Congress versus Parliament Congress means a coming together You
have to win a primary election Party has little to do with it
Personalities and position on issues makes difference Parliament
means to talk Political party has to put you on ballot to run You
are chosen based on your support for the national party Congress
(US)Parliament (UK)
Slide 4
Congress v Parliament Congress independent of President, vote
based more on what is best for constituency Political parties
cannot enforce party discipline Your vote is whether to support the
party or not, PM is leader of majority party in HOC Primary purpose
of the parliament is debate Congress (US)Parliament (UK)
Slide 5
British Parliament
Slide 6
The Structure of the Bicamercal Congress
Slide 7
House Leadership positions-Majority Speaker of the House The
position is the most senior officer of the House of Representatives
Institutionally, the Speaker holds broad-ranging powers and
presides over debate in the House, makes rulings on points of
order, has priority right of recognition on the floor, and sets the
agenda by deciding what legislation comes before the House.
Finally, by modern practice, the Speaker serves as the primary
spokesperson for his congressional party. House Majority Leader The
Majority Leader, the second most senior official in the House, is
by recent practice the day- to-day manager of business on the House
Floor. House Majority Whip The responsibilities of the Majority
Whip include: persuading Members to support the Conference position
on votes and projecting support for the Conference. The Majority
Whip is assisted by a network of Members assigned to count votes
and whip or convince their colleagues into supporting their partys
legislative position.
Slide 8
The State of the Union
Slide 9
House Leadership Positions-Minority House Minority Leader The
Minority Leader serves as the senior official for House Democrats.
As leader of the minority party in the House, the Minority Leader
works with the Democratic Caucus to set the party agenda, message,
and strategy. House Minority Whip The responsibilities of the
Minority Whip are counting votes and persuading Members to support
the Democratic Caucus position on votes.
Slide 10
Senate Leadership Positions-Majority President of the
Senate-VEEP of the US, tie breaking vote President Pro
Tempore-ceremonial leader of the Senate, presides Senate Majority
Leader The Majority Leader is in a practical sense the most senior
Senate official. As the day-to-day manager of business on the
Senate floor, the Majority Leader is responsible for working with
each Committee on legislation and scheduling the sequence and
manner of debate on all legislation. As the highest ranking
partisan position in the Senate, the Majority Leader exercises
broad powers, has the right of priority recognition on the Senate
floor, and serves as the primary spokesperson for Senate
Republicans. Senate Assistant Majority Floor Leader The
responsibility of the Assistant Republican Floor Leader is to
assist the Majority Leader in the coordination of Senate Floor
activities. The Assistant Majority Floor Leader is also the
Republican Whip and is the second ranking leadership position for
the majority party.
Slide 11
Senate Leadership Positions-Minority Senate Minority Leader The
Senate Minority Leader serves as the senior official for Senate
Democrats and is selected by a vote of the Democratic Caucus. The
Minority Leader works with the Democratic Caucus to set the
Democratic agenda, message, and strategy. Senate Assistant Minority
Leader The responsibilities of the Assistant Minority Leader are
similar to that of the House Whip: persuading Members to support
the Caucus position on votes and projecting support for the Caucus
position.
Slide 12
Who is in Congress? Typical member of Congress is middle-aged
white Protestant male lawyer. Gradually become less male and less
white
Slide 13
Race
Slide 14
Indiana 1 st Congressional District-Peter Visclosky
Slide 15
Sen. Dan Coats and Sen. Joe Donnelly
Slide 16
The Powers of Congress
Slide 17
Exclusive Powers of House and Senate Initiates all revenue
bills Initiates impeachment hearing by a majority vote Chooses the
President in case no majority in electoral college Advice and
Consent Powers for treaties and for Presidential appointments
(ambassadors and judges) Holds hearings for impeached officials-
convicts with 2/3rds vote HouseSenate
Slide 18
Committees-most important feature of Congress where the work is
done Standing committees-permanent bodies in both House and
Senate-essential to legislative function Select Committee-limited
temporary committees-help with oversight function Joint
committee-both reps and senators Steering Committee-Committee on
committees Conference Committee-resolves differences between
versions of same bill in the House and the Senate-hold no
hearings
Slide 19
Majority party does the following take the majority of seats
name the chairperson allow the minority party to take the rest of
the seats
Slide 20
Key facts House members serve on 2 standing committee, unless
he or she is on exclusive committeeAppropriations, Rules, Ways and
Means Seniority was the issue that used to determine chairmen of
committees House choose Chairmen based on secret ballot in party
caucus, senate uses secret ballot at request of 1/5 th of Caucus No
member of House or Senate may chair more than one committee
GOP-1994-term limits for Chairmen-House(3 terms or 6 years) Senate
(6 years)
Slide 21
Easier to get stuff done Closed rules-Rules Committee-only in
House Powerful Speaker Powerful Committee Chairmen
Slide 22
Difficult to get stuff done Open rules Weak speaker Powerful
individual members
Slide 23
Slide 24
The Filibuster Only in the Senate! Allows a Senator or group of
Senators the ability to talk a bill to death Prevents closure of
debate and the final vote Only can be ended by cloture vote
(3/5ths) 60 votes Attempts to limit filibuster recently
Slide 25
Longest Filibuster US Senator J Strom Thurmond 1957-debate over
civil rights bill Spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes
Slide 26
The Representatives Dilemma Delegates-agents of the People,
vote the way people want (Representational view) Trustees-voters
entrusted them with authority to make decisions, now votes based on
attitudes and ideology (Attitudinal View) Partisans-vote the way
party leaders want (Organizational View) Politicos-hybrid model
that combines the first three
Slide 27
The Representative's Dilemma You are a 3 term member of the
Senate and you face the following dilemma. What should you do and
why? Fact #1 You are a Moderate Republican from a state that voted
for the democratic President the last election. Fact#2 You won your
last election with a 10% margin of victory. Fact # 3 Though by and
large your state favors gun control measures, you have a very
powerful segment of NRA members in your state and a tradition of
hunting. The letters are coming in 10-1 against the legislation,
though it is evident most of them are postcards from NRA members.
Fact # 4 The President of the US, who supports gun control, has
submitted a bill to congress that requires universal background
checks, and strict limits on assault rifles in response to a school
shooting.
Slide 28
The Reps Dilemma pt 2 Fact # 5 The vote in the Senate will be
very close, it might come down to your vote to whether the
legislation is approved or not. Fact # 6 The Tea Party n your state
is recruiting pro-gun candidates to run against you ina primary
election if you support the legislation. The NRA is threatening to
support the candidate with PAC donations and ads in favor of their
candidacy. Fact # 7 The President calls you, and offers to have
dinner with you to discuss the legislation. He wants you to meet
the families of the victims in the school shooting. Piers Morgan of
CNN does a special on the families. Fact # 8 The Senate majority
leader threatens a filibuster of the legislation, which would
prevent a vote on the final bill. You have to decide on two votes.
The 1 st is the vote to invoke cloture to stop the filibuster. The
2 nd is on the vote to pass or reject the legislation. How do you
vote?
Slide 29
Getting reelected..Basic facts Presidential campaign are more
competitive than Congressional elections Marginal
districts-elections where members of the House win by less than 55%
of vote Safe districts-elections where member of the House win by
55% or more
Slide 30
Casework Members of Congress can do things(casework) for their
constituents that Presidents cannot
Slide 31
Franking Privilege Members of Congress have franking
privilege.-free postage service when doing official business
Slide 32
Earmarks and Pork-Barrel Politics Members of Congress can
earmark money to their districts through pork-barrel projects
Slide 33
Examples $107,000 to study the sex life of the Japanese quail.
$1.2 million to study the breeding habits of the woodchuck.
$150,000 to study the Hatfield-McCoy feud. $84,000 to find out why
people fall in love. $1 million to study why people don't ride
bikes to work. $19 million to examine gas emissions from cow
flatulence. $144,000 to see if pigeons follow human economic laws.
Funds to study the cause of rudeness on tennis courts and examine
smiling patterns in bowling alleys. $219,000 to teach college
students how to watch television. $2 million to construct an
ancient Hawaiian canoe. $160,000 to study if you can hex an
opponent by drawing an X on his chest. $800,000 for a restroom on
Mt. McKinley. $100,000 to study how to avoid falling spacecraft.
$16,000 to study the operation of the komungo, a Korean stringed
instrument. $6,000 for a document on Worcestershire sauce. $10,000
to study the effect of naval communications on a bull's potency.
$100,000 to research soybean-based ink. $57,000 spent by the
Executive Branch for gold-embossed playing cards on Air Force
Two.