Transcript Chapter 11: The Congress Why Was Congress Created? • Fear that power in the hands of a single individual would be abused and.

Chapter 11: The Congress
Why Was Congress Created?
• Fear that power in the hands
of a single individual would
be abused and the people
would suffer.
• The national legislative
power that was vested in
Congress was to be a
bicameral (two-house)
institution.
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© Randy Duchaine/Corbis
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The Functions of the Congress
• Lawmaking
• Representation
• Trustee view
• Instructed delegate view
• Politico style (combination)
• Service to constituents
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The Functions of the Congress (cont.)
• Oversight
• Reviewing actions of the
Executive Branch
• Hearings, investigations
• Public-Education
• Conflict Resolution
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© Richard T. Nowitz /Corbis
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The Powers of Congress
• Enumerated Powers
(Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution)
• Include taxing, spending, borrowing, and coining; regulation
of foreign trade and trade among states; regulation of the
military (state militias, an army and navy, and to declare war);
power to define the court structure
• Powers of the Senate
• Constitutional Amendments
(AP
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Photo/The Republican/Christopher Evans)
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The Necessary and Proper Clause
Allows Congress to make laws that are deemed to
be necessary to carry out the expressed powers
© Owen Franken /Corbis
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Who Can Serve?
• Minimum age 25 in House; 30 in Senate
• Citizen
• Must reside in state of election
• Local identity less of a factor for Senators
• Term limits determined by individual states
• House districts roughly equal in population;
established every ten years by reapportionment
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Basic House–Senate Differences
• Size and rules
• Debate and
filibustering
• Prestige
Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah
(AP Photo/APTN)
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Differences Between
House and Senate
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SENATE
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Larger (435 members)
Shorter term (2 years)
Less flexible rules
Narrower constituency
Policy specialists
Less prestige
More expeditious floor debate
Less reliance on staff
Less media coverage
More partisan
Smaller (100 members)
Longer term (6 years)
More flexible rules
Broader constituency
Policy generalists
More prestige
Less expeditious floor debate
More reliance on staff
More media coverage
Less partisan
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Size and Rules
• Because the House is so large, it operates under
stricter rules for debate.
• Rules Committee provides special rules under which
specific bills can be debated, amended, and
considered
• Rules Committee most powerful in House
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Debate and Filibustering
• Filibuster: the Senate’s use of unlimited debate
as a blocking tactic.
• Members of the Senate are generally able to
achieve more prestige than members of the
House because of the smaller number of
members.
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Congress and the Citizenry:
A Comparison
• Members of Congress are older, wealthier, and better
educated than general public
• Relatively few women and members of minority groups in
Congress
• Disproportionate number of lawyers in Congress
• Current congressional salary is $174,000
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Nancy Pelosi
First Female Speaker
of the House
Getty Images
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Congressional Elections
• Candidates self-selected or recruited
• Congressional campaigns and elections
• Biggest spenders usually win
• Presidential election effects less evident in recent
years
• Incumbents
• Significantly more likely to be reelected
• Pursuit of reelection strong motivator
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Representing the State?
Click the icon to open the movie
Video Supplied by Motion Gallery
This story covers the
election victory of the
Democrat Senate candidate
Al Franken nearly eight
months after election day,
when the Supreme Court of
Minnesota determined that
Franken was the winner.
Air date: 6/30/2009
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Video Questions
1. Should a senator represent the people of
his/her state, or the country as a whole? How
would the founding fathers respond to this
question?
2. Is the majority party’s power to stop a
filibuster significant?
3. Why are senators more interested in pleasing
their constituents than the president, even if
they are of the same party?
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Congressional Apportionment
• House seats are apportioned among the states
every ten years (following the census)
• Reapportionment (federal)
• Redistricting (state)
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Congressional Apportionment
(cont)
• Gerrymandering: drawing of boundaries to obtain
a partisan advantage
• Redistricting after the 2000 Census
• Will 2010 Census lead to significant redistricting?
• Minority–majority districts
• Encouraged by government to maximize minority
interests
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The Original Gerrymander
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Fourth Congressional District of
Illinois
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Perks and Privileges
• Pensions and health care
• Permanent professional
staffs
• Congressional agencies
• Privileges and immunities
under the law
• Congressional caucuses
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© George Tames/New York Times
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The Committee Structure
• The Power of Committees
• Standing Committees (most important)
• Select Committees (temporary)
• Joint Committees
• Conference Committees
• House Rules Committees
• Significant gatekeeping role
• Powerful
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The Committee Structure (cont)
• The Selection of Committee Members
• Appointed by Steering Committee of own party
• Informal seniority system
• Chairperson most senior member of majority party
• Ranking committee member is most senior member
of minority party
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How Congress is Managed
Democrats move to change
Senator Lieberman’s
committee assignments
after he campaigns for
McCain during the 2008
presidential election.
Air date: 11/19/2008
Click the icon to open the movie
Video Supplied by Motion Gallery
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Video Questions
1. How are Senate committee chairmanships
decided? Is there a better system?
2. Did Lieberman show disloyalty to his former
party by campaigning for McCain?
3. How does the seniority system improve the
functioning of the Senate?
4. Should the vice president take a more active role
in the committee leadership of the Senate?
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Formal Leadership
• Majority party controls
the legislative process,
including the selection
of Congressional leaders
• Leadership in the House
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Speaker of the House
Majority Leader
Minority Leader
Whips
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© Dennis Brack /Black Star/Stockphoto.com
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Leadership in the Senate
• Vice President
• Majority Leader
• Whips
• Minority Leader
• Whips
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Congressional Decision-Making
• Party membership is a major determinant of how
members vote, but not the only factor
• The Conservative Coalition
• “Crossing over” (voting against party stance)
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How a Bill Becomes a Law
• For a bill to become law, it must pass through both houses of
Congress.
• All spending measures must originate in House
• House of Representatives
• Introduction
• Committee Stage
• Rules Committee
• Floor Action
• The procedure in the Senate is similar, but there are no special
rules such as those set by the House Rules Committee; the
leadership schedules action.
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How a Bill Becomes a Law (cont)
• Conference committee
• If there are differences between the House version of
the bill and the Senate version of the bill, the bill will
be sent to a conference committee. Members of each
chamber selected by the leaders will attempt to reach
a compromise on the bill.
• House and Senate vote on bill as reported by
conference committee
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The Life of a Senator
Courtesy of Senator Durbin
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Representing the People
Rep. Barbara Lee
Rep. John Boehner
Rep. Judy Chu
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How Much Will the
Government Spend?
• Preparing the Budget
• Congress Faces
the Budget
• Authorization
• Appropriation
• Budget Resolutions
© UPI Photo/Roger L. Wollenberg/Landov
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The Budget Cycle
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Questions for
Critical Thinking
1. Why did the framers create a bicameral legislature?
Was part of the reason for a two-house legislature
the idea that it would be more difficult to pass
legislation, therefore, a check on a runaway
legislature? What impact does this have today?
2. Discuss recent major examples of “crossing over”
in Congress.
3. Should there be major differences between the
House and Senate?
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Questions for
Critical Thinking
4. How do the increasing costs of congressional
campaigns impact who can run for Congress?
5. Do different rules for each chamber, like the
filibuster in the Senate, help to balance power in the
two Houses?
6. Although the problems have changed since 1789,
have the basic ideas of representation changed? If
so, in what ways?
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Web Links
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The Library of Congress
C-SPAN
The Washington Post
Roll Call
The Center for Public Integrity
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