Chapter 11

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman



Chapter 11: Congress

• The Representatives and Senators• Congressional Elections• How Congress Is Organized to Make

Policy• The Congressional Process• Understanding Congress• Summary


Chapter Outline and Learning Objectives

• The Representatives and Senators• LO 11.1: Characterize the backgrounds of

members of Congress and assess their impact on the ability of members of Congress to represent average Americans.

• Congressional Elections• LO 11.2: Identify the principal factors

influencing the outcomes in congressional elections.



• How Congress Is Organized to Make Policy• LO 11.3: Compare and contrast the House

and Senate and describe the roles of congressional leaders, committees, caucuses, and staff.

• The Congressional Process• LO 11.4: Outline the path of bills to passage

and explain the influences on congressional decision making.



• Understanding Congress• LO 11.5: Assess Congress’s role as a

representative body and the impact of representation on the scope of government.

The Representatives and SenatorsLO 11.1: Characterize the backgrounds of members of Congress and assess their impact on the ability of members of Congress to represent average Americans.

• The Members of Congress• 535 Members – 100 Senators and 435 Reps.• House members – At least age 25 and U.S.

citizens for 7 years.• Senators – At least age 30 and U.S. citizens for

9 years.• All members must reside in state from which

they are elected.To Learning Objectives


To Learning Objectives

LO 11.1



The Representatives and Senators

• The Members of Congress (cont.)• African Americans make up about 10% of

the House members and 13% of the total population and 1 Senator is African American.

• Hispanics make up 5.5% of the House members and 15% of the total population and 3 Senators are Hispanics.


LO 11.1



• The Members of Congress (cont.)• Asian Americans – 4 House members

and 2 senators.• Native Americans – 1 House member.• Females make up more than 50% of the

population, but only 17% of the members of Congress with 72 in the House and 17 senators.


LO 11.1



• The Members of Congress (cont.)• Descriptive representation is representing

constituents by mirroring their personal, politically relevant characteristics.

• Substantive representation is representing the interests of groups.


LO 11.1

Congressional ElectionsLO 11.2: Identify the principal factors influencing the outcomes in congressional elections.

• Who Wins Elections?• The Advantages of Incumbency• The Role of Party Identification• Defeating Incumbents• Open Seats• Stability and Change

To Learning ObjectivesCopyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman


Congressional Elections

• Who Wins Elections?• Incumbents – Those already holding

office.• In congressional elections, incumbents

usually win.• House elections – 90% of the incumbents

seeking reelection win and most of them win with more than 60% of the vote.


LO 11.2


LO 11.2




• The Advantages of Incumbency• Advertising – Ads in newspapers and on

television.• Credit Claiming – Servicing the

constituency through casework and pork barrel.

• Position Taking – Voting and responding to constituents’ questions.


LO 11.2


LO 11.2




• The Advantages of Incumbency (cont.)• Weak Opponents – Not well known or well

qualified and lack experience and organizational and financial backing.

• Campaign Spending – The typical incumbent outspent the typical challenger by a ratio of more than 3 to 1 in Congressional races in 2008.


LO 11.2



• Role of Party Identification• Most Congress members represent

constituencies in which their party is in the clear majority.

• Most people identify with a party, and they reliably vote for their party’s candidates.

• About 90% of voters who identify with a party vote for the House candidates of their party.


LO 11.2



• Defeating Incumbents• One tarnished by scandal or corruption

becomes vulnerable to a challenger.• Redistricting may weaken the incumbency

advantage.• Major political tidal wave may defeat

incumbents.


LO 11.2



• Open Seats• Greater likelihood of competition.• Most turnover occurs in open seats.


LO 11.2



• Stability and Change• Incumbents provide stability in Congress.• Change in Congress occurs less frequently

through elections.


LO 11.2

How Congress Is Organized to Make PolicyLO 11.3: Compare and contrast the House and Senate, and describe the roles of congressional leaders, committees, caucuses, and staff.

• American Bicameralism• Congressional Leadership• The Committees and Subcommittees• Caucuses: The Informal Organization

of Congress• Congressional Staff



How Congress Is Organized to Make Policy

• American Bicameralism• Bicameral Legislature – A legislature

divided into two houses.• The U.S. Congress and all state

legislatures except Nebraska’s are bicameral.


LO 11.3


LO 11.3




• American Bicameralism (cont.)• House Rules Committee – The committee

in the House that reviews most bills coming from a House committee before they go to the full House.

• Rules Committee is responsive to the House leadership because the Speaker of the House appoints the committee’s members.


LO 11.3



• American Bicameralism (cont.)• Filibuster – A strategy unique to the

Senate whereby opponents of a piece of legislation use their right to unlimited debate to prevent the Senate from ever voting on a bill.

• Sixty members present and voting can halt a filibuster.


LO 11.3



• Congressional Leadership• Speaker of the House – An office

mandated by the Constitution and chosen by the majority party.

• Majority leader – The principal partisan ally of the Speaker of the House, or the party’s manager in the Senate.


LO 11.3


LO 11.3




• Congressional Leadership (cont.)• Whips – Party leaders work with the

majority leader or minority leader to count votes beforehand and lean on waverers for votes on bills favored by the party.

• Minority Leader – The principal leader of the minority party in the House of Representatives or in the Senate.


LO 11.3



• Congressional Leadership (cont.)• President of the Senate – The Vice

President• Vice presidents can vote to break a tie.• Modern vice presidents are active in

representing the president’s views to senators.


LO 11.3



• Congressional Leadership (cont.)• Despite their stature and power,

congressional leaders cannot always move their troops.

• Power in both houses of Congress is decentralized.

• Leaders are elected by their party members and must remain responsive to them.


LO 11.3



• Committees and Subcommittees• Standing committees – Subject matter

committees that handle bills in different policy areas.

• Joint committees – Few subject matter areas with membership drawn from House and Senate


LO 11.3



• Committees and Subcommittees (cont.)• Conference committees – Formed when

the Senate and the House pass a bill in different forms to iron out the differences and bring back a single bill.

• Select committees – Created for a specific purpose, such as the Watergate investigation.


LO 11.3



• Committees and Subcommittees (cont.)• More than 9,000 bills are submitted by

members in the course of a two-year period.

• Every bill goes to a committee, which has virtually the power of life and death over it.

• Legislative oversight – How the Congress monitors bureaucracy.


LO 11.3



• Committees and Subcommittees (cont.)• Committee assignments help members get

reelected, gain influence, and make policy.• New members express committee

preferences to party leaders.• Those who have supported their party’s

leadership are favored in the selection process as parties try to grant committee preferences.


LO 11.3



• Committees and Subcommittees (cont.)• Committee Chairs – Dominant role in

scheduling hearings, hiring staff, appointing subcommittees, and managing committee bills on the floor.

• Seniority System – Members who have served on the committee the longest and whose party is the chamber majority become chair.


LO 11.3



• Caucuses: The Informal Organization of Congress• Caucus (congressional) – A group of

members of Congress sharing some interest or characteristic.

• Caucuses are composed of members from both parties and from both houses and their goal is to promote the interests around which they are formed.


LO 11.3



• Congressional Staff• Personal staff – They provide constituent

service and help with legislation.• Committee staff – They organize

hearings, and research and write legislation.

• Staff Agencies – CRS, GAO, and CBO provide specific information to Congress.


LO 11.3


LO 11.3


The Congressional ProcessLO 11.4: Outline the path of bills to passage and explain the influences on congressional decision making.

• Bill• A bill is a proposed law drafted in legal

language.• Anyone can draft a bill, but only a member

of the Congress can introduce a bill.• About 9,000 bills are introduced in each

Congress.



The Congressional Process

• How a Bill Becomes a Law• Bill Introduction – By a member.• Committee Action – Subcommittee

hearings and committee rewrites.• Floor Action – Votes, debates, and

amendments offered.• Conference Action – Compromise bill to

iron out differences. • Presidential Decision – Sign bill into law or

veto bill.To Learning Objectives

LO 11.4


LO 11.4




• Presidents and Congress: Partners and Protagonists

• Party, Constituency, and Ideology• Lobbyists and Interest Groups


LO 11.4



• Presidents and Congress: Partners and Protagonists• Presidents attempt to persuade Congress

that what they want is what Congress wants.

• Presidents have many resources to influence Congress.


LO 11.4



• Party, Constituency, and Ideology• Party Influence – Party leaders cannot

force party members to vote a particular way, but many do vote along party lines.

• Polarized Politics – Differences between Democrats and Republicans in Congress have grown considerably since 1980.


LO 11.4


LO 11.4




• Party, Constituency, and Ideology (cont.)• Constituency Opinion – On the

controversial issues, members are wise to vote based on their constituency’s opinion.

• Member Ideology – The dominant determinant of a member’s vote on most issues is their ideology.


LO 11.4



• Lobbyists and Interest Groups• 35,000 registered lobbyists represent

12,000 organizations seeking to influence Congress.

• The bigger the issue, the more lobbyists will be working on it to influence legislators’ votes.

• Congress can ignore, reject, and regulate the lobbyists.


LO 11.4

Understanding CongressLO 11.5: Assess Congress’s role as a representative body and the impact of representation on the scope of government.

• Congress and Democracy• Congress and the Scope of

Government



Understanding Congress

• Congress and Democracy• Not representative – Leadership and

committee assignments.• Congress does try to respond to what the

people want, but some argue it could do a better job.

• The 535 members of Congress are responsive to the people when they make clear what they want.


LO 11.5



• Congress and Democracy (cont.)• The central legislative dilemma for

Congress is combining the faithful representation of constituents with making effective public policy.

• Congress tries to be both a representative and an objective policymaking institution.


LO 11.5



• Congress and the Scope of Government• More policies by Congress means more

service to constituencies.• More programs that get created, the bigger

the government gets.• Contradictory – Everybody wants

government programs cut, but just not their programs.


LO 11.5


LO 11.1Summary

• The Representatives and Senators• Congress has proportionately more whites and

males than the general population, and members of Congress are wealthier and better educated than the average American.

• Although they are not descriptively representative of Americans, they may engage in substantive representation.



Descriptive representation is representing the

A. constituents by mirroring their personal, politically relevant characteristics.

B. interests of groups.

C. party platform and ideology.

D. none of the above.


LO 11.1


Descriptive representation is representing the

A. constituents by mirroring their personal, politically relevant characteristics.

B. interests of groups.

C. party platform and ideology.

D. none of the above.


LO 11.1


LO 11.2Summary

• Congressional Elections• Incumbents usually win reelection, because

they usually draw weak opponents, are usually better known and better funded than their opponents, typically represent constituencies where a clear majority share their party affiliation, and can claim credit for aiding their constituents.



LO 11.2Summary

• Congressional Elections (cont.)• However, incumbents can lose if they are

involved in a scandal, if their policy positions are substantially out of line with their constituents, or if the boundaries of their districts are redrawn to reduce the percentage of their constituents identifying with their party.



All of following are true of incumbents in Congress EXCEPT

A. Most incumbents decide to run for reelection.

B. Most incumbents’ views on policy are well known to their constituents.

C. Most incumbents win reelection with more than 60 percent of the vote.

D. Most incumbents have more campaign contributions to spend than their opponents.


LO 11.2


All of following are true of incumbents in Congress EXCEPT

A. Most incumbents decide to run for reelection.

B. Most incumbents’ views on policy are well known to their constituents.

C. Most incumbents win reelection with more than 60 percent of the vote.

D. Most incumbents have more campaign contributions to spend than their opponents.


LO 11.2


LO 11.3Summary

• How Congress Is Organized to Make Policy• House is larger, characterized by greater

centralization of power in the party leadership, and has more party discipline than the Senate.

• Senators are more equal in power and may exercise the option of the filibuster to stop a majority from passing a bill.



LO 11.3Summary

• How Congress Is Organized to Make Policy (cont.)• Congressional leaders are elected by their party

members and must remain responsive to them.• Congressional leaders cannot always depend on

the votes of the members of their party.• Committees consider legislation and oversee

administration of policy.



LO 11.3Summary

• How Congress Is Organized to Make Policy (cont.)• Committees chairs have the power to set their

committees’ agendas.• Congressional Caucuses are composed of

members of Congress who have a shared interest or characteristic.

• Personal, committee, and agency staff provide policy expertise and constituency service.



When the House and the Senate pass different versions of a bill, these versions are to be reconciled by a

A. Joint Committee.

B. Conference Committee.

C. Select Committee.

D. Reconciliation Committee.


LO 11.3


When the House and the Senate pass different versions of a bill, these versions are to be reconciled by a

A. Joint Committee.

B. Conference Committee.

C. Select Committee.

D. Reconciliation Committee.


LO 11.3


LO 11.4Summary

• The Congressional Process• The process for considering a bill has many

stages.• Presidents try to persuade Congress to support

their policies, which usually earn space on the congressional agenda.

• Parties are more homogeneous and polarized and provide an important pull on members on most issues.



LO 11.4Summary

• The Congressional Process (cont.)• Constituencies have influence on

congressional decision making on a few visible issues, while members’ own ideologies exert more influence on less visible issues.

• Interest groups play a key role in informing Congress and sometimes the threat of their opposition influences vote outcomes.



Only a member of the can officially propose a bill.

A. House

B. Senate

C. House or Senate

D. staff


LO 11.4


Only a member of the can officially propose a bill.

A. House

B. Senate

C. House or Senate

D. staff


LO 11.4


LO 11.5Summary

• Understanding Congress• Congress is an elite institution and responsive

to the public when the public makes its wishes clear.

• Congress is open to influence, which makes it responsive to many interests but also may reduce its ability to make good public policy.



LO 11.5Summary

• Understanding Congress (cont.)• Members of Congress often support expanding

government to aid their constituents, generally in response to public demands for policy, but many also fight to limit the scope of government.



Congress tries to be both a and an objective

policymaking institution.

A. representative

B. disposition

C. direct

D. fragmented


LO 11.5


Congress tries to be both a and an objective

policymaking institution.

A. representative

B. disposition

C. direct

D. fragmented


LO 11.5


Text Credits

• David Samuels and Richard Snyder, “The Value of a Vote: Malapportionment in Comparative Perspective,” British Journal of Political Science, v. 31, n. 4, October 2001, p. 662. Copyright © 2001 Cambridge University Press. Reprinted with the permission of Cambridge University Press.

• “Incumbency Factor in Congressional Elections” adapted from Harold W. Stanley and Richard G. Neimi, Vital Statistics on American Politics, 2007-2008, CQ Press, 2008. Used with permission.

• “Incumbency Factor in Congressional Elections” adapted from VITAL STATISTICS ON CONGRESS by Norman J. Ornstein, Thomas E. Mann, and Michael J. Malbin. Copyright 1998 by AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INST FOR PUBLIC POLICY RES. Reproduced with permission of AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INST FOR PUBLIC POLICY RES in the format Other book via Copyright Clearance Center.


Photo Credits

• 347: Jewel Sanad/Getty Images• 360: David Horsey• 361L: AP Photos• 361C: Brendon Hoffman/Getty Images• 361R: Alex Wong/Getty Images• 367: Getty Images• 369: AP Photos

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Chapter 11