • What do Committees do • Hold hearings • Write legislation • Exercise oversight Committees • Foreign Affairs Committee https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/ • Agriculture Committee Features of Committees • 19 committees, 84 subcommittees • Division of labor • Fixed membership • Fixed jurisdiction, like a monopoly • Legislative Specialization • Manage flow of legislative business • Importance of seniority • http://clerk.house.gov/committee_info/index.html Committee Membership • Determined by Political Parties • Guided by members’ seniority and preference • Preferences based on constituency needs to better chances of reelection Congressional Committees • W. Wilson, Congress in Committees is Congress at work • What do Committees do • Hold hearings • Write legislation • Exercise oversight • http://commerce.senate.gov/public/ • http://energy.senate.gov/public/ Congressional Leadership • House • House Minority Leader: • Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) • http://www.dems.gov/ • Speaker: Paul Ryan- • http://speaker.house.gov/ • http://republicanleader.house.gov/ • House GOP Conference • http://www.gop.gov/web/guest/home Senate Leadership • Majority Leader: Mitch McConnell (R-KY) • Minority Leader: Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Leadership and Parties Party caucuses • Elect leaders and committee chairs • structure the workings of Congress • Develop common policy positions • Weaker in senate than House Leadership powers • Control committee appointments • Refer bills to committees • Control Rules Committee Key Institutions House Senate • Hastert Boehner Rule • Filibuster • "majority of the majority" rule • 60 votes to invoke cloture rule, • Speaker will not schedule a Rule 22 floor vote on any bill that does not have majority support within his or her party — even if the majority of the members of the House would vote to pass it. • 218 votes Pivot Politics • all players can be arrayed along a unidimensional policy space. • most important "pivotal players" are the median member of Congress (not clear which house), the (Senate) filibuster pivot, the veto override pivot, and the president. Filibuster • Cloture rule–Rule 22– • sets time limit on debate • only formal procedure that Senate rules provide for breaking a filibuste Source: US Senate http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/reference/cloture_motions/clotureCounts.htm http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brookings-now/posts/2013/11/chart-recent-history-of- senate-cloture-votes-to-end-filibusters What Didn’t Pass • Stimulus-- $800 million, not $1.2 • Dream Act- path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who were children when they immigrated, provided they serve in the military or go to college • Disclose Act- require corporations to disclose their political spending, and bar government contractors, TARP recipients and foreign firms from such spending. • Employee Free Choice Act- allow workers to form unions by collecting signatures of more than half of a workplace. • Public Option- a government-run health plan or "public option" similar to Medicare that exchange participants could purchase instead of private insurance. • Paycheck Fairness- make it easier for women to raise concerns about pay inequity in their workplaces • American Jobs Act- 50 percent cut in the payroll tax for workers, and a similar cut for small businesses, as well as aid to states to pay teachers and other workers, infrastructure spending • Buffett Rule- set a 30 percent minimum tax for the very wealthy, phasing in from $1 million to $2 million. • Repeal Big Oil Tax Subsidies Act –eliminate $20 billion in subsidies The Two Congresses • Representative/elective institution • reelection is never far from members’ minds. • Lawmaking institution • First branch of government • Unique among representative institutions David Mayhew- 3 types of behavior Congress as single minded seeker of reelection • Advertising • Nobody’s senator but yours • Credit claiming • Has to be credible • Pork barreling; casework • Position taking • Inherently costly • http://www.house.gov • Elise Stefanik, By the Numbers, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9akxB4zFWJ0 A Map of Congress Congress is bicameral • Bicameral (House and Senate) • different time perspectives • different rules and norms Bicameral Bicameralism: Two Equal Chambers House Senate • 435 members • 100 members • Citizen representation • State representation • 2 year terms • 6 year terms • Hierarchical • Collegial • Partisan • Less partisan • Committees and leaders • Members matter dominate more • Speaker and Rules • Filibuster Committee Effect of Bicameralism • Fragmentation • Geography • 435 and 100 people sharing power • What would policy be like if Congress was unicameral and elected in at large elections? How a Bill Doesn’t Become a Law— Congress as a law- defeating, not lawmaking institution What does Congress do? Congressional Committees • W. Wilson, Congress in Committees is Congress at work • What do Committees do • Hold hearings • Write legislation • Exercise oversight Committees • Foreign Affairs Committee https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/ • Agriculture Committee Features of Committees • 19 committees, 84 subcommittees • Division of labor • Fixed membership • Fixed jurisdiction, like a monopoly • Legislative Specialization • Manage flow of legislative business • Importance of seniority • http://clerk.house.gov/committee_info/index.html Committee Membership • Determined by Political Parties • Guided by members’ seniority and preference • Preferences based on constituency needs to better chances of reelection Policy Consequences of Committees • PROs • more opportunities for credit claiming • Facilitate specialization serve institutional policy needs • Cons • reinforces fragmentation • Encourages log-rolling Congressional Leadership • House • House Minority Leader: • Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) • http://speaker.house.gov/ • http://www.dems.gov/ • Speaker: John Boehner- http://republicanleader.house.gov/ • House GOP Conference • http://www.gop.gov/web/guest/home Senate Leadership • Majority Leader: Harry Reid (R-NV) • Minority Leader: Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Leadership and Parties Party caucuses • Elect leaders and committee chairs • structure the workings of Congress • Develop common policy positions • Weaker in senate than House Leadership powers • Control committee appointments • Refer bills to committees • Control Rules Committee Key Institutions House Senate • Boehner Rule • Filibuster.
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