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Congress -- as time passes and the local merchant class joins with the lower nobility to see assemblies as a place to make a case against a monarch and was slowly converted from an institution of the monarchy to a institution against the monarchy and later a tool used by the middle class against the aristocracy -- Once assemblies became a place where demands were made they became parliaments – (parliament is derived from the French term “parler” to talk) – and Article I, Sectionm 6 says that members of Congress are immune from slander if they say something on the floor Congress is unique in that it is one of the few representative assemblies that actually governs – in most of the world, the assemblies can only say “yes” to leadership proposals – Western European parliaments have the ability to say “no” (though in England it leads to the dissolution of Parliament, new elections, and dissenting members not being renominated by their party) but they do not have the ability to modify legislation or initiate major programs – in the US the Congress initiates legislation, modifies it, modifies the president’s budget, can reject presidential initiatives and even overcome a presidential veto Representation – how can a person credibly claim to represent someone? Sociological – representation that takes place because a representative shares the same racial, ethnic, gender, religious, or educational backgrounds as their constituents In the 107th Congress (2001-2002), there were 59 women and 36 African Americans, and 19 Hispanic members out of 425 members of the House – 13 women in the Senate, no Hispanics and no African Americans – The bulk of the Representatives or Senators are white, male, educated, protestant professionals (most often lawyer) – This can create the perception of non-representation for those who are not white, male protestant lawyers – even if there is representation the perception that some groups are not represented can create feelings of estrangement and thus could be destabilizing and call into question the authority of Congress Strikes against “sociological representation is everything”: needed skills may not be spread evenly in the populace, many issues don’t divide on gender, racial, or occupational lines, Legislation benefiting women, minorities and the working class has been passed Agency – if a representative does not speak for their constituents they can be fired – Lowi and Ginsburg argue that if this is the most compelling motive then we would see representatives spending the bulk of their time serving their constituents. So consider: Communications: House and Senate receive nearly 100 million pieces of mail and send out nearly 400 million pieces a year – Franking privilege allows Senators and Representatives to send literature or questionnaires to their constituents for free Case Work: about 1/3 of a reps time and about 2/3 of their staff’s time is spent doing constituency service – talking to people, presenting special bills, attempting to influence regulatory decisions, etc. . . . Big industries: dominant industries are highly responsive to those industries – Pork barrel legislation: Representatives and Senators attempt to capture federal funds and federal projects for their home districts – often in the form of an “earmark” in which pork is inserted into otherwise pork-free legislation (an earmark spells out a particular appropriation)– Line-item veto in 1996 was created to allow president to strip earmarks from bills – in 1998 the supreme court ruled the line-item veto unconstitutional in Clinton v City of New York Private bill: a proposal to grant some kind of relief, privilege, or exemption for a person named in the bill – 75 percent of these involve relief for foreign nationals who cannot get permanent visas -- 96th Congress (1979-1981), 123 private bills were passed, 104th Congress (f 1995-1997), only 4. But also consider these strikes against “agency representation is everything”: many people don’t care about a lot of issues that Congress wrestles with, Congresspersons will often get conflicting messages from incumbents about what to do, constituents are often indifferent on foreign policy
Incumbency – A stumbling block to
sociological representation? A stumbling block to agency representation? You
decide Who gets to run – while this used to be a party decision now it is much more personal – Often this question looks at Can I Raise Enough Money? That may put women and minorities at a disadvantage (EMILY’s list) Who gets to win – in 2000 only six of 339 house incumbents lost their elections --those running for reelection have a variety of tools at their disposal that challengers do not – may be the cause of the “sophomore surge” where returning reps tend to do much better their next time at the polls -- Constituency service – I did you a favor Pork barrel projects – I did lots of you a favor Franking – I can send send you quasi-campaign literature for free Special Interest Group money – I will likely get reelected so lets get out the check book Name recognition – my name keeps getting mentioned in the media Redistricting – if your party is in charge of the state legislature you may get a district tailor-made for your reelection – if your party isn’t? there’s always the courts – the 1982 amendments to the 1964 Civil Rights Act tried to increase sociological representation through racial gerrymandering but in 1995 the Sup. Court ruled in Miller v. Johnson that race cannot be the predominant factor in creating electoral districts – racial gerrymandering may also improve sociological representation but hurt larger policy goals Perception of incumbency advantage – keeps qualified candidates from running in the first place (especially in “safe districts” (55 percent or more margin of victory in previous elections)
Other influences on representation: Organizational: congresspersons look to party colleagues for the lead on some bills they may not understand – partly because those members are likely to share ideology or have the same type of constituents Parties: parties often try to enforce “party discipline” on members of the party – the ability of the party to enforce party votes (a vote where at least 50 percent of the party takes one position) varies with time and branch – party discipline has declined since 1900 where 90 percent of the votes were party votes – in the house party leaders can use procedural rules and committee assignments to discipline members, while in the Senate the leadership has fewer sanctions Tools of party leadership: Committee assignments: party leaders can create a bond between themselves and colleagues by getting members committee assignments that they seek Access to the floor: floor time is valuable as a way to influence a bill or publicize themselves -- in the House, the speaker allocates large blocks of floor time, in the Senate the leadership allows ranking members of committees to influence allocation of floor time – so members try to stay on the good side of senior party members – “special orders” allow members to speak to an empty chamber but is carried on c-span The Whip system: primarily a communications network that helps senior party leaders communicate with the rest of the membership – poll members on upcoming votes, express the wishes of the leadership, apply pressure to recalcitrant members – whips are more important in the house because of the larger number of members Logrolling: party leaders will often be involved in vote swapping arrangements in which members will agree to trade votes for issues that are crucial – party leaders will often help create these logrolling coalitions or at least keep track of them Presidency: the weight of the presidency can also be used to encourage party loyalty (assuming your party is in the White House)
Interest
Groups: groups that represent large blocks of constituents through lobbying
(grassroots or otherwise), influential interest groups sometimes play a role in
writing legislation or providing information, campaign contributions also help
ensure “access” if not necessarily influence Powers of Congress (other than making laws, passing budgets, amending bills) Oversight:
committees often oversee how legislation is being implemented by the executive
branches bureaucracy – so the committee hold hearings and launch
investigations – Congress has the power to subpoena, take oaths,
cross-examine, compel testimony and bring criminal charges for contempt or
perjury – most programs and agencies undergo some oversight annually as part
of the appropriations process – hearings are usually held on bills, while
investigations usually cover a broad area or problem Legislative veto – for decades Congress included in some bills the requirement that certain types of executive actions must lie before Congress before they take effect and that Congress could then “veto” the action with a resolution of disapproval from either one house or both houses – but in 1983 the Supreme Court ruled in INS v Chadha ruled that Congress cannot take any action that has the force of law without the president’s signature (that’s not to say Congress doesn’t still include legislative veto stipulations in a bill now and then) Advise
and Consent of the Senate: Article II, Section 2 requires that the president
can make treaties, appoint executive officers, ambassadors, and federal judges
only “with the advise and consent of the Senate” – majority for
appointments, 2/3 for treaties executive agreements – a means to avoid a Senate confirmation on a treaty US v Pink (1942) the Supreme Court held that such agreements are the equivalent of treaties and that they do not need Senate approval Sometimes presidents have not even bothered to tell Congress (Johnson with S. Vietnam) so Congress passed the Case Act in 1972 which requires the president to notify Congress of any executive agreements within 60 days of having been reached—thus giving the Senate a chance to cancel them (or they could just zero fund any related expenditures) Congress have power to impeach any member of the executive branch for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors” House impeaches (which is like an indictment) based on a simple majority vote Senate acts as a jury (the chief justice is the presiding officer) and it takes a 2/3 vote to convict and remove from office Legislative supremacy Stems from 1- power to craft laws (under the rule of law) 2- the power of the purse During every new Congress the House members elect new leaders by party A speaker (who is the head of the majority party) A majority leader (who is second in command) A minority leaders (who is the head of the minority party) Whips (who are elected by both parties) During each new Congress the Senators elect new leaders by party president pro tempore (largely ceremonial – chosen by the majority party usually on the basis of seniority) Majority leader (who is the head of the majority party) Minority leader (who is the head of the minority party) Whips (who are elected by both parties) Leadership in both houses is responsible (either totally or in part) for setting committee assignments, setting the legislative agenda and calendar, setting party goals, and enforcing party discipline – new jobs have included getting the party’s “message” into the media and fundraising Committee system: Standing committees are permanent organizations with their own staff, rules, membership, officers, and JURIDSTICTION Committee jurisdictions usually parallel that of major departments and areas of legislation Bills are assigned to committees based on the subject matter but the Speaker and the presiding officer of the Senate have some discretion The chair of the standing committee is generally the most senior member (senior in the committee) of the majority party – the chair sets hearing schedules, selects subcommittee members and hires staff Staff Members have their own staff to handle constituent concerns, handling legislative details, drafting proposals, etc . .. Committee staffers are a permanent staff who stay on regardless of who is in Congress - they organize the committee’s work, draft legislation, schedule hearings, etc . . . Staff agencies – provide Congress with resources and expertise outside of the Executive Branch – General Accounting Office which investigates the financial and administrative affairs of any agency or program, Congressional Budget Office which examines the economic impact and likely costs of a proposed program, Congressional Research Service which researches facts and competing arguments on issues concerning Congress Caucuses (also known as Legislative Service Organizations) An unofficial organization that is groups of Senators and Representatives who share certain opinions, interests, or social characteristics (can range from the liberal Democratic Study Group, to the Steel Caucus, to the Congressional Black Caucus) Sometimes members will transfer part of their budgets to create Caucus staff to help do research and plan strategy How a bill
becomes a law (or more likely doesn’t) Step 1: Proposed legislation does not becomes a bill until it is submitted to the clerk of the House and/or Senate and referred to the appropriate committee by the House Speaker Step 2: Bill will likely be referred to a subcommittee, that may hold deliberations that include hearings, listen to expert testimony, and amend the legislation before referring it to the full committee for deliberation (About 95 percent of bills actually “die in committee”) Step 3: The full committee will consider the bill and can hold deliberations that include hearings, listening to expert testimony, and amending the legislation before being passed out of committee (where they then go to the Rules Committee in the House and then to the floor of the House, while in the Senate the bills go directly to the floor of the Senate) Step 4: The bill is debated on the floor - The floor time that a bill gets in the House is allocated by the Rules committee (but because the Speaker appoints nine of the 13 members, he or she has indirect control over this) debate is carefully controlled by the bill’s sponsor and its leading opponent – often that is the chair of the committee and the ranking minority member on that committee - In the Senate the majority leader has the power to recognize speakers but not limit how long they can speak – that leads to the filibuster where a Senator speaks as long as he or she are able in an attempt to prevent action on legislation they oppose – the votes of three-fifths of the Senate are needed for a cloture, the procedure to end a filibuster - hold - a Senator informs Senate leaders that he or she does not wish a particular bill or other measure to reach the floor for consideration. The Majority Leader need not follow the Senator's wishes, but is on notice that the opposing Senator may filibuster any motion to proceed to consider the measure. Step 5: The leaders schedule a bill for a floor vote. In the Senate the President of the Senate (the vice president) breaks ties. Step 6-10 - the bill then travels to the other chamber of the legislature where it is assigned a committee, voted out of committee, debated, and then passed. (Sometimes a bill is submitted simultaneously in both chambers) Step 11 – If the House and Senate passes different versions of the bill (which they often do because of the amendment process) then the different versions go to a conference committee which usually comprises members of the committees that saw the bills in the House and Senate —the bill that emerges is called a conference report Step 12 – the conference report is then voted on by the House and Senate Step 13 – The bill lands on the president’s desk. The president’s options are: Sign it – bill becomes law Not sign (and Congress is in session for more than 10 days) and the bill becomes law Veto – bill dies unless the House and Senate can override with a 2/3 vote in both chambers Not sign (and Congress is in session for less than 10 days) and the bill has been pocket vetoed and since Congress is not in session it cannot attempt a 2/3 override vote
Types of legislation: Bill -- most common form of legislation -- can start in either chamber, goes to both chambers then to president -- enforceable by president. Joint Resolution -- Almost identical in function to a bill (but with a different format-- ) can be used to amend bills under consideration and amend constitution -- can start in either chamber (does not need to be introduced at the same time) goes to both chambers and then president (except amendments which go to states instead of president and requires a 2/3 vote from both chambers) Resolution -- goes only to chamber that introduced it (usually only effects chamber it was introduced in) -- is a declaration of sentiment or concerns the rules and procedures of the body it is introduced in Concurrent resolution -- non-binding statement of sentiment -- goes to both chambers but not to the president Private bills -- a bill that only affects an individual, a small group, or a company -- fairly rare (only 4 in 104th Congress (1995-1997) -- goes to both chambers and president
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