Lowi Ginsberg Shepsle Ansolabehere Congress The First Branch Chapter 6 Clicker Question Trust in Government Which of the following institutions do you trust the most Congress the presidency ID: 644058
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American GovernmentPower and Purpose
Lowi, Ginsberg, Shepsle, Ansolabehere
Congress:The First Branch
Chapter 6Slide2
Clicker Question: Trust in Government
Which of the following institutions do you trust the most?Congress
the presidencythe Supreme CourtSlide3
Institutional Approval RatingsGallup, July 13–17, 2016
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job? Approve: 13 percent Disapprove: 83 percent
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as president? (tracking poll) Approve: 49 percent Disapprove: 47 percentDo you approve or disapprove of the way the Supreme Court is handling its job? Approve: 42 percent Disapprove: 52 percentSlide4
Congress Is the First BranchThe U.S. Congress is more independent and powerful than legislatures in other industrialized democraciesIt is no accident that the makeup and powers of Congress are outlined in Article I of the Constitution and that Article I is, by far, the longest article of the ConstitutionSlide5
The Powers of Congress:Article I, Section 8Congress is given a vast array of powers:
Power to tax and spendPower to raise an army/navy and declare warPower to regulate commercePower to coin money (regulate the currency)Power to make all laws
“necessary and proper” (elastic clause)Today, presidents play a bigger role in each of these areasSlide6
Congress and RepresentationCongress is the most important representative institution in governmentA member’s primary responsibility is to his or her constituency, the district making up the area from which an official is elected
Good representation encompasses a wide variety of activitiesSlide7
How Members Represent Their DistrictsSlide8
Forms of RepresentationAgency representation—legislators are held accountable by their constituents if they fail to represent them properly
Delegate—legislators vote according to the preferences of their constituenciesTrustee
—legislators vote based on what they think is best for their constituenciesSlide9
Descriptive RepresentationLegislators not only represent others; they may be representative of others as well
Descriptive representation refers to the idea that we seek to have a legislature that has demographic characteristics similar to the population it representsSlide10
Demographic Summary ofMembers of 114th CongressSlide11
House and Senate:Differences in RepresentationCongress is a bicameral
legislative assembly: it is composed of two chambers or housesThe Senate is smaller and more deliberativeThe House is larger, and thus power is more centralized and the process is more organizedSlide12
House and Senate: Differences in Representation (Table)Slide13
The Electoral System:Who Runs?Because members of Congress are agents, electoral considerations are very important
To win, candidates needAmbitionMoneyName recognition/strong political baseCharisma/strong personal organizationSlide14
The Electoral System:IncumbencyIncumbency
(holding a political office for which one is running) is a huge advantage in congressional electionsSome of the advantages includeCaseworkPatronagePork-barrel legislation
Early moneyName recognitionSlide15
Clicker Question 2
Can you name the member of Congress who represents you? the person who ran against your representative in the most recent House election?
both? neither?Slide16
Turnover in the House of RepresentativesSlide17
The Power of IncumbencySlide18
Money in Congressional ElectionsOne of the big reasons congressional incumbents are so safe is that they raise and spend more money than their opponents
In part, this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, as campaign donors want to give only to those they think can win, and incumbents usually win, so they get more moneySlide19
House and Senate Campaign ExpendituresSlide20
The Electoral System:Congressional DistrictsEvery 10 years, House districts must be reapportioned among the states and lines redrawn to reflect population changes
There is a lot at stake in how these lines are drawn, as voters can be aggregated within certain districts so as to give an advantage to one political party; this is called gerrymanderingSlide21
Changing Apportionment of House Seats by RegionSlide22
Problems of Legislative OrganizationCooperation among many members is difficult for several reasons:Matching influence and interest: each member has particular priorities but only one vote on each issue
Imperfect information: legislators cannot be experts on every policy areaCompliance: monitoring legislative deals and legislative outcomes requires collective effortSlide23
Legislative Organization:PartiesMembers organize themselves into party coalitions in the House and Senate called a caucus (Democrats) or a conference (Republicans)
Members choose leadership (Speaker, Majority Leader, Minority Leader, Whips)Members empower party leaders to influence the agenda and manage legislationSlide24
Legislative Organization:CommitteesMembers are also organized into standing committees divided by policy jurisdiction
There are similar jurisdictional committees in the House and SenateCommittees haveGatekeeping authority—the right to decide if a change in policy will be considered
Proposal power—the capacity to bring a proposal before the chamberSlide25
Legislative Organization: Committees (Table)Slide26
Legislative Organization:Staffers and AgenciesEach member of Congress has a large staff that provides assistance on everything from writing legislation to correspondence with constituents
Committees have staffCongress has also created staff agencies like CRS, GAO, and CBO to provide nonpartisan policy advice to membersSlide27
Clicker Question 3Which of the following institutions serves as a solution to Congress’s
collective action problems? party leadership
committees congressional staffers All of these are correct.Slide28
Clicker Question 3 (Answer)Which of the following institutions serves as a solution to Congress’s
collective action problems? party leadership
committees congressional staffers All of these are correct.Slide29
How a Bill Becomes a Law:Committee
DeliberationBills must first be introduced by a member of Congress and referred to committee(s)
Most bills die in committeeSome are referred to a subcommittee, are amended, and are reported out to the full chamberSlide30
How a Bill Becomes a Law:Committee Deliberation ModelSlide31
How a Bill Becomes a Law:Debate in the House
Bills reported out of committee first go to the Rules Committee, which determines the rules under which the bill will be debated on the floor, where the majority rulesThe Rules Committee may provide
A closed rule: prohibits the introduction of amendmentsAn open rule: permits the addition of amendmentsSlide32
How a Bill Becomes a Law: Debate in the SenateThe Senate has a tradition of unlimited debate
It takes three-fifths of the Senate (60 votes) to invoke cloture (end of debate)Recently, greater partisanship has meant that the minority frequently uses the filibuster—a delaying tactic in which senators do not allow debate to end—to kill legislationSlide33
How a Bill Becomes a Law:Reconciling
BillsTo become a law, a bill must be passed in exactly the same form in both chambers
Frequently, the two chambers send the bill back and forth until one chamber passes a version passed by the otherSometimes, a conference committee is appointed with members from each chamber to work out differencesSlide34
How a Bill Becomes a Law:Presidential Action
The president may veto legislation, and Congress may only override the veto with a two-thirds vote in each chamberPresidents generally use the threat of a veto to shape legislation and try to avoid the embarrassment of having a veto overriddenSlide35
How a Bill Becomes a LawSlide36
Unorthodox Lawmaking:Health Care Reform ActGetting legislation through this long process sometimes requires unorthodox procedures
The Health Care Reform Act is a good example of thisMultiple referrals to committeesUse of reconciliation to pass changes to the bill that couldn’t overcome a filibusterSlide37
The Distributive Tendency in CongressBuilding the super-majority coalitions in Congress necessary to pass legislation leads to a distributive tendency in legislation
This means that bills are frequently designed so as to distribute policy benefits as widely as possibleSlide38
Clicker Question 4Because it is very difficult to enact legislation in Congress, we tend to see
a lot of “unorthodox lawmaking.”
legislative institutions that organize action. a distributive tendency in lawmaking. All of these are correct.Slide39
Clicker Question 4 (Answer)Because it is very difficult to enact legislation in Congress, we tend to see
a lot of “unorthodox lawmaking.”
legislative institutions that organize action. a distributive tendency in lawmaking. All of these are correct.Slide40
How Members DecideConstituency—members
care about what constituents will think on Election DayInterest groups—groups that educate the public, mobilize constituents, and make campaign donations
Party voting—members listen to party leaders more today than they did 50 years agoSlide41
Party Unity on the RiseSlide42
Widening Ideological Gap Between Parties in CongressSlide43
Causes of Increasing Partisanship in CongressGreater power for party leadersCommittee assignments
Access to the floorThe whip systemLogrollingIncreasing power and visibility for the presidentGerrymanderingSlide44
Beyond Legislation:Other Congressional PowersAdvice and consent (Senate only)
Ratification of treaties (Senate only)ImpeachmentSlide45
Congress and the Policy PrincipleThe policy principle states that “political outcomes are the products of individual preferences and institutional procedures
”We have seen that individual preferences are very divergent and that institutional mechanisms have been developed in Congress to make collective action possibleSlide46
Additional InformationFollowing this slide, you will find additional images, figures, and tables from the textbook.Slide47
From the Patriot Act to the Freedom ActSlide48
Timeplot: Acts Passed by Congress, 1789-2014Slide49
Analyzing the Evidence: Why Congress Can’t Make Ends MeetSlide50
Analyzing the Evidence: Opposition to Medicare CutsSlide51