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Lobbying Methods

- Inside - direct Lobbying Personal persuasion - directly give a pitch to member of congress ; persuade them Research - produce research on Testifying at hearings Bribery Contact by constituents Contact by friends Personal entertaining Party giving - Outside Lobbying Public relations campaign letters/telephone/email/internet campaigns Publicizing voting records Contributing money Campaign work Rule for lobbyists : contact supporters or neutrals Do not contact opponents and try to persuade them You may mobilize opponents Legislators don't like pressure. They can retaliate

Presidential lobbying of congress

- Small favors Invitations to the White House Trips on Air Force 1 Pens from signing bills - Pork barrel favors Office buildings Bureaucratic rulings Funds directed to a congressional district - Credit claiming opportunities Let MC's announce good news A new federal grant for UCSB, etc. - Appeals to party loyalty MC's feel loyalty They have an incentive for their party's president to succeed - These are limited powers

Three Activities of MC's

1. Advertising Local news, newsletters We vote for people we recognize Name recognition helps win elections Famous names Spouses Children Actors Athletes Astronauts Historical names 19 of 65 bills (29%) that passed both houses jan-aug 2012 attached names to federal buildings Robert C byrd put his name on everything he could find (advertising and credit claiming) More than 50 federal buildings Dozens of highways, bridges 32 educational centers/ schools 2. position taking Statements, speeches, resolutions, votes Pleasing positions matter most, not results Sen. Strom thurmond Longest filibuster, 100 hours against civil rights act Lost the vote, won reelection People introduce bills with an intent of press conference or press release, not necessarily passing bill 3. credit claiming Dams, buildings, parks, military bases, etc Must be particularized Claim must be connected to committee In order to have plausible claim/ credit, the legislation need to be written in some sort of fashion that says i'm responsible for this

Activities are universal, not zero sum

1. Advertising National publicity goes to chairs & leaders Local publicity even distributed Casework, newsletters, local news, etc. 2. Position taking Payoff is for the position taken, not outcome "Vote for me, I'm a loser"? 3. Credit claiming Distributive benefits Norm of universalism

Media attention and name recognition

1st step in campaign : get name recognition People vote for names they recognize "To be known is to be known favorably" 2nd step : create a positive image

Agenda setting

AGENDA : The issues that dominate the news media and congress's attention Usually 3-5 big issues at one time "The mass media may not be successful in telling us what to think, but they are stunningly successful in telling us what to think about Who and what influences the agenda? Wars, disasters If it bleeds, it leads The president has special influence Interest groups and politicians want to push their issues The current agenda Derek chauvin trial and george floyd The media direct our attention

Party Control of the Agenda

Agenda: the (short) list of issues of which the public, the media, and policy makers pay attention Public agenda = public thinks about Media agenda = new media cover Policy agenda = policymakers spend time & effort

Party Leaders Reelection Goal

All MC's depend on voters for reelection Party leaders also depend on their party's MCs for reelection as leaders Power is circular: Leaders issue orders & lead their parties But leaders may be leading in the direction demanded by their followers "There go my people. I must follow them, for I am their leader."

Party leaders reelection goal

All MC's depend on voters for reelection Party leaders also depend on their party's MC for reelection as leaders Power is circular Leaders issue orders and lead their parties But leaders may be leading in the direction demanded by their followers

R. Douglas Arnold The Logic of Congressional Action

Arnold builds on Mayhew's work Rational choice assumptions, but realistic Reelection is the dominant goal But MCs want policy wins without risking electoral defeat

Attentive public vs. inattentive public

Attentive publics are groups of people who follow issues Dreamers in college (mostly) Politically active seniors and medicare Inattentive public are people who do not follow issues Follow megan rpinoe instead of UC tuition? - attentive publics are easy to identify and serve They have organizations and lobbyists Inattentive people are harder to judge They may continue to ignore an issue Or they may become interested after the decisions are made

Power

Certain committees are more powerful than others. Appropriations Ways and means Rules Energy and Commerce - Commerce, trade & consumer protection - Energy & air quality Environment & hazardous Materials Health Telecommunications & the Internet

Party control of the agenda

Chairs and the majority party dominate each committee's agenda Gatekeeping power : prevent discussion of bills they oppose Positive power : they can hold hearings, and usually win action on any bill they like (minority party only pass bills that are probably bipartisan) - agenda : the list of issues to which the public, media, and policy makers pay attention (public agenda( general public) , media agenda (mainstream news media, what news is writing about) , policy agenda)

PARTY leadership of committees

Chairs of each committee and subcommittee are from the majority party GOP : leadership appoints, 6 year term limits Dems : elected by caucus Normally most senior member of party on comm. Years of service on committee, not in house Ranking minority members are the senior members of the minority parties Committee chairs and ranking minority members control staff

Collective goods dilemmas

Collective goods dilemmas occur when A group wants a collective good Members agree that everyone should pay a fair share of the cost But voluntarily paying that share is not in the interest of individuals People would rather be "free riders" Common result : no public good.

Committee assignments

Committee assignments are made at the beginning of each congress Assignments are usually automatic for MC's wanting to return to their old committees Transfers and new members compete for seats

How Committees Address Bills

Committee meetings open Members are given time for opening statements Hearings are held to gather information Witnesses testify and answer questions Markup meetings are held to amend bills Final vote after markup

Differing institutional styles

Comprehensive planning easier for president Create a presidential task force Energy policy, war on drugs, social security reform (1980s) Congress is plagued by turf wars Gaining policy turf brings Opportunities to make policy Campaign donations War on drugs : 80 committees and subcommittees share jurisdiction Clinton's health care : 5 major committees/ bills

Authorization v. appropriation committee

Congress restrain spending on single committee For government to spend money, 2 bills must pass congress A bill authorizing a program (establishes) This act authorizes to be appropriated 100$ million for... This act authorizes such sums as may be appropriated for... A bill appropriating the funds (pays for it) This act appropriates 70$ million for... (japanese internment camp reparation bill - passed under Carter administration. Appropriation committee said they are not paying for this - was authorized in judiciary department but not appropriated)

Good public policy

Foreign affairs Education and labor Judiciary - Commercial and administrative law - Courts, the internet and intellectual property Crime, terrorism and homeland security Immigration, border security and claims The constitution

Reelection

Different committees are in charge of different policies and areas of expertises → responsible for authoring and passing bills based on those -Agriculture -Armed services -Natural resources -Veterans' affairs -Transportation and Infrastructure -Coast guard & Maritime Economic development, public buildings & emergency Highways, transit, pipelines Railroads Water resources & environment

Costs and Benefits of Policies

Distribution of costs and benefits - MC's think in terms of groups and geographic areas - Factory workers, the elderly, students, Latinos, southerners Widely distributed costs are less noticeable than concentrated costs - Income Taxes vs. User-fee for national forests Widely distributed benefits are taken for granted; concentrated benefits are valued more - Clean air vs. college loan programs

Press secretaries

Every MC has a press secretary (but wasn't true 30 years ago) Duties: Responding to press inquiries Generating press releases Some press releases designed to be articles for newspapers with few resources They write "letters home" as newspaper columns or radio opinion pieces They work with other press secretaries to coordinate efforts to get issues on the agenda

Getting attention : politics as theater

Getting attention is hard unless you are leader, chair or ranking minority member Hearings with movie stars, sports stars, heroes, cute kids (to bring attention to their issues) Recall steroid hearings Set the stage MC's at scene of forest fire, illegal border crossing on aircraft carrier off iraq Come up with a gimmick Jim nussle on house banking (1991)

President and congress bargain

Goals : policy and elections Bargain to make good public policy Bargain to make election points Consider the debt limit, covid-19 Who will get blamed if something goes badly wrong? Bargaining is a series of exchanges Each side gets something Sometimes one side gets more than the other Anticipated reactions (ask for more than what you can get then negotiate) Sometimes what you see does not reveal true preferences

Committee prestige/power

House democratic party rules: Exclusive committees: Rules (writes a special rule in a form of house resolution; if special rule is defeated, doesn't go to the floor) Appropriations Ways and means Semi exclusive committees Non exclusive committees

What should MC's do about National Issues

Influence national tides? - Economy, gas prices, war - Is MC's claim believable Focus on local tides? - Bringing home the bacon - Constituency service (ombuds role - investigate complaints and attempt to resolve them through

Group organization

Integration of groups influences how costs and benefits are perceived Proximity of members Organization Intra-group communications

Sen dirksen on civil rights

In 1950s he opposed civil rights 1964 he reversed course and supported 1964 civil rights act His principle on flexibility

Selection of party leaders

Leaders are elected by their party caucuses in secret ballots Seniority is NOT a consideration Criteria : Ability to broker deals Ability to act as spokesperson Organizational skill Ideological leadership

Information is the Main Product

Lobbyists form an extra "staff" for Congress They provide all sorts of information: Technical research on bills Political information on bills They write speeches They provide witnesses for hearings They organize legislative coalitions They provide info for constituents on MC's behalf

Lobbying is 2-way Communication

Lobbyists provide info to Congress Lobbyists also provide info to clients What congress or agencies are doing Lobbyists may act as negotiators They are diplomats trying to win the best deal

Why lobbyists are honest

Lobbyists work with allies They act as "extended staff" MC's can cut off access for lobbyists So MC's can retaliate if a lobbyist lies to them Lobbyists and MC's work as teams on legislation Access is the key In order to give the pitch, lobbyists must have access The skill of "super-lobbyists" is high level access

Barriers to party leaders

MC's are electorally independent of one another Elections are decided by local voters Campaign workers are local Campaign experts are easily hired Campaign funds come from: District voters Groups who care about committee's business Parties supply only 1-3% of the costs The committee system fragments policy making Each committee consists of experts They are socialized to support their clients (sympathy) Campaign donations come from people who care about the committee's business Committees jealousy guard their turf Seniority and fixed jurisdictions make them independent

Think of MC's as "Marginal" - mayhew

Marginal vs. Safe seats Objectively marginal or safe Margin of victory in last election Party ratios in district (gerrymandering) Scandal, age, redistricting Subjectively marginal or safe Everyone knows someone who has unexpectedly lost Virginia's Eric Cantor loses in the GOP primary Paul Wellstone defeats Rudy Boschwitz, Minnesota, 1990

Mayhew vs. arnold

Mayhew proposed a world of single minded seekers of reelection Arnold shows us that even in that world MC's can pursue their own preferences Some policies do not have early order costs Costs can be spread widely to hide them Procedure can render actions untraceable Arnold's model is dynamic : it explains change

Mayhew's World

Mayhew's imaginary world on single-minded seekers of reelection looks a lot like the real one. David Mayhew - Congress: The Electoral Connection Imagine MC's as "single-minded seekers of reelection" How would they behave This is the sort of question that economists ask They imagine an artificial world & analyze it Theories simplify reality with the goal of identifying key features to explain the real world

Richard Fenno's Theoretical Framework, Congressmen in Committees (1973)

Member goals and Environmental Constraints contribute to each other as well as strategic premises - Member goals Reelection Good public policy Power and prestige - Environmental constraints Party leaders Other members of the house Client groups President Executive branch - Strategic premises affect the decision-making process Strategic premises (Decision rules) Universalism Partisanship

SENATE committee assignment criteria

Member preferences Seniority (years of continuous service in the senate = most senior party member gets a choice if they are competing for assignment) Allows you to get rid of fights

Problem for congress : FREE RIDERS

Members of congress (MC) have their own goals. Reelection Good public policy ( if u care about policy, you NEED to be reelected) Power and prestige The institutions of congress has needs/ goals Some bills must routinely be passed Institutional power must be protected The problem is how to fill dual goals Part of the answer is party leadership ex) MC reelection goal vs. institution's goal of keeping government open

Party leaders vs. members

Party leaders cannot force MC's to do anything Think of them as UN leaders MC's follow party leaders out of self interest It is in their interest to push the party's agenda It is in their interest to make the party look good MC's also feel party loyalty They chose to join their parties They generally share the same views on policies

Hastert rule

No bill will be brought to the floor unless a majority of the majority committee supports it An often used strategy, NOT a formal house rule Hastert denies that it is a rule bill 1 is blocked by the speaker, only bill 2 can come to the floor. majority rule is limited because bills do not come to the floor

HOUSE committee assignment process and criteria

Party leaders negotiate committee size and party balance Committee dem-rep ratios are roughly proportional to party numbers in each house Each party in each house has its own committee on committees Member preferences Seniority Years of continuous service in the house Loyalty to leaders Balance for powerful committees (most things take MONEY.

Policy attributes

Policy attributes play a major role Timing or order of the policy effect Smoking v. non polluting car standards Result : fights over whether to make costs obvious to voters Timing of implementation plays a role Benefits sooner, costs later

Consequences (if people only care about reelection)

Position taking alone is sufficient for most constituents Corporations want results, not just words (that you support some clause) - particularism in solutions - There are often more efficient ways to deliver services Just a list - delay on non-particularized bills - if no benefit from position taking or credit claiming, then little congressional interest Symbolism is a common outcome Solutions : centralize power to achieve collective good Power to president Power to party leaders Power to committee chairs

Electoral independence

President and congress are separately elected Different constituents, different donors Presidents can do little to help or hurt MCs according to conventional wisdom (because trump actually hindered electoral) Fundraising help is possible, but limited Attempts to purge parties have failed FDR vs. southern democrats; nixon v. javitz 2016 rep. Mark sanford won with 58% of the vote 2018 lost by 2500 votes DONALD TRUMP turned on him, "mark sanford has been unhelpful to me in MAGA, vote katie!" Presidents and their parties rise and fall with national tides Economy, war, etc So MC's have an incentive to help their party's president or oppose the other party's president Joseph stalin The worse things are better things are If the affordable care act fails, GOP wins If the talks with north korea fail, democrats win

Differing time perspectives

Presidential timeline: Years 1-2 : most major domestic accomplishments Years 3-4 : midterm losses slow presidents Years 5-6 : success depends on election , the next campaign starts Years 7-8 : lame duck MC careers last for decades : this president too, shall pass

President as a national leader

Presidents dominate the national agenda Many forces influence the agenda Events Newton shooting, scandals Conditions Unemployment, inflation, wars Other politicians But the president is always influential Immigration reform and border security

Are MC's actions traceable?

Procedures may be prevent voters from tracing bad things to MC's actions An up or down vote on abortion funding is traceable A vote to adjourn rather than address an issue is not

Reliability of information varies

Professional legislatures are well served by lobbyists Professionals have: Long careers High pay Large staffs Amateur legislatures are poorly served Amateurs have : Short terms, low pay, small staffs

Voter reactions

Prospective vs. retrospective Prospective voting is based on policy positions Pro life, anti immigration, how to negotiate with iran Mayhew's position taking Retrospective voting is based on outcomes Unemployment rose in 2020 Doesn't matter if it was trump's fault (things go badly president gets blamed) Pres. trump was perceived as having failed with covid 19

Getting attention can mean winning

Public opinion may be so one-sided that if a bill gets attention and gets to the floor, it will win Bipartisan campaign reform act Public overwhelmingly behind it Opponents tried to avoid attention, but lost Partial birth abortion (same story) Minimum wages (popular among both party affiliation - can easily pass because of pressure of public opinion) , CAFE fuel standards One side works to get attention, while the other side works to hide the issue

Goals of Members of Congress

Reelection Good Public Policy Power and Prestige in the House

Three roles of legislator

Reelection Good public policy Influence within the house (often takes years of service in house)

What Lobbyists Do

Research issues Build coalitions w/ other groups Develop strategy Meet with legislators & staff attend/testify at committee hearings Negotiate with other legislators, administration, etc. Campaign to build public pressure

Strategy of Costs and Benefits

Result: MCs often fight to change distribution of costs and benefits Spread costs widely to make a bill more likely to pass Concentrate benefits on a target group Mayhew's "credit claiming" Pork Barrel Legislation To resist legislation, do the opposite Target costs narrowly on powerful interests

MC's Political Careers

Run for office & move up the "ladder of ambition" City council → Mayor → State Assembly → State Senator Win a seat in the house of representatives Power comes with seniority Freshman MC's can't accomplish much They wait until they are more senior-- A subcommittee chair perhaps Their careers mold their personal goals

Senate Filibuster

Senate rules allow every member to be recognized to speak on every debatable point Senators may speak as long as they wish The strategy of talking to stall action is a filibuster (a type of pirate in the 1830s)

A lobbyists ranking of members

Supporters, actively working for your bill - best Supporters, inactive Undecided Opponents, inactive Opponents, actively working against bill - WORST

Who gets the money?

Supporters, actively working for your bill -gets largest donation Supporters, inactive Undecided Opponents, inactive Opponents, actively working against bill - smallest $$ (often also get money, give money to people who are going to go against you to prevent them from going after you; give me $ or i will actively push the legislation you hate )

House ways and means committee

Tax reforms Write tax laws, control social security administration

Presidential power is the power to persuade - richard neustadt

The president as "lobbyist in chief" Small potatoes - Pork barrel Credit "Going public"

Party leaders coordinate and centralize

Their job is to look at the broad picture They need to look at the party's direction Other MC's focus on their committee work and reelection efforts Their perspectives are narrower They need party leaders to coordinate their efforts This is a collective goods problem (leaders trying to get important things passed, different goals going in different directions)

Rules Committee

Time for debate E.g., 40 minutes equally divided Amendments to be allowed Open, closed, closed modified Specific amendments allow in what order Waivers of points of order Floor Managers

Party leader's job

To run the business of congress smoothly To get the budget out every year To push through reauthorizations regularly To address the nation's top priorities (agenda) To push their party's programs To push the president's agenda To push their party's agenda (which may differ) To block the other party (esp. minority) To get their members reelected

The Senate Filibuster in Practice

Unanimous Consent Agreements are used to bring bills to the floor "Holds" prevent the need to waste time actually filibustering bills But some argue that holds make filibusters more frequent Debate can be ended with a "cloture" vote, which requires 60 votes

Differing institutional styles

Unity Congress is 535 people on 35 committees President is a single decision maker Unity can be exaggerated President can move swiftly; congress cannot Foreign policy Crises

Costs and benefits of policies

Widely distributed costs are less noticeable than concentrated costs - Income taxes vs. user fee for national forests -Widely distributed benefits are taken for granted; concentrated benefits are valued more. - Clean air vs college loan programs

National media :

has HIGH resources Quality reporters Resources to allow reporters to invest time on single stories Investigative reporters Better list of contacts

committee members

have stable membership rarely switch committees Seniority in committees lead to chair or ranking minority member Seniority = years on a committee Transferring to a more powerful or useful committee may help (BUT seniority clock starts again) Result most people transfer one time or not at all. spend years : Learning about policies in hearings Talking with lobbyists Talking with government experts Talking with people who care about their committees issue BUT they gain lot of expertise in narrow area trust and expertise

Local media

low resources Weak reporters Less experience Less training Successful reporters leave No resources to investigate Reporters must file many stories per day Fewer contacts Politicians and journalists bargain over coverage Bargaining is usually not explicit, but both sides realize the comparative advantages Bargaining situations determined by supply and demand situations, and news media resources National reporters can pick and choose stories They can spin stories as they like Local reporters have little choice They usually take what they are offered

simple majority rule

median voter goes through then everyone else will Anthony downs "median voter hypothesis" bill 1 wins the median voter so it passes

barriers to legislation

why out of 10,000 bills submitted 350 laws pass - attention -hearings - subcommittee majority (in the house) full committee majority rules committee (in house) getting to floor - speaker discretion ( house) hold or potential filibuster (senate) floor passage house senate agreement presidential signature Supreme Court review