The Basics – Legislative Government in America

Chamber	Membership	Term	Constituency	Rules
House	435 members	2 yrs	Districts	Restrictive
Senate	100 members	6 yrs, staggered	Statewide	“egalitarian” “deliberative”

Institutional Characteristics of House & Senate

House

· districts roughly equal sized (approx. 650,000)

· each state has at least 1 Representative

· Baker v. Carr (1962) – equal representation

· Wesbury v. Sanders (1964) – expanded Baker v. Carr

· Redistricting

Senate

· 17th Amendment (1913) – Binding primaries

Links to the People

Constituencies (Fenno – Home Style)

· Geographic

· Reelection

· Primary

· Personal

· Financial

Theories of Representation (see Edmund Burke)

o Delegate

o Trustee

Work of Congress

1. Make Laws

v Congressional Power: Article I, Sect. 8

v Elastic or “Necessary and Proper” clause

v House – Tax & Spending bills

v Senate: ‘Advice & Consent’

2. Casework:

Ø Constituent service

Ø Personal Vote

3. Oversight

q implementation of laws

q government agencies

How?

· Staff

· Hearings

· Committee investigations

Þ Important – more to come in section on Bureaucracy

Party in Government

General Points

American Legislative Parties Compared to Parliamentary Systems (like Great Britain)?

Why?

· Geographic Concerns

· Party Discipline

Party Organizations

Democratic Caucus & Republican Conference

· Select Leaders

· Influence Committee Assignments

· Shape Congressional Agenda

House Party Leadership

Speaker of the House

· Constitutional Office

· Leader of Majority Party

· Presiding officer of House

· refers bills to committees

· power of recognition (once very important)

· influences committee assignment assignments (used to appoint committees)

· second in line for presidency

· Power diminished from past

· Republican Reforms gave Speaker more power

Floor Leaders

Majority Leader

· Often chair of Ways and Means Committee

· Selected by Party

· Agent of Speaker

· Shapes party agenda

· Develops floor schedule

Majority Whip

· Elected position

· Count Heads

· Generate Support for party line

· There are a lot of them

Minority Leader

· Counterpart to Speaker and Majority Leader

· Helps shape agenda and set calendar

Minority Whip

· Counterpart to Majority Whip

Senate Party Leaders

Vice President

· Presides officer of Senate

· Votes to Break Ties

President Pro Tem

· Constitutional Office

· Ceremonial

· Most senior member of Majority Party

Majority Leader

· Elected in Party Caucus/Conference

· Sets the Senate Calendar

Minority Leader

· Pretty Much the Same as above (with a bit less authority)

Senate vs. House Leadership

Speaker of the House & Majority Party

· Leadership very powerful

· Restrictive Rules of Debate make Majority Party Influential

Senate Leadership Less Powerful

· Unanimous Consent Agreements

· Filibuster

· Cloture

Who are these guys?

House

Speaker	Dennis Hastert	Illinois
Maj. Leader	Dick Armey	Texas
Majority Whip	Tom DeLay	Texas
Conference Chair	J.C. Watts	Oklahoma
Min. Leader	Richard Gephart	Missouri
Minority Whip	David Bonior	Michigan
Caucus Chair	Martin Frost	Texas

Senate

Majority Leader	Trent Lott	Mississippi
Majority Whip	Don Nickles	Oklahoma
Conference Chair	Rick Santorum	Penn.
Minority Leader	Tom Daschle	S. Dakota
Minority Whip	Harry Reid	Nevada

Congressional Committees

· Little Legislatures

· Origin

· Purpose

· Powerful

Congressional Committees & the Legislative Process

Types of Committees

· Standing

· Select

· Joint

· Conference

Standing Committees

· Permanent (19 House 17 Senate)

· Jurisdiction

· Subcommittees

House Rules Committee

· Flow of information

· Determines schedule

· Determines rules of debate & amendments

Open vs. Closed Rules

Select or Special Committees

· Temporary

· Specific/Timely Purpose

Joint Committee

· House and Senate members

· Permit coordination

· Ex. Printing, Library of Congress, Reorganization of Congress

Conference Committees

· 3^rd House of Congress

· Resolve House-Senate differences

· Composition

Power of Conference Committees

· Take-it-or-leave-it offers to both chambers

· Ex post veto

Hierarchy of Congressional Committees

Exclusive

Þ Ways and Means, Rules, Appropriations, Commerce*

Þ 1 exclusive, no others

Major

Þ Ag, Armed Services, Energy*

Þ 1 major, 1 non-major

Non-major

· “Housekeeping” committees (ex. Veterans affairs)

· Multiple Assignments

Committee Assignment Process

· Size of Committee

· Allocation of Seats

Selection of Chairs

· Seniority

· Caucus-Conference

Selection of Individual Members

Assignment Decisions

· Members request assignments

· Party leaders/Committee on Committees

Assignment Criteria

· Member Requests

· District Concerns

· Expertise

· Seniority

· Party Loyalty

Theories of Congressional Organization

1. Good Government Explanation

· Division of labor

· Committees vs. Committee of the Whole

· Expertise

2. Distributive Theory

· Assist reelection goals

· Self-selection

· Hand out goodies to constituents

3. Informational Theory

· Members concerned about Policy Outcomes

· Minimize uncertainty re: outcomes

· Need to encourage specialization/expertise

· How? Open and Closed Rules

4. Partisan Theory

· Parties need to maintain cohesion

· Keep divisive issues off agenda

· Committee assignments based on party loyalty

Predictions about Committee Composition

Distributive

outlier committees

Informational

representative of the chamber

Partisan

look like the majority party

Illustration of Committee Power

Formal model of Committee Power

Structure Induced Equilibrium

Simplified Legislature with Committees

3 Characteristics of Committees

1.Jurisdiction

2.Proposal Power

3.Gatekeeping Authority

Assumptions

1.Single Peaked Preferences

2.Complete and Perfect Information

Explains

· When gates open & when they stay closed.

· Importance of rules

C – Committee

PV – Pivotal Voter

SQ – Status Quo

SIE Results – Open Rule

SQ PV C

PV SQ C

SQ C PV

SIE Results – Closed Rule

SQ PV C

PV SQ C

SQ C PV

Results

SQ-PV-C

· Committee Reports under Open and Closed Rule

PV-SQ-C

· Committee Does NOT Report

SQ-C-PV

· Committee Reports under Closed Rule

· Reports Under Open Rule If

||C-PV|| <= ||C-SQ||

Illustrates 2 things

1.Committees have power to keep policy from changing

2.Explains why policies do not reflect preferences of the median/pivotal voter

Roll Call Voting

How Legislation Gets Passed

Members Request Roll Call Votes

Public Declarations of positions on specific proposals

Provide opportunities for Position Taking & Credit Claiming

What Factors Influence Roll Call Voting?

· Ideology

· Constituents

· Party

· Elections

· Interest Groups

· President

How Do We Compare Roll Call Behavior?

· Interest Group Scores

· Presidential Support Scores

· Party Unity/Cohesion/Leadership Scores

Texas Legislature

House of Representatives

· 150 Members

· 2 Year Terms

· Resident of State 2 yrs, of District 1 yr.

· District Pop. Approx. 127,000

Senate

· 31 Members

· 4 Year Terms

· Resident of State 5 yrs., of District 1 yr.

· District Pop. Approx. 613,000

Legislative Operations

Legislative Session

· Convenes Biennially

· Max. length of Session 140 Days

· Gov. can call special sessions – 30 days

Amateur Legislature

· $7,200 Stipend + per diem + mileage

· Consequence – dominated by elites

Texas Legislative Leaders

Speaker of the House

· Not as partisan as US House

· Speaker & Committee Assignments

· Names Chairs

· Cross Partisan Lines in Committees

Senate

· Lt. Governor

· Presides over Senate

· Comparable to Speaker

· Power to make Committee Assignments

· May not vote on pending Senate Business

o Exception – break ties