Congress US

Question 1

The structure of congress

Answer 1

• Has a bi-cameral structure. This arrangement took place due to the compromise reached at the Philadelphia convention in 1787. New Jersey wanted each state to be equally represented in congress; therefore each state sends two delegates to the Senate. Virginia wanted representation to be proportional; therefore the House of Representatives is based on the population of the state.
• Further compromise made at the 1787 Philadelphia convention. Some delegates wanted a directly elected chamber, so the House has always been directly elected. Others wanted an indirectly elected legislature, until 1914 the Senate was indirectly elected, Senators were appointed by state legislatures. The 17th amendment meant the Senate was directly elected.
• 435 members of the House. This is reviewed every 10 years following the census. Following the 2010 census the Texas delegation rose from 32 to 36 whereas New York fell from 29 to 27.
• The House of Representatives serve 2 year terms will 100% of the house being elected every two years. Senators sit 6 year terms, with around 33% of the Senate being elected every 2 years.

Question 2

Membership of congress

Answer 2

• The 2017-18 makeup of the House was 235 Republicans, 193 Democrats. The speaker was Paul Ryan, the majority leader was Kevin McCarthy, majority Whip was Steve Scalise and the minority leader was Nancy Pelosi.
• 2017-18 makeup of the Senate was 51 republicans, 47 democrats and 2 independents. The president was Mike Pence, president pro tempore was Orin Hatch, president pro tempore emeritus was Patrick Leahy, majority leader was Mitch McConnell and the democrat leader was Chuck Schumer.
• In the 2017-18 congress there were 83 women in the House and 21 in the Senate. There were 46 African Americans in the House and 3 in the Senate. There were 34 Hispanics in the House and 4 in the Senate. Compared to 50% of women, 14% of African Americans and 17% of Hispanics nationally.
• The year of the women was created by the democrats in 1992 to get more women in congress. The number of women virtually doubled as a result. However women still only represent 20% of congress meaning they are underrepresented.
• Around 60% of both houses in 2015-16 were previously politicians.
• Congress is more representative of the Christian faith than nationally. 55.4% of the House and 58% of the Senate were protestant compared to 47% nationally and 33.1% Catholic in the House, 24% in Senate and 21% nationally.

Question 3

Requirements to become a member of congress

Answer 3

• Requirements to become a member of the House is at least 25 years old, citizen for at least 7 years and members need to be a resident of the state they represent.
• Requirements to become a Senator are at least 30 years old, citizen for at least 9 years and resident of the state they represent.

Question 4

Gerrymandering

Answer 4

Federal courts allow states to draw up congressional district boundaries to create districts more likely to return a representative from an ethnic minority group. For example North Carolina’s 12th district covers 100 miles. After re-drawing the boundaries after the 1990 census, African American Melvin Watt was elected to office and the position is currently held by Alma Adams.

Question 5

Exclusive and concurrent powers

Answer 5

Powers can be categorised as exclusive (one chamber has performs it) or concurrent (power is shared between the Houses). Some exclusive powers of the House are they initiate money bills, start impeachment, elect a president is Electoral College is deadlocked. Some exclusive powers of the Senate is they confirm appointments, ratify treaties, try cases of impeachment, elect a VP is electoral college is deadlocked. Some concurrent powers include legislation, overriding the president’s veto, constitutional amendments and declaring war.

Question 6

Powers of congress, law making powers

Answer 6

both houses of congress are equal in the sense that bills must pass through all stages of both houses. Neither house can override the wishes of the other, both houses must agree to the law in the same form before it can be send to the president. However the constitution gives one special law making power to the House, the House can begin the consideration of money bills (bills raising revenues like tax bills). But the Senate must also pass and may amend such bills, so this power is not significant.

Question 7

Powers of congress - overseeing the executive branch

Answer 7

the implied powers in article 1 section 8 where it says the legislative body may investigate any subject that is properly within the scope of its legislative powers. Congress votes on the budgets of all executive departments and agencies, showing congress has oversight on the executive branch. The oversight is almost exclusively in committee rooms, exercised by congressional standing and select committees.

Question 8

Powers of congress - overriding the presidents veto

Answer 8

both houses must vote by 2/3 majority to override the president’s veto of a bill. Congress overrode four of Bush’s 12 vetoes and Obama had one veto overridden with the Justice against Sponsors of Terrorism Act 2016. The senate voted 97-1 to override the veto and the House 348-77.

Question 9

Powers of congress - confirming appointments

Answer 9

Senate alone has the power to confirm appointments from the president by a simple majority. They include all the presidential appointments to the judiciary. In 2013 when Hillary Clinton resigned as secretary for state, Obama needed to gain approval of the Senate to replace her with John Kerry. In 2018, Trump needed the approval of the Senate to appoint Brett Kavanagh to the Supreme Court, after Justice Kennedy retired. The Senate failed to confirm the appointment of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court in 1985 under Reagan.

Question 10

Powers of congress - ratifying treaties

Answer 10

Senate has the sole power to ratify treaties by 2/3 majority. This means the president needs to keep the Senate informed with treaty negotiations to avoid treaties that are unlikely to be ratified, like the 1999 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty which was rejected by the Senate under President Clinton.

Question 11

Powers of congress - initiating constitutional amendments

Answer 11

the two houses are co-equal when initiating constitutional amendments. They must be approved by 2/3 of both houses before it can be sent for their ratification.

Question 12

Powers of congress - impeaching officials

Answer 12

congress has the power to remove members of the executive and judiciary from office. House of representatives has the sole power of impeachment. They have used this power 19 times since 1789; the most recent time was in 2010 with the federal judge Thomas Porteous on charges of corruption and perjury. Senate has the sole power to try all impeachments. The trial is to determine whether the person is guilty of the offence. If they are found guilty by 2/3 majority the person if removed from office. In 2010, Judge Thomas Porteous was found guilty and removed from office. Members of congress cannot be impeached but they can be expelled from office under a 2/3 majority in their relative chamber.

Question 13

Powers of congress - declaring war

Answer 13

both houses must concur in the declaration of war. This has occurred on five occasions and the last being in 1941, when America declared war on Japan. Since then congress as either been sidelined by presidential action (like in Vietnam) or only asked to sanction military action that a president has already decided to take (Iraq).

Question 14

Powers of congress - electing a president and Vice President

Answer 14

if no candidate wins an absolute majority of Electoral College votes the House decides the President and the Senate decides the vice president. This power has only been used twice in 1800 and 1824.

Question 15

How does the senate compare to the House of Representatives

Answer 15

Often said the Senate is more powerful and prestigious than the House. House members seek election to the Senate, in 2016 12 House members ran for the Senate. In 2017, there were 50 former house members in the Senate but no former Senators in the House.
While House members represent a congressional district senators represent the entire state. Henry Cuellar represents the 28th congressional district in Texas but John Cornyn represents the whole state. Senators also have a 6 year term unlike the 2 year term in the House. Seen as more prestigious as there are 100 senators and 435 House members. This makes a Senator more likely to gain a leadership position. Senator Cornyn was elected as Senate majority whip in 2015 but congressman Cuellar was 18th in seniority among the 21 democrats on the house appropriations committee.
The senate seen as the launching pad for presidential campaigns. Presidents Truman, Kennedy, Johnson and Obama were former Senators. Five Senators launched campaigns for the 2016 presidential race and three former Senators running for presidency in 2016. Senate is the recruitment pool for vice president candidates. Al Gore, Walter Mondale and Joe Biden were all Senators. The democrats have nominated a former or current Senator as their vice president candidate in every election since 1944, except 1984 (that’s 16 of the last 17 elections).
Senators enjoy significant exclusive powers, like the confirmation of appointments and the ratification of treaties. Many of them enjoy greater name recognition. However they have equal powers with the House on terms of legislation and members of both houses receive the same salary, which was $174,000 in January 2017.

Question 16

The speaker of the house

Answer 16

The House speaker is elected every two years by the whole membership of the house. The winning candidate must receive an outright majority of the entire house. Democrats formally announce one candidate while the republicans announce the other. The speaker of the house is a powerful position. They act as the presiding officer in the house, them interpret and enforce the laws of the house, refer bills to standing committees, appoint select committee and conference committee chairs and they appoint the majority party members of the house rules committee. The speaker is the 2nd in line for the presidency and when the speaker and the president are from different parties they act as the leader of the opposition. The House speaker 2017-18 was Paul Ryan.
Previous speakers such as Boehner (2011-15) sought to reduce partisanship in the house and raise the profile of House committees by allowing more opposition sponsored amendments to reach the House floor and he looked for opportunities for bipartisan passage of bills. However this attracted criticisms for taking too long, this lead to government shutdown in 2013.

Question 17

Majority and minority leaders

Answer 17

There is a majority and minority leader in both the house and the Senate who are elected every two years. They act as day to day directors of operations on the floor, hold press briefings about their parties policy agenda and they act as liaison between the House/Senate and the white house. In the Senate the majority leader has a role in bringing bills for debate to the Senate floor. Majority and minority leadership roles have been launched for presidential campaigns, for example Johnson who was Senate majority leader in 1955-61.

Question 18

Senate leadership

Answer 18

The current president of the Senate is Mike Pence. The leader of the Republicans is Mitch McConnell and the leader for the Democrats in the Senate is Chuck Schumer.

Question 19

President pro tempore

Answer 19

This is a position in the Senate given to the member of the majority party who has the longest continuous service in the chamber. This is currently filled by Republican Orin Hatch from Utah who was first elected in 1976. This puts him third in line for the presidency.

Question 20

Standing committees

Answer 20

they exist in both houses of congress and are permanent policy specialist committees. Most standing committees are split into sub-committees. A typical Senate standing committee consists of 18 members and a House committee is made up of 30 to 40 members and the party balance in each standing committee is in proportion to the chamber as a whole. House and Senate members seek assignments on committee closest to the interests of their district or state. Both North Dakota Senators sit on the Senate Agricultural Committee. Re-elected members are routinely re-appointed to their former committees unless they request a reassignment. Some committees are more prestigious than others, the Judiciary, Armed Services and Appropriations committee is prestigious.
Standing committees have limits to their power. They cannot legislate, cannot force the executive to comply with their wishes and they cannot implement policies once they have been approved.

Question 21

Functions of standing committees - conducting committee stage of bills

Answer 21

this involves hearings on the bill which witnesses appear. These witnesses may be other members of congress, members from relevant executive departments, representatives from interest groups and even ordinary members of the public. Witnesses make prepared statements in front of the committee and then subjected to questioning. The length of hearings differs from a few hours to weeks or even months. At the conclusion of the hearing a vote is taken by the committee on whether to pass the bill onto the full chamber for vote and debate

Question 22

Functions of standing committees - conducting investigations

Answer 22

this enables congress to fulfil its oversight function. Investigations launched into perceived problems or policy failures. This format is the same for legislative hearings with witnesses being summoned and questions asked.

Question 23

Functions of standing committees - confirming presidential appointments

Answer 23

the two committees who fulfil this is the Senate’s Judiciary committee and Foreign Relations Committee. The former holds hearings on all federal judicial appointments made by the president and the latter holds hearings on all ambassadorial appointments. The republican held Senate Judiciary committee which refused to hold a hearing on President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Judge Merrick Garland in 2016. The vote taken is not decisive (only a recommendation) but the committee vote often mirrors that of the whole Senate. For example the committee vote with Betsey DeVos (secretary of education) was 12 for and 11 against in 2016. The whole Senate vote was 51 for and 50 against.

Question 24

House rules committee

Answer 24

one of the standing committees of the House of Representatives. It is responsible for prioritising bills coming from the committee stage onto the House floor for their debate and votes. Due to the huge queue of bills waiting to be considered on the House floor, this committee has a vital legislative role to play. Its membership is smaller and more skewed to the majority party than other committees. It has 13 members, 9 from the majority party and 2 from the minority party. It is currently chaired by Pete Sessions of Texas. If a popular bill is held up in the House Rules committee, a discharge petition can be signed to force the committee to issue a rule for the bill and release it. This requires a simple majority and was used successfully in 2002 for the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act.

Question 25

Conference committees

Answer 25

as a bill passes through both houses of congress concurrently, conference committees are needed to reconcile the differences in the two versions of the bill. Once the committee has agreed the version of the bill, the version must be agreed by a vote on the floor of each house. If the agreement is not forthcoming the conference committee may be reconvened and another compromise is drawn up. These committees are important as they are likely to come up with the final version of the bill. However their power is limited by the House and Senate’s ability to refuse to their compromise. Also conference committees have been diminished in the past twenty years in favour of ping ponging. In the 304th congress 37 conference reports were adopted, by the 113th congress (2013-15) the number had fallen to two.

Question 26

Select committees

Answer 26

nearly all of them are ad hoc (one permanent in the House and four permanent in the Senate), set up to investigate a particular issue. A select committee will be set up when an investigation doesn’t fall within the policy area of one standing committee or when it is too time consuming. In 2014 John Boehner set up the House Select Committee on events surrounding the terrorist attack in Benghazi. It wasn’t until October 2015 that Hillary Clinton appeared before the committee for 11 hours of questioning. The committee issued their final report in June 2016.

Question 27

The legislative process - first reading

Answer 27

this is just formality, there is not debate. In the House it involves placing a copy of the bill on the clerk’s desk and in the Senate it involves reading the title of the bill on the Senate floor. There are a sheer number of bills at this stage, anything between 10,000 to 14,000 bills in a congressional term, with only 2-4% of those making it into law. The 112th (2011-12) congress was the least productive in recent times – only 284 bills became law from the 12,299 introduced.

Question 28

The legislative process - committee stage

Answer 28

far more bills fail here than any other stage. Hundreds of bills are referred to standing committees in both chambers of congress. A significant number are pigeon-holed with no action taken at all. Some popular bills are given hearings in the committees. The standing committee members are regarded as policy specialists and have the full power of amendment. Once the hearings have been completed, the committee holds a mark-up session making the changes it wishes. The report by the committee stage states the main aims of the bill, reviews amendments by the committee, estimates the cost of implementation and recommends future action to be taken by the chamber.

Question 29

The legislative process - timetabling

Answer 29

in the Senate uses a unanimous consent agreement, an agreement between the Senate majority and minority leaders on the order bills will be debated on the Senate floor. The House Rules Committee prioritises bills for the house. If the committee fails to give a rule to the popular bill, House members can use a discharge petition needing a simple majority to force the committee to release the bill.

Question 30

The legislative process - second reading

Answer 30

this is the first opportunity for the whole chamber to debate the bill. Votes will be taken on any further amendments that have been made as a result of the debate and a vote will be taken on the whole bill, with a simple majority needed. In the Senate there is an opportunity of a filibuster taking place, by which Senators exercise their right of unlimited debate. After the Orlando night club shooting in June 2016, Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut launched a 15 hour filibuster to press for tighter gun control legislative.
A filibuster can be ended by a procedure known as a closure. This has to be signed by 16 Senators and then voted for by at least 3/5 (60) of the Senate. However the majority needed to vote on a closure petition has been reduced in certain circumstances, such as federal and executive appointments. This is called the nuclear option. Republicans used the nuclear option to prevent filibustering on Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court in 2017.

Question 31

The legislative process - conference committees

Answer 31

After this a conference committee may be set up to reconcile the differences between the two bills in each chamber. They have declined in recent years, with just two used in the 113th congress (2013-15). The republican control of congress in 1995 led to the use of ping ponging. The result of this is to reduce the input from minority party members and thereby increase partisanship seen in congress. Once the version of the bill has been agreed by both houses, the bill is sent to the president.

Question 32

The legislative process - presidential action

Answer 32

the president can sign the bill, for example Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law in March 2010. The president can also leave the bill and the bill will become law within ten congressional working days. The president can also use a veto. When a president uses a veto, they must send a message explaining the objections. Congress then can change the bill, attempt to override the veto with a 2/3 majority or they can accept the veto. Presidents have a 92% success rate with the use of their vetoes. A president can also use a pocket veto when at the end of their congressional term they leave the bill. The last time this was used was the Consumer Bankruptcy Overhaul Bill in December 2000 under President Bill Clinton.

Question 33

Congressional oversight

Answer 33

This is congress reviewing and investigating the activities of the executive branch. The constitution does not explicitly grant congress oversight responsibility, it is something that has developed with their ability to make law. They can subpoena documents and testimony (call witnesses). They can also hold individuals in contempt of court if they don’t comply with congress’s demands.
Committees are important for congressional oversight, as the executive is not allowed to sit in congress, committees become fundamental. . Senator Patrick Leahy was elected in 1976 and he was appointed to the Senate Judiciary Committee and he has served 40 years on the committee. He has appointed 100s of judges including all the members of the Supreme Court; he also served through 7 presidents administrations.

Question 34

Congressional oversight - examples of investigations

Answer 34

Committee
Investigation
House Homeland Security Committee
ISIS in the Pacific: assessing terrorism in Southeast Asia
Home Armed Services Committee
US strategy for Syria and Iraq
Senate Judiciary Committee
The need for a balanced budget amendment to the constitution
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
US China relations: strategic challenges and opportunities
Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation committee
The future of self-driving cars

Question 35

Watchdog and lapdog congresses

Answer 35

Congressional oversight of the executive is only effective when congress is not controlled by the president’s own party. For example all modern day rejections of presidential nominations have come when the president’s party have not controlled the Senate. It was a Democrat Senate that rejected Republican President Ronald Reagan’s nomination of Robert Bork in 1987 to the Supreme Court. It was a Republican controlled Senate that rejected Bill Clinton’s nomination of William Weld as Mexican Ambassador in 1997 and his nuclear test ban treaty in 1999.
The relationship between congress and President Bush during his eight year term is evidence of the effectiveness of executive oversight under divided government. Throughout most of the first six years of his administration (2001-6), the Republicans controlled both houses of congress and congressional oversight was light, there was 37 oversight hearings between 2003 and 2004, in comparison to other periods of united government, where there was 135 oversight hearings between 1993 and 1994 under a Democrat controlled congress and Democrat President Clinton. Once the Democrats took control in 2007, they forced more people out of the executive branch in the first three weeks than the republicans had done in the past 6 years.

Question 36

How effective is congressional oversight

Answer 36

House republicans organised hearings in six committees on the terrorist attack in Benghazi 2012. Two Senate committee hearings were also held, 252 witnesses were called, 13 separate reports were published and 3,000 questions were asked. The main reason for this was because Clinton was the favourite for the 2016 Democrat presidential nominee.
The effectiveness of congress in oversight depends on a number of variables:
• United or divided government.
• Popularity of the president compared to congress. Congresses 13% approval rating has benefited the president; this lessens the chances of congress acting as an effective check on the executive branch. Congress finds it difficult to curb the actions of a popular president compared to the actions of an unpopular president.
• The size of the president’s mandate. A president who wins by a landslide like Reagan in 1984 is less vulnerable than a president who won a minority of the popular vote like Clinton in 1992 and 1996, or one who lost the popular vote like Trump in 2016.
• A national crisis like 9/11 usually strengthens the presidents hand at congresses expense

Question 37

Congress and their representative function

Answer 37

The third function of congress is representation. The constitution states that members of congress must be residents of the state they represent. A number of states go further and say members must reside in their congressional district. House members are cautious of constituent’s views as they have to face the electors every two years.

Question 38

Engagement with constituents

Answer 38

There are various methods by which members of congress can find out about their constituents views. While they are in Washington DC, members of congress keep in touch by phone or email with their offices back in the state or district. They also read local newspapers and receive letters and emails from constituents. They also make regular visits back to their constituents. The frequency depends on the distance, for example Democrat congressmen Dan Newhouse from Washington represents a district 3,125 miles from Washington DC. However Senator Elizabeth Dole was ousted from her seat after spending 13 days in her state, North Carolina in 2006.
House and Senate members have a variety of engagements including
• Holding town hall meetings
• Conducting surgeries with constituents
• Making visits around their states/ district
• Appearing on local radio programmes

Question 39

Fulfilling the representative function

Answer 39

• Voting on legislation on the floor of the chamber – Republican Senator for Alaska Lisa Murkowski voted against her party on the nomination of Betsy DeVos as education secretary in 2017 based on concerns from her constituency
• Membership on standing committees of particular interests to their constituents. Both North Dakota Senators on Agricultural Committee
• Lobbying executive departments and agencies on relevant polices
• Performing constituency casework, helping constituents with federal matters
• Trying to gain money and projects to benefit their states or district, known as port barrel politics.
Pork barrel politics was a term for funds provided for unnecessary projects in a member of congress’s state or district. Obama gave Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson $100 million for Medicaid funding if he supported Obamacare (known as Cornhusker Kickback). Having peaked in 2006, pork barrel politics has declined in recent years. However e-democracy has been increasing, members of congress make use of online communication tools to stay in touch with their constituency.

Question 40

Voting in congress

Answer 40

House and Senate members are called upon to cast a large number of votes each year. In 2007 members of the House voted 1,186 times, beating the previous record of 885 set in 1995. However votes in the Senate are low. In 2016 there were 163 votes due to the Republican majority making Obama a lame duck president. They vote on budgets, amendments, second or third readings, bills from conference committees and in the Senate appointments by the president. Votes in congress tend to decline during election years due to members campaigning for re-election.
When a vote is called members have 15 minutes to cast their vote. In the Senate members are asked to stand up and one at a time and declare their vote. In the House votes are taken by electronic devices.

Question 41

Factors influencing votes - pressure groups

Answer 41

they can lobby Senators and representatives and can attempt to generate public support for their positions. Huge amounts of money can be spent on the lobbying process and money can be raised through fundraising. Pressure groups can fund supporters’ re-election and defeat those that oppose them. Examples of pressure groups are the National Rifle Association and the National Right to Life Committee.
Personal beliefs – some votes will require members to consult their own conscience. By the nature of these votes will often result in a party vote, for example gun control and abortion. For example Bart Stupak (Democrat) would only vote in favour of Obamacare after being assured it would not cover abortions.

Question 42

Factors impacting votes - political parties

Answer 42

a party vote sometimes occurs in congress when an issue is an ideological matter such as taxation and gun control. For example the Federal Information Systems Safeguard Act 2016 which established government operations concerning the security of information systems was voted for by all but two republicans and all but four Democrats voted no.
The parties have few sticks or carrots to encourage party voting. Sticks such as the threat of de-selection does not work in a system in which voters decide on candidates in primary elections. Carrots such as executive branch posts do not work due to the separation of powers. The last decade saw an increase in party votes. In 2010, Senate recorded its highest percentage in 50 years with 78.6% and the House of Representatives with 75.8% in 2011. This shows party cohesion has increased since 2002.

Question 43

Factors influencing votes - the administration

Answer 43

much legislation voted on in congress has been initiated by the administration. Cabinet members have a keen interest in the passage of legislation affecting their policy areas, so members of the administration keep in touch with members of congress and they talk with members on relevant committees. It is important the White House are willing to do favours in return for voting in line with them. This needs to be done with members of both parties as success usually occurs when there is bipartisanship. Voting in line with the administration has its downfalls. Elizabeth Dole lost her re-election after her democrat opposition highlighted her 92% record of voting with President Bush who was unpopular at the time.

Question 44

Factors influencing votes - colleagues and staff

Answer 44

members of congress rely on others to help make a decision to vote. Other colleagues can be helpful, following the guidance of a colleague from the same party and senior members can act as mentors to newer members. Members of relevant committees can also help decide how to vote.
Constituent’s views also influence members on how to vote.

Question 45

Partisanship in congress

Answer 45

Since 2007, there has been an increase in partisanship in congress and the parties are more ideologically coherent. Centrist members of congress have become increasingly rare in congress. There are currently no democrats more conservative than the most liberal republicans in congress.
In the 1982 Senate there were 35 democrats more conservative than the most liberal republican Weicker of Connecticut and 23 Republicans more liberal than the most conservative democrat Zorinsky of Nebraska. In the 2015 Senate there was no overlap and the most conservative Democrat was Heitkamp of North Dakota and the most liberal republican was Collins of Maine.
Partisanship explains the lack of productivity in congress. In 2013 congress passed an all time low of 57 laws. Despite this congress held 291 votes in Senate and 641 in the House. The House voted 12 times to repeal Obamacare. Another problem is that members who stray away from the party line open themselves up to a primary challenge from the more ideologically correct wing of their party.

Question 46

Why has partisanship increased

Answer 46

Disappearance of the centrist members of both parties and the people in congress are more ideological. This is seen in the senate with prominent centrists being replaced by more ideological members. For example in 2010 centrist Democrat Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania was replaced in the senate by conservative republican Pat Toomey. Specter had a 43% voting record in the senate and his replacement had a 93% rating (voting in line with republicans).
House of Representatives partisanship has increased due to redrawing of districts. In many states the state legislators draw the boundaries; they draw up districts which are safe seats for one party or the other. In California until 2011, redistricting was controlled by the state legislators. In 2010 midterm elections the average vote for the winners of the state’s 53 House seats was 66% and only 4 of the 53 House seats in California was won by less than 10 points. The other 49 House members had no incentive to vote in a bipartisan fashion. In 2011 when an independent commission had redistricting powers House races in California became competitive, as the number of seats won by less than 10 points increased from 4 to 12.