representative function of congress Flashcards
1st way members of congress perform their legislative function: C
-communication with constituents
-done through town hall meetings, visits and social media
-done to ensure they can understand their constituents’ views to represent them well in congress
2nd way members of congress perform their legislative function: L
-legislation
-debating, amending and voting on legislation
-they may choose to vote according to their constituents’ views (delegate model) or for what they believe is in the best interests of their constituents (burkean model)
3rd way members of congress perform their legislative function: SC
-sitting on relevant standing committees
4th way members of congress perform their legislative function: Lo…
-lobbying the government for funds or policies that would benefit their constituents (known as pork barrel politics in the case of funding that in reality is unnecessary)
what are congressional caucuses?
-a group of like minded individuals in congress
-they unite together to promote particular legislation
-they then split off into smaller caucuses, which can be bipartisan
example of a democrat caucus: ND
-new democrats
-in the HoR
-has 100 members
-the ‘third way’ between the left and right wing of the party
-some aims = combat climate change, build an economy that grows the middle class
example of a republican caucus:
-freedom caucus
-HoR
-has 38 seats in the house
-seen as the most right wing caucus, has very fiscally moderate and socially conservative views
-have repeatedly fought to get rid of the affordable care act
example of a bipartisan caucus:
-congressional black caucus
-has 55 seats in HoR and 3 in the senate
-fights for greater equality for black americans
factor that affects how representatives vote in congress: P
-your party
-usually they vote with their party especially on contentious issues e.g. abortion
-this has become more and more common however rebellions do happen e.g. in 2015 3 democrats voted against their party to support a multi-billion dollar transport funding package
factor that affects how representatives vote in congress: A
-the ‘administration’ (executive branch)
-cabinet members speak to members of congress on a regular basis
-usually the head of department tries to get congress on side, but agreement is unlikely when the cabinet is democrat but the head of congress is republican for example
factor that affects how representatives vote in congress: PGs
-pressure groups
-mainly happens through the funding of congressmen/women
factor that affects how representatives vote in congress: C
-colleagues/staff
-members of congress can’t know the details of all legislation, so senior members often mentor junior ones
describe parties in congress:
-in both houses each party has a leader
-in the HoR there’s a speaker who has leadership over the whole chamber
-when the speaker is from the other party than the president (as it is currently), they become the leader of the opposition and have a lot of power e.g. setting agendas, appointing committee leads
-there has been increasing partisanship in congress but there has been attempts to increase bipartisanship (and so represent more effectively) e.g. through the 2017 problem solvers caucus
-in the HoR partisanship has increased because of the redrawing of district boundaries, which state legislatures often do to favour one party over another
arguments that parties play an important role in congress:
-leadership in congress is run by parties
-committees are organised by parties
-with increased partisanship comes stronger party discipline
-party is an important determinant in voting
-it’s almost impossible to be elected to congress without being a major party candidate
arguments that parties don’t play an important role in congress:
-views of constituents can often outweigh party considerations (mostly in HoR)
-parties have no control over candidate selection for committees
-both parties are made up of ideological factions that compete with party cohesion
-the executive branch doesn’t have much power to incentivise party discipline
-congressional leadership is fairly impotent in the face of opposition
