Chapter 11: Congressional Structure Flashcards
5 informal structures (norms) in congress:
universalism reciprocity specialization seniority civility
universalism
distributing the benefits of legislation in a way that serves the interests of as many states and districts as possible (better in senate)
reciprocity
member votes for a vill that they may not otherwise support bc a colleague strongly favors it, and in exchange the colleague votes for a bill the member feels strongly about (If I scratch your back, you scratch mine)
specialization
expertise of a member of congress on a specific issue or area of policy (more common in house)
seniority
choosing the mimer who has served the longest of particular committee to be the committee chair
civility
- differences between members of congress are philosophical not personal
- parties to a debate are entitled to the presumption that their views are legitimate even if not correct
- those on all sides are persons of good will and integrity motivated by conviction
speaker of the house
- elected leader of the house
- influence legislative agenda, make committee assignments, set committee schedules, & develop overall party strategy
majority leader
- elected leader of the party holding the majority of the seats in the house or senate
- one of the national spokespersons for the party and help w/ day-to-day operation
majority whip
person that oversees whip system (organization of house leaders who meet regularly to discuss legislative stately and scheduling)
information dissemination
the whips then pass along info to colleagues in their respective parties and indicate the party’s position on a given bill
information gathering
whips also take a headcount of party member sinter house on specific votes and communicate this info to party leaders
coalition building
if a vote looks close, whips try to persuade members to support the party’s position`
caucus chair
run party meetings to elect floor leaders, make committee assignments, and set legislative agendas
minority leader
elected head of the party holding the minority of seats in the house or senate; less powerful than majority leader
which leadership has more power?
House (bc individual senators have more power than reps)
filibuster
tactic used by senators to block a bill by continuing to hold the floor and speak until the bill’s supporters back down
cloture
a procedure through which the senate can limit he amount of time spent debating g bill (cutting off the filibuster), if a supermajority of 60 senators agree
Rules Committee
- exerts considerable control over the nature of debate
- defines time limits
- restrict the degree to which a bill can be amended
open rules
conditions placed on a legislative debate by the house rules committee allowing relevant amendments to a bill
modified rules
conditions placed on a legislative debate by the house rules committee allowing certain amendment sot a bill while barring others
closed rules
conditions placed on a legislative debate by the house rules committee prohibiting amendments to a bill
3 differences between house and senate:
continuity of membership
reporting of bills
floor process
continuity of membership
senate: 2/3 members return to next session w/o facing reelection (more stable)
house: up for reelection every 2 years
reporting of bills
house: bill is reported from committee and goes to bottom of legislative calendar (can be changed by rules committee)
senate: if majority leader wants bill to be debated, they put it on legislative agenda either through a motion or unanimous consent
floor process
senate: unanimous consent (more individualistic)
house: majoritarian
How a bill becomes a law (basic aspects)
- conference committee works out any differences between house and senate versions of the bill
- conference committee version is given final approval on the floor of each chamber
- president either signs or vetoes final version
- if bill is vetoed, both chambers can attempt to override the veto w/ 2/3s vote
ways legislation doesn’t follow process:
- in some congresses 20% of major bills bypass committee system (discharge petition or special rule in house)
- about 1/3 major bills are adjusted post-committee before bill reaches floor
- summit meeting between president and congressional leaders may bypass of jump-start normal legislative process
- omnibus legislation
omnibus legislation
large bills that often coverall several topics and may contain extraneous projects
trustee
member of congress represents constituents’ interests, but also takes into consideration notional, collective, and moral concerns that sometimes cause member to vote against constituents’ interests
delegate
member of congress loyally represents a constituents’ direct interests
politico
member of congress who acts as a delegate on issues that constituents care about and as a trustee on more-complex or less-salient issues
MS: pic of guy shaking hand
Jason Chaffetz (Utah)
4 types of committees
standing
select
joint
conference
standing committees
committees that are permanent part of the house or senate structure, holding more importance and authority than other committees
select committees
- committees in house or senate created to a dress a specific issue for one or two terms
- primarily used to gather info, provide policy options, and draw attention to an issue
joint committees
committees that contain member sod both house and senate but have limited authority
conference committees
temporary committees created to negotiate the differences between the house and senate versions of a piece of legislation that thaw passed through both chambers
distributive theory
members will seek committee assignments to bed serve their district’s interests, the leadership will accommodate those requests, and ht floor will respect the views of the committees in institutional-level reciprocity
informational theory
committee system does not exist simply to further members’ electoral goals; it is also corrective to individualism bc the structure of committees creates policy expertise
power of the purse
member sod congress think an agency is not properly implementing their programs, they can simply cut off the funds to that agency
hearings
by summoning administration officials and agency heads to public hearings, congress can use the media spotlight to focus attention on problems w/in the bureaucracy or on issues that have been overlooked
fire alarm oversight
a lot of times, members of congress wait until there is a crisis before the spring into action (different from patrol oversight)
patrol oversight
involves constant vigilance in overseeing the bureaucracy
legislative vetoes
in writing laws, congress often just gives agencies broad directives; however, congress is reluctant to give full control
(legislative veto allows them to overturn problematic agency decisions)
advice and consent
senate gets to provide advice and consent for all presidential appointments and approval of treaties
principal-agent game
interaction between a principal (such as president or congress), who needs something done, an agent (such as a bureaucrat), who is responsible for carrying out the principal’s orders
problem of control
difficulty faced by congress in ensuring that when bureaucrats implement policies, they follow congress’ intentions but still have enough discretion to use their expertise
regulatory capture
a situation in which bureaucrats favor the interests of the groups or corporations they are supposed to regulate at the expense of the general public
bureaucratic drift
bureaucrats’ tendency to implement policies in a way that favors their own political objects rather than following the original intentions of the legislation
descriptive representation
when a member of congress shares the characteristics of his or her constituents
substantive representation
when a member of congress represents constituents’ interests and policy concerns
redistricting
redrawing the geographic boundaries of legislative districts; happens every 10 years
gerrymandering
attempting to use the process of redrawing district boundaries to benefit a political party, protect incumbent, or change the proportion of minority voters in a district 4 types: partisan incumbent racial candidate
partisan
elected officials from one party draw lines that benefit candidates form their party and hurt candidates from other parties
incumbent
lines drawn to benefit current group of incumbents
racial
redistricting used to help or hurt changes of minority legislative candidates
candidate
district plans that favor certain individuals, particularly state legislators planning to run for the house
communities of interest
districts must capture communities of interest, meaning they tend to group like-minded voters into same district
compactness
districts must be compact, meaning they do not have extremely bizarre shapes
contiguity
district is contiguous if all the lines that create it are connected
Richard Fenno
argues members of congress are motivated by 3 goals: reelection (most important) power w/in congress good public policy (target)
David Mahew
members of congress are single-minded seekers of reelection:
advertising
credit claiming
position taking
advertising
appeals or appearances w/o issue content that get the member’s name before the public in a favorable way
credit claiming
member of congress takes credit for something of value to the voter
position taking
an public statement about a topic of interest to constituents or interest groups
MS company that Dietrich eats
morning star
