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American Government Power and Purpose American Government Power and Purpose

American Government Power and Purpose - PowerPoint Presentation

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American Government Power and Purpose - PPT Presentation

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

legislation congress house bill congress legislation bill house members legislative party senate law policy congressional committee approve action question clicker committees disapprove

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Slide1

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