REPRESENTATION IN CONGRESSRyan D. Williamson

17 February 2015

Agenda

• Attendance• Return Exam One• Midterm Evaluations• Lecture on Congress• Reading for Thursday

Questions?

Objective

• Debate how members of Congress can best represent constituents.

Constitutional Prerogatives: Powers of Congress

• Designed to be the most powerful branch • Primary lawmaking body • Article 1, Section 8, lists enumerated (or expressed) powers

• Also lists the necessary and proper (or “elastic”) clause, where the broadest power is found

Constitutional Prerogatives: Structure

• Representation through a bicameral legislature• Comprised of the House and Senate• Connecticut Compromise between large and small

states

• Compare and contrast the House and the Senate Principal-agent problem: public representation

Causes of Individualism in Congress: Plurality & SMD• Elections for the House and Senate use single- member districts (SMD) and plurality rule

• In single-member districts, each district/state chooses one representative

• Plurality means that whoever receives the most votes wins

Causes of Individualism in Congress: Primaries

• Candidates for office used to be determined by political parties

• Primaries started as a way to nominate candidates in the early 20th century

• Primaries allow voters to choose who will appear under the party label on the general-election ballot

Causes of Individualism in Congress: Redistricting

• The number of districts in each state is based on population, with each state getting at least one

• The total number of districts has been fixed at 435 since 1911

• Most states redraw district lines every ten years even if they don’t lose or gain seats

Redistricting and “One Person, One Vote”

• Supreme Court put restrictions on the drawing of districts in the 1960s • Baker v. Carr (1962)• Wesberry v. Sanders (1964)• Reynolds v. Sims (1964)

• Districts must adhere to “one person, one vote” standard

• Forced states to draw districts with equal populations

Baker v. Carr

• Prior to the 1960s, the state of Tennessee had failed to redraw districts lines since 1901 despite mandates dictating that they do so after each census.

• Over those decades, the population shifted in such a way that Shelby County had 10 times as many residents as some other districts.

• Baker then argued that this inhibited him from receiving equal treatment under the law because his vote was weighted much less.

• The Supreme Court then ruled in his favor.

Wesberry v. Sanders

• Wesberry, a member of Georgia’s fifth congressional district, sued the governor over the distribution of voters in the state.

• Because his district had between 2 and 3 times more voters, he argued that he and other voters in his district were being discriminated against.

• The Supreme Court then ruled in his favor.

Reynolds v. Sims

• In the Alabama state legislature, state senators represented grossly different sized populations. One senator represented 41 times more people than another.

• Voters in Jefferson County brought suit against the state arguing that this violated the equal protection clause.

• The Supreme Court ruled in their favor, arguing that districts need to be as close to “one person, one vote” as possible.

Gerrymandering

• Politics easily intrudes into the drawing of districts

• By redistricting, states can manipulate representation

• Districts are frequently drawn in strange shapes to gain political advantage

Illinois 4th

Maryland 3rd

North Carolina 12th

Pennsylvania 7th

Florida 5th

Redistricting and Minority Representation

• Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the election of more minority candidates

• Also a rise in the number of women elected, but Congress still does not demographically mirror the nation as a whole

Partisan and Racial Redistricting

What is the Best Type of Representation?

• How does a member determine how best to represent her constituents?

• Edmund Burke proposed that sometimes members act like trustees and other times like delegates

• Most members try to balance these visions of representation

The Incumbency Advantage

• Members of Congress are reelected in very high numbers

• What causes this advantage? • Gerrymandering• Pork• Television access • Campaign finance• National party efforts

Questions?

STRUCTURE AND PROCESSES

Agenda• Attendance• Announcements

• Quiz 2 next Thursday• Pick up your test after class if you didn’t get it Tuesday

• Discuss midterm evaluations• Lecture on congress• Reading for next week

Questions?

Averages

Difficulty: 6.0

Workload: 5.3

Interest: 4.9

Presentation: 6.9

Class overall: 7.1

Instructor overall: 8.4

Difficulty• http://www.wwnorton.com/college/polisci/americanpolitical

systemcore/welcome.aspx• ryandw10@uga.edu• Tuesday & Thursday 2-3pm, by appointment

Difficulty• Emphasize the more important aspects• Use more “real world” examples• Don’t lecture so quickly• Get away from pure lecture

Objective

• Identify the structure and composition of Congress

• Describe how a bill becomes a law

Internal Institutions of Congress and Unstable Coalitions • Institutions and procedures of Congress are designed to grant agenda control to a subset of people

• Agenda control helps overcome unstable coalition problems and prevent chaos

Party Leaders

• Party leaders solve coordination and unstable coalition problems by enforcing party discipline

• Reed’s Rules provide procedural guidelines for party leaders

• Party leaders are elected at the beginning of a • Congress by the members of each party:

• Speaker of the House• Majority/Minority Leader• Majority/Minority Whip

Committees

• Much of the detailed legislative work in Congress occurs in committees

• Each committee focuses on a particular area of policy (jurisdiction)

• Allows for specialization and expertise in committees—so better public policy

• Also allows self-selection for members, who may craft legislation, find district benefits, or rise in prestige

Types of Committees

• Standing committees • Exist permanently

• Special/select committees • Formed for a specific purpose

• Joint committees• Members of House and Senate, no legislative authority

• Conference committees • Members of House and Senate for resolving differences

over a bill

Committee Membership

• Determining committee assignments is a highly political process

• Party leaders determine committee assignments, and therefore more loyal members are rewarded

• Chairs of committees and chairs of subcommittees are powerful

• Agenda setters: Help to resolve unstable coalition issues

Other Internal Features

• Caucuses, staff, and research services also play a role in Congress

• Caucuses are a way for members to group themselves for business

• CBO and CRS provide independent information for members

The Legislative Process I• Bill proposals: only legislators can introduce bills • Bills referred to proper committee based on jurisdiction

and party goals • Committee action

• Most bills not acted on in committee • Committees may mark up bills for the floor

• House uses special rules to bring bills to the floor • Open rules, closed rules, and restricted rules

• Senate uses unanimous consent agreements to bring bills to floor• this empowers individuals

The Legislative Process II• Floor action can be exciting, though typically well- scripted • Little debate, chambers almost empty • Roll calls in both chambers • Resolving differences between House and Senate bills • Enrolled bills sent to president

• Sign, veto, pocket veto

• House and Senate can override veto with 2/3 vote of each chamber

• Separation of powers system creates bias against action (“institutional friction”)

Senate Distinctiveness

• Unlimited debate is allowed • Filibuster • Cloture

• Committees less powerful • No germaneness rule

• Parties less powerful • Individual rights trump collective action in Senate

Questions?

For next time…

• Read chapter 5 of Bullock and Gaddie