10/24/11
**Study both packets**
(Ross Perot- billionaire who spent his own money for
a campaign. Got 19% of the popular votes
but no electoral votes. He ran as an
individual, not affiliated with any party.
After the election in ’92 he formed the Reform Party)
Aim: Congress 101
v
Congress 101
Ø House
¨
Speaker of the
House- most powerful person in the House
¡
Centralized-
makes the leader in House more powerful than leaders in the Senate, which is
decentralized
¡
Decides who
talks when, and can cut off a speech
Ø Senate
¨
Vice President
is the president of the Senate (but he is usually not there, only comes to vote/break
a tie)
¨
President pro
tem- “leader” in the Senate
¡
Based on
seniority of the majority party
¡
Doesn’t really
have much power
¨
Majority/Minority
leaders- create the schedule for the Senate
Ø
Filibuster-
delays action on a bill and can kill bills
Ø
Cloture
¨
Overturns
filibuster by 60 votes in the Senate
¨
A single senator
can prevent action on a bill
¡ 16 signatures to vote on cloture, 60 votes to end a
filibuster, then there is a little bit more debate, and then the bill is voted
on
¨
The House and
Senate each have their own debate rules.
The Senate uses the filibuster.
It is a check on the House- since the House represents the people’s
passions and the people’s passions cannot be trusted, the House cannot be
trusted either
Ø
Gerrymandering-
drawing congressional districts to benefit a political party
Ø
Committees
¨
Where the real
work in Congress is done
¨
Divided into
sections (environmental, agriculture, finance, etc)
¨
Exclusive
committees in the House- appropriations (decides how much money is sent on a
bill), ways and means (taxing), and rules (traffic cop of the House- tells
people how long they can speak for and if amendments can be added to a bill)
¨
Conference
committee- when both houses are discussing a bill, this joint committee is
formed to reconcile the bill and send it back to both houses because only one version of the bill can be
passed on to the president
Ø Approval rating for Congress is now 12%. If the approval is so low then why are
reelection rates so high?
¨
People know
their reps
¨
Pork barrel
politics/ earmarks- incumbents use federal money to provide for their
constituents
Ø Qualifications for Congress
¨
House- 25 years
old, citizen for 7 years, live in the state where you’re running (you don’t
have to live in the district you run for)
¨
Senate- 30 years
old, citizen for 9 years, live in the state where you run
Aim: Why do members of Congress behave in a certain way?
v
What influences
a Congressman’s vote?
Ø
Congressmen don’t
use the same approach for every vote
Ø
Trustee/
Attitudinal approach- congressmen
are better informed than the people so they should decide on how to vote
(healthcare bill is 2000 pages long- the people aren’t able to read that much). Voting by your own beliefs because the people
don’t know enough (legislation is too complex) and they could be manipulated by
other people. Also, you never really
know what your people think. Today,
politicians are afraid to use the trustee approach because they fear if they do
so they won’t be reelected. Attitudinal is based on ideology-
Congress has become more ideological over the years and more divided and people
are less willing to compromise, therefore people vote based on their own
ideology (trustee is a little more
flexible)
Ø
Representational/
Delegate view- follow what the
people want. Politicians use this when
they want to get reelected, based on demographics of their constituency, and
issues people are passionate about (abortion, gay marriage, etc.). Delegate
approach in POV is all about morality (the delegate is morally obligated to
follow his people). Representational view is presented in a more practical way (should
follow people for certain issues because that’s what the care about)
Ø
Organizational/
Partisan view- thinking about what
will help you within congress itself (get on a committee because that’s where
the real work is done, moving up, getting your own bill passed). Follow what your political party leadership
wants
Ø
Politico- combining the delegate approach and the trustee
approach. Sometimes you will follow your
own belief, and sometimes you will follow your constituents. There is a give and take relationship between
a member of Congress and his/her constituents (the congressman will listen to
his people’s opinions and those opinions will affect his final decision)
v
Which of the
above most shapes behavior in the English Parliament?
Ø Organizational view- everything in England is based
on the party. When you vote, you vote
for a party not a person
v
Pork Barrel
Politics- Congress will be quick to pass laws that benefit the constituents
(highways, post offices) in the hope of getting reelected, but will be slow in
answering more controversial national questions.
10/27/11
Aim: Why are reelection rates so high in Congress?
v
Current
Congressional Salaries:
Ø
Speaker-
$223,500
Ø
Majority/Minority
leaders- $193,400
Ø
Rank-and-file
members- $174,000
v
Charlie Rangel
Ø
Was reelected 2
weeks before he was censured (shown disapproval from Congress for doing
something bad) for cheating on his taxes and other wealth related corruptions
Ø
Why was he
reelected?
¨
Pork barrel
politics- delivered to his district (bridges, highways, etc), so the people
feel they have to pay him back
¨
He supported
programs for the country that people in his constituency approved of and
benefitted from (tax cuts, welfare, etc.)
¨
People want
their congressman to be in Congress for a long time because then he will get
things done
¨
The people know
him- people vote for individuals and do not automatically vote based on
party. Rangel also used the media and
ran commercials, so people feel know him
¨
Franking
privilege- incumbents can send out letters for free to their constituents
¨
It’s easier for
incumbents to raise money (from individuals and interest groups) than a
challenger
10/28/11
v
What do
politicians spend their money on during elections?
Ø Ads
¨
Spend millions
of dollars on propaganda ads to tweak the peoples emotions
¨
More negative
attack ads than positive ads
v
When is
incumbency a disadvantage?
Ø
When you are not
providing for your constituents or voting on laws that they do not approve of
Ø
Economic
downturn
Ø
Foreign policy
crisis
Ø
*When people are
fed up with professional politicians and turn against all incumbents (fed up
with the mess in Washington- the people inside the belt don’t know how the
average American lives and therefore they need to go)
Ø
Attempts for
term limits
¨
1994 election-
Republicans took over because they promised term limits, but once they were in
office they did not make term limits
¨
The states tried
to pass laws to limit the terms of their congressmen, but the Supreme Court
overturned those states because it was unconstitutional
Ø During midterm elections the president’s party tends
to lose seats because people are annoyed with what is going on
v
Incumbency is an
answer to who is in Congress
Ø Ascribed characteristics
¨
Historically
Congress members have been Protestant, white, and male
¨
In the 1990’s
this shifted- more women and blacks in the House
¨
More Catholics
because of the increase of Hispanics in the country (who are Catholic)
10/31/11
v
What are some
common perceptions (true or not) of Democrats/liberals and
conservatives/Republicans?
Ø Democrats:
¨
On left and
believe in change
¨
Believe in
government intervention in the economy (higher taxes, regulation) but government
should not be involved in social issues
¨
Government
should have higher taxes (especially the rich) because the government needs
money to solve societies problems
¨
Redistribution
of wealth- take money from one group and give it to another
Ø Republicans:
¨
Live in the
South/ Midwest
¨
Conservative on
social issues like abortion and gay marriage
¨
Don’t want
government involvement in the economy (low taxes, less regulation of business)
yet they want government intervention on social issues
¨
Rich white men
and represent the ideas of the rich
v
Party
Ø Democrats have dominated in the last 70 years
¨
33 congresses
(period of 2 years) from 1933-1998
¡
25 Complete
control for Democrats
¡
22 Democrats
controlled one house
¨
Why have the
democrats dominated Congress?
¡
Perception that
Democrats represent the interests of the middle and working classes
¡
Democratic party
is associated with unions, so blue collar workers will vote for them because
they support the unions
¡
Voters prefer
divided government. The Republicans are
seen as better protectors of national security, so people will vote for a
Republican president to defend them as the commander in chief. Then people will vote for Democrats to
control the Congress to have divided government
¡
Advantages of
incumbency came into existence at this time, and Democrats were currently in
office at the time so the incumbency benefits (media, etc.) had helped them get
reelected
¡
Democrats put up
better candidates and build real coalitions
¡
Gerrymandering- drawing
a congressional district in an odd shape to benefit a political party
(political gerrymandering- it is legal)
Ü When you racially gerrymander, the districts created
are called majority-minority districts.
Racial gerrymandering is illegal.
Ü Reapportionment- every 10 years (census) the number of seats states
have in the House changes based on population.
It is so important to the states because the more seats they have in the
house the more power they have in Congress, and they have a greater say in who
becomes president (electoral votes are determined by representation in
Congress, therefore the more people you have in Congress the more electoral
votes you have and the greater influence you have in electing the president).
Ü Redistricting- state legislatures redraw the districts every 10
years to adjust to the shifting population, and during this process the state
legislatures do gerrymandering
Ü One thing the supreme court said to minimize
gerrymandering (but not eliminate it) is that they can’t use malapportionment when
they’re gerrymandering (Wesberry vs. Sanders.
When districts are very different in population size. Districts must have somewhat equal
populations).
Ü Restrictions on drawing Congressional districts
ê Malapportionment
ê Can’t draw solely for race (make a district of
majority blacks)
ê Can’t draw districts to harm a race (spread out all
the blacks)
ê Lines need to be contiguous (connected)
ê Districts need to be compact/dense (more
circle/square and not a long stretch)
Ü (Gerrymandering 101 video)
Ü
¡ There is no one given reason why the Democrats have
dominated the government
11/7/11
Aim: How a Bill Gets Passed
What are the president’s options once he gets that
bill?
v
Whip- congress
person who is a liaisons between the leadership of their parties and “rank and
file” members of Congress (regular congressmen)
Ø
Finds out how
many votes a bill will get
Ø
Pressures
congress people in their party to vote a certain way to get benefits
(committees)
Ø
Whip is elected
by the party
v
Leadership
Ø House
¨
Speaker of the
House- has the power
Ø Senate
¨
Majority/Minority
leader
¡
Organizes the
business of the Senate, along with the minority leader
¡
Picks the
committee members with minority leader (majority party always puts more members
from its party in committees, but never puts only members from its party on a
committee)
v
Filibuster
Ø
Prevents
legislature form getting through
Ø
Has it gone too
far?
Ø
Harkin
¨
The filibuster
has gone too far
¨
Change the
filibuster (still keep it to give Senators power)
¡ Gradually lower the number of senators needed to
cloture so it will be easier to end the filibuster
¨
The Founders
would be unhappy with the filibuster
¡ They wouldn’t approve of the need of a supermajority
to get legislation through, because the needs for a supermajority are
explicitly stated (when supermajorities are necessary- amend the constitution,
ratify a treaty, remove someone from office, and override a veto) by the
founders in the constitution (some people think this makes the filibuster
unconstitutional, because it wasn’t intended to have a supermajority)
Ø Frenzel
¨
Founders would have
like the filibuster
¡
Slows down
legislation, which is the purpose of Senate
¡
Didn’t trust the
popular majority
¨
Bicameralism-
the House is quick and the Senate slows it down. It’s nice that they have a difference in the
way the two houses operate
¨
The filibuster can
lead to compromises because bills are debated constantly, so it allows for more
bills to get out. If someone is doing a
filibuster, the other party will compromise to get them to stop
11/9/11
v
Committees
Ø Standing Committees
¨
Permanent
¨
Write legislation
¨
Bills that don’t
get out of standing committees don’t go to the floor. Bills are given to a committee that has
expertise on that bill to get information and write it
¨
Subcommittees-
write different sections of a bill
¨
Pigeonholed-
when a bill dies in the committee
¡
After a bill is
written by the committee and subcommittees, they vote on it. If a bill does not get enough votes, it’s
dead
¡
10,000 bills
introduced in a single year, 9,000 were pigeonholed
¡
A chairmen can
kill a bill without voting on it if he has no interest/ no time
¡
Most times bills
are pigeonholed when a committee doesn’t bother looking at a bill
¡
This is why
committees are so important
¨
Oversight
¡
Example of
checks and balances
¡
Watch how money
is spent and prevent corruption
¡
After legislation
is passed, the committee that has the expertise on that bill can call in people
from the executive branch and ask them about how the money for the bill was
being allocated and making sure the money is not wasted and there is no
corruption
¡
Check on the executive
branch and the bureaucracy (agencies that carry out the bills)
Ø Committee of the Whole
¨
When the House
acts as one committee (needs 100 members) to write and debate a bill, instead
of small committees
¨
Limits the power
of the standing committees/chairmen, however it is not so easy to have a
committee of the whole
Ø Select Committees
¨
Temporary in
nature
¨
Put together to
investigate something
¨
Don’t write
legislation or do oversight
¨
Make
recommendations and issue a report
Ø Joint Committee
¨
Members from the
House and the Senate sit on a committee together
¨
Sometimes for
very mundane things- Library of Congress, Aging
¨
Conference Committee
¡ Reconcile the differences between a House bill and a
Senate bill when they are working on the
same topic/bill à
goes back to the houses for voting
v
President- 4
options
Ø
Sign the bill
Ø
If he doesn’t
sign it and 10 days pass, it automaticall becomes a law
¨
President does
this to send a message that he’s letting the bill go through but he’s not
thrilled about it
Ø Veto
¨
Sends back to
Congress and needs a 2/3 vote in Congress to override
Ø Pocket veto
¨
If the President
gets a bill with fewer than 10 days left in a session and the President takes
no action, the bill becomes vetoed
v
