CONGRESS AS A REPRESENTATIVE AND LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

Topic #24

Citizen vs. Professional Legislatures

• We now move beyond the mode of election of members of Congress, and its formal powers, structure, and procedures.

– We fill in some content into this structure by looking at the sociology and politics of Congress.

• Political scientists distinguish between “citizen legislatures” and “professional legislatures.” – This distinction has been developed primarily in the context of U.S. separation-of-powers institutions, and • it may not apply the same way in parliamentary systems.

Citizen Legislatures

• In a

citizen legislature

: – Legislators are “ordinary citizens,” • without ambitions for higher office or a political career.

– Political parties play little or no role in a citizen legislature, • which may in fact be officially non-partisan.

– Serving in the legislature is a part-time job: the legislature meets • only a few months a year (or less) [e.g., many state legislatures]; or • once a week or so in the evening [e.g., school boards, many county and city councils].

– Members receive modest (or no) compensation.

– There is still something of as norm of

rotation in office

, • producing high

turnover

and low (average)

seniority

.

– The legislature cannot develop strong governing norms and institutions.

– The legislature is often small (e.g., school boards, city councils, etc.), • and in particular lacks specialized committees and expertise.

• A

sample assembly

(elected by lot) would many respects be a perfect citizen legislature.

Professional Legislatures

• In a

professional legislature

: – Most legislators are ambitious professional politicians.

• Some members want to make a career in this legislature legislative body and rise to a leadership position.

• Others want to use their position in the legislature as a stepping-stone to higher office.

– Political parties play a substantial role in electing members and in internal organization (though less than in parliamentary systems).

– Members mostly serve until they are defeated for re election, seek higher office, or reach old age, • so there is relatively low turnover and high (average) seniority.

Professional Legislatures (cont.)

• Serving in the legislature is a full time job, – i.e., the legislature is in session most of the time, – Members are paid professional-level salaries, and • have a budget to hire staff assistants.

• The legislature is of substantial size and has developed governing institutional norms.

– In particular, the legislature has multiple specialized committees: • Senior committee members have high seniority and much experience and expertise on the issues within its jurisdiction.

• The committees are assisted by professional staff members with even more specialized and technical expertise.

Citizen vs. Professional Legislatures (cont.)

• Citizen vs. professional legislatures are

ideal types

. But we can say the following: • The Antifederalists (and more recently Tea Party activists) favored citizen legislatures, while • the Federalists believed that the national legislature (at least) should have more of a professional character.

– Nevertheless, Congress (especially the House) • had many of the characteristics of a citizen legislature for the first 60 years or so, • but Congress has professionalized over time.

– Virtually all state legislatures were citizen bodies 100 years ago but many (especially in larger states) have professionalized over time.

• Some states have imposed

term limits

on state legislators to try to retain or revive their citizen character.

– Even today many local councils (except in the largest cities and counties) have a mostly citizen character.

Parties in Congress

• Members are elected under a party label.

– The members elected to the House of Senate under given a party label constitute the

party caucus

in that house, • Though members occasionally switch parties.

– The majority vs. minority status of the party caucuses in each house determines which party organizes the house.

– Organizational votes are straight party-line votes, so the majority party caucus • elects the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader, • assigns its members to committees, and • designates the Chair of each committee.

Committee Assignments

• Party alignments on committees are negotiated between party leaders.

– They approximately reflect the party balance on the floor.

• Each Representative (except the Speaker) is assigned to at least one legislative committee but usually no more than one.

• Each Senator is assigned to multiple (usually two, three, or even four) committees, – because the Senate is a smaller body – but has the same array of committees • that are about half the size of their House counterparts.

Committee Assignments (cont.)

• Each party has institutions for assigning its members to committees, which usually follow the following norms.

– Assignments are made only as vacancies occur on committees, • that is, committee members have “tenure in office” in that, once assigned to a committee, they can stay on this committee as long as they choose (or are defeated for re-election, retire, or die).

– With respect to committee vacancies, members can formally indicate their preferred committee assignments, • which commonly reflect the nature of their constituencies (as well as their personal interests and commitments).

• The assignment process reflects these preferences as much as possible.

• A conflict is likely to be resolved on the basis of either seniority or party loyalty.

• Thus committee members are to a considerable extent self-selected, so – committees may be (descriptively) unrepresentative of the house as a whole, • and perhaps be made up of “high demand”

outliers

.

The Seniority System

• In most general terms, a seniority system means that members of an organization gain prestige, influence, and deference as their seniority (number of years of service) increases.

• But there is there a more specific – The chair of a committee is the

seniority system

in Congress, which often [but not always] governs the appointment of committee Chairs by the majority caucus: member of the majority party who has served on the committee (

not

in the house) for the longest consecutive period of time .

• The extent to which this seniority principle is adhered to has varied over time and between the two parties.

• The seniority system discourages “committee hopping” and reinforces committee expertise.

• “When I first got here, I thought the seniority system was a terrible idea -- but the longer I’ve been here, the more I see the wisdom of it.”

Distributive Politics, Reciprocity, and Logrolling

• National vs. distributive issues: –

National issues

: e.g., how big should our defense establishment be and what should its force components be?

–

Distributive (or “pork barrel”) issues

: e.g., where should new military bases be located (or which existing bases should be closed) and which defense contractors (located in which states/districts) should get major contracts?

• There is a strong norm of

reciprocity

in Congress, which can be realized especially by issues.

logrolling

in distributive – Some famous logrolls: • The federal assumption of state revolutionary war debts and location of the national capital [in 1790 between northern and southern interests]; • The food stamp program [in the 1970s between rural and urban interests]: • Not imposing a “decency” stipulation on NEA grants and lower grazing fees on Federal lands [in 1992 between the House and Senate interests (See box on “Corn for Porn” in K&J, p. 253)].

Committee Power Revisited

• For typical bills (not among the dozen or so most visible and contested pieces of legislation), – and especially legislation with distributive components, – committee approval may essentially guarantee floor approval, so – floor action may not be a major hurdle.

• Rep. Clem Miller (D-CA): “

Congress is a collection of committees that come together in a chamber periodically to approve one another’s actions

.”

Influences on Congressional Voting

• Because of the absence the kind of strong party discipline found in parliamentary systems, members of Congress accumulate varied voting records, especially on the most visible and contested issues that produce roll-call votes.

– Interest grouping ratings of members: • ADA, ACA, etc., • business and labor groups, • environmental groups, etc.

• Political science “NOMINATE” scores.

• Influences on voting decisions: – party affiliation; – party loyalty; – party leaders and whips; – the President/Administration; – media coverage (especially in district or state); – Interest groups (especially in district or state); – public opinion (especially in district or state); – personal preferences/ideology; – ambitions for higher office.

Party Polarization in Congress

Party Polarization in Congress (cont.)

Congress as a Representative Assembly Revisited

• Members of Congress are better

representative agents of their districts

than Congress as a whole is a

representative agent of the American people as a whole

.

• Sources of

Congressional localism

: – Members are elected from single-member districts, • which are typically drawn so as to be fairly homogenous in character, – which encourages them to be delegate-style representatives – and means they won’t often confront a “delegate’s dilemma.” • Members can take positions on national issues that please their constituents, even though these positions are not enacted into law (

position taking

).

– Members are (re)nominated by

primary elections

, not by party leaders, • so they largely control their own electoral destinies.

Congressional Localism (cont.)

• The norm of reciprocity enables members to bring “pork” back to their districts, – sometimes by means of “earmarks.” • They have budget and staff resources that allow them to – take care of constituents’ problems ( constituents, and – claim credit for pork barrel projects.

their local districts,

casework

), – regularly visit, and advertise their goods deeds to, their • When they arrive in Congress, they can generally get assigned to committees that will help serve the interests of – and then remain on them and acquire seniority.

• In general, they are encouraged to be “local errand boys [and now girls], more than national legislators” [Morris Fiorina].

The “Fenno Paradox”

• “If Congress can’t do its job properly, why do we love our members so much?” • Also re-election rate of incumbents – Generally 95+%

Source: American National Election Studies

House vs. Senate Contrasts

• The House of Representatives was expected to be the more “popular” house, in contrast to the more “elitist” Senate.

• But the Senate as a whole may better represent the American people as whole (despite the severe malapportionment of its “districts,” i.e., states) than the House.

– Senators have longer terms, allowing them to act more in a “national trustee” role much of the time.

– Senators represent whole states, • whose boundaries cannot be gerrymandered, • and which are more diverse than districts [cf. Madison’s Fed. 10], • confronting them with more delegate’s dilemmas, and forcing them to act more as trustees.

– The Senate is a smaller and less partisan body.

– Senators serve on multiple committees (giving them broader perspectives), • and which in any case can be bypassed by floor riders.

– Many Senators have Presidential ambitions.