Congress and Elections
Parliamentary System Constitution
"Unwritten constitution", no single document, but rather comes from a collection of documents - Amendments made by majority support in both Houses of Parliament and the Royal Assent - 2 basic principles: The Rule of Law and the Supremacy of Parliament
Worst pork projects
- 2.5 billion for 10 C-17 - $17 million for the intl. fund for Ireland - $7 million to the Robert C. Byrd Institute - $7.2 million to the Harkin Grant Program - $2.5 million for Potato Research - $500,000 for Brown tree snake control - $229 million for the Gravina Island Bridge in Alaska
How much does it really cost (pork barrel)?
- 2010: $15.9 billion in earmarks That same year... - social security: $695 billion - Medicare: $453 billion - defense: $664 billion - total budget: $3.55 trillion - total deficit: $1.17 trillion
House of Representatives Profile
- 235 Democrats, 197 Republicans (3 sears vacant) - average age: 50ish
Senate Profile
- 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats, and two Independents (aligned with Democrats) - average age is 57
Term limits (for president)
22nd amendment limits president and Vice President to two terms -term limits are popular in state legislatures, but not in congress - Supreme Court, in US term limits vs Thornton, declared that a state does not have the power to impose limits on the number of terms for which its members of the US congress are elegible
What does this mean: "Members of Congress run for Congress by running against Congress. The strategy is ubiquitous, addictive, cost-free, and foolproof."?
3/4 of people think Congress is bad so people badmouth Congress to be elected for congress
Winner take all
Only a plurality is needed in most cases, not a majority -single member districts: in any given district for any given election, the voters only elect one person. There is no proportional representation
Whips
Party leader who is the liaison (go-between) among the leadership and the party; keep members informed of voted and do vote counts
Passage in the senate
Voice or roll call- "yea" or "nay"
House of Representatives Organization
With its larger membership, the House must be able to move more quickly through lawmaking 1. Tax bills are put on a special calendar for quicker action 2. Immediate action may be taken by unanimous consent of members on floor 3. Can act as a committee of the whole (100 members needed for a quorum), with limited debate and time for members
Reapportionment
The House of Representatives has 435 members that are divided among the 50 states. Following the census that occurs every 10 years, reapportionment of these 435 members takes place, based on population.
The president influences
The President will attempt to influence members' voting. They tend to have more of an impact on foreign policy matters, and especially national security issues.
Parliamentary System Electing Head of State
The leader of the party that wins the most seats is appointed prime minister by the Queen, PM chooses other members of govt. - no term limits, can be prime minister as long as they have the majority
Redistricting Guidelines
The new Congressional districts are drawn up by state legislatures. There are a few guidelines the state uses when drawing these lines. - Counties are not to be split. - Districts are to be contiguous (a single, unbroken shape) - The districts are to be as compact as possible, hopefully avoiding extreme or odd shapes to them. - Populations of the district must be balanced. In Iowa, that means you need to have approximately 750,000 people per district.
Lawmaking in Congress
The number of bills introduced each year in Congress has been steadily rising the past two decades. It is now in excess of 10,000 per year.
Log rolling
a legislator supports a proposal favored by another in return for support of his or hers
Appropriations committee
congressional committee that deals with federal spending
Redistricting
the process of redrawing congressional districts to reflect increases or decreases in seats allotted to the states, as well as population shifts within a state. Remember this is only for the House of Representatives, as senators represent an entire state, and thus have no districts but the whole state
Power of investigation
Congress can conduct investigations to see if legislation is needed. Your chance to invite a celebrity to Capitol Hill!!
Confirmation power of senate
Constitution is not totally clear on this: - Article II, Section 2 says "the president...shall nominate, and by and the the advice and consent of the senate, shall appoint ambassadors, etc..." (senator grassley?) - very controversial; senate tends to be very active in judicial appointments. Does "advice and consent" mean to advise the president or not give consent to those nominees with which they disagree? - another tradition is senatorial courtesy, where the president confers with the senators of a state where the appointee is to work. (Eg district judges). What if senators are from opposing party?
Stage 2: Conventions (part 3)
Conventions do serve the purpose of bringing the party together, uniting from the nomination fight, capturing the national spotlight, and highlighting the party/candidates agenda If you are filthy rich or very well known, you may skip the primaries, caucuses, and convention by nominating yourself by petition (eg. Ross Perot was on ballot in all 50 states in 1992). Different states have different methods of putting a person on the ballot. Some are a relatively small amount of signatures; some are many more
Stage 2: Convention (part 1)
Delegates chosen in caucuses and primaries gather at national party convention in summer before general election to pick party's nominee and vice-presidential candidate. In addition, the a Democrats have had super delegates since 1982. These make up roughly 20% of all a Democratic delegates. They are "unpledged", unlike other delegates, and are usually high-ranking members of the Democratic Party, or Democratic govt. officials. They can voter their own conscience, or follow their constituent votes
Roles in Congress
Delegates- they represent their district and do what people in their district desire Trustee (aka trust me)- act and vote according to their own view of what is best for their district or state as well as the nation With many constituents unaware of how their representatives in Congress are voting, and many members from "safe" districts, there is incentive for more "trustee" voting
Rules committee
Determines the basic operations of congress
Floor debate and passage in the house
Due to size - Debate is limited • Committee of the Whole (unanimous consent of members present; need at least 100 for a quorum) • Floor managers control the allotted time to each side • Once time expires, Committee of the Whole reports back to the full House for a vote
The senate vs the house
The senate: - 100 members - 6 year term - 30 yrs. old - us citizen for 9 years - members represent states with populations varying from around 39.5 million (California) to just over 579,000 Wyoming The house: - 435 members - 2 year terms - 25 years old - us citizen for 7 years - each house members represents roughly 711,000 people; refigured after every census (10 year intervals)
Race and Gender in Congress
- 127 women (record) - record 44 Hispanic members serving - 17 members of congress are Asian (record) - 4 native Americans
Mark up and review of bill
- Broadening the scope of the bill may occur - Christmas Tree Bills (Members "add on" gifts) House v. Senate • Mark ups (bills put into final form for voting) occur in House Subcommittees, but in whole committees in the Senate • If passed by subcommittee, then it goes to full committee • If passed by committee, then it goes to the Rules Cmte. in House or full chamber in the senate
HoR challenger needs to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for:
- Campaign managers and technicians - television and other advertising - polling - other activities and staffers
Are earmarks legal any more?
- In 2010, the House of Representatives agreed to ban earmarks (House Republicans) - In 2011, the U.S. Senate agreed to ban earmarks. - However, now Congress often creates special "funds" directed to states that can be spent for projects back home. - OR: the spending projects area now requested by the Executive Branch instead of the Legislative Branch
Pork barrel politics/earmarks
- It is a term that refers to wasteful government spending - Usually done by an individual member of Congress to bring $$$ back to their district - Looks good for the folks back home.
Congress and the Constitution
- Legislature appears first (article I) in the constitution - while the founding fathers were paranoid about the executive branch controlling the government, they were also worried about the legislative branch doing the same - the decision of bicameralism (a 2 house legislature) with very different characteristics weakens the legislative branch, and allows the branch to check itself Bicameral legislatures were common in colonial state governments - "In order to control the legislative authority, you must divide it."-James Madison, Federalist 51
Committee action
- Subcommittees report to full committees - committee options: pass or vote down as presented, add amendments, kill bill by inaction ("pigeonholed"), May hold their own hearings or rely on those of the subcommittee
Powers of Congress
- addressed in Article 1, Section 8 of Constitution - several financial powers given: lay and collect taxes, borrow and coin money, regulate commerce - several military powers given: declare war, raise an army, build navies - other powers included regulating citizenship and immigration, building post offices, establishing courts below the Supreme Court - last power given was the "necessary and proper" clause, or the elastic clause - other non-legislative powers include participating in the Amendment process and the impeachment process (house can impeach by a majority vote; senate needs 2/3 vote)
Joni Ernst committees
- armed services - agriculture - small businesses - homeland security
Standing committees subdivisions
- authorizing committee: pass laws that tell government what to do (eg. Student loan program) - appropriations committee: make decisions about how much money government will spend on its programs - rules committee: determines the basic operations of congress - revenue and budget committee: raises money that appropriating committees spend
Bills: strategies and power plays
- co-sponsorship (esp. bipartisan): McCain-Feingold Campaign Reform - Omnibus Legislation (monster spending bills of various items; everybody gets something in terms of earmarks) - the name game (humanizing abstract problems): The Brady Bill, Amber Alerts, Patriot Act
Subcommittee
- committees are often too large to handle complex legislation - subcommittees can investigate and hold hearings to better understand legislative action - many committees in congress
Chuck Grassley committees
- finance - judiciary (chair) - agriculture - budget - joint committee on taxation
Factors which help incumbents:
- free mailing to constituents ("franking privilege") - name recognition (familiarity vs. unknown of the challenger) - free use of broadcast studios to record radio and tv spots for local media outlets - large staff to perform favors for constituents and send press reports and mail back to the district ("look what I've done for you") aka casework -reps might also serve on committees to work on needs of their constituents -they have already won- people/groups more likely to give $$ to a proven winner
Introducing a bill in the Senate
- hand to clerk or floor speech (by member of the Senate) - assigned a number: S# - referral to committee - referral to subcommittee
Introducing a bill in the House
- hopper (placed in this box by a member of the House) - assigned a number: HR# (name game) - referral to committee - referral to subcommittee -revenue (aka tax) initiatives can only start in the House, and in the Ways and Means Cmte.
Overview on how bills become laws
- introduction - committee review - floor debate and passage - presidential approval
Cons of pork barrel spending
- it is wasteful - the spending only benefits one district/state - selfish; $$$ doesn't go to truly needy - poor use of taxpayer money
Committee
- most of the work in Congress is done in committee - committees specialize in policy areas - legislation is referred to the most appropriate committee by chamber leadership (house: Speaker)(Senate: president pro tempore) - most bills die in committee (90%) - legislative record: important for later execution, oversight, and interpretation of a bill—all committees are responsible for building a legislative record in support of a bill
Committee Assignments
- party leaders choose committee assignments - seniority rule still matters a lot—the committee chairs often go to the most senior senator - the spirit of Republicans/Democrats on each committee is roughly proportional to their split in congress
Pros of pork barrel spending
- people in individual districts/states are helped; jobs created - mathematically speaking, the $$$ spent really didn't amount to much - it's bipartisan
Other functions of committees
- power of investigation (conduct investigations to see if legislation is needed) - power of oversight (question executive branch officials to see if agencies are complying) - conference committees (House and Senate members iron out the differences in a bill)
How ideas become bills
- re-election and seeking higher office: important to member of congress, or high profile item that "looks good" to constituents - interest group/think tanks: timing and media coverage help - public outcry, societal problems (ie Corona virus) - agenda of administration
What qualifies as an earmark?
- requested by only one chamber of Congress - not specifically authorized - not competitively awarded - not requested by the president - greatly exceeds the president's budget request or the previous year's funding - not the subject of congressional hearings - serves only a local or special interest
Exceptions to how ideas become bills
- required action: the budget has to be passed or the govt shuts down - sunset provisions: has to be reaffirmed or it is no longer a law (a good example would be a tax cut that goes for 5 years, and then has to be "revoted" on or it will "ride off into the sunset"
Types of congressional committees
- standing - select - joint
Congressional elections
- with state legislatures typically controlling the redistricting, this brings about charges of gerrymandering. (The drawing of legislative district boundaries to benefit a party, group, or incumbent) - eg. 4th Congressional district of Illinois
Stage 1: Nomination
-Candidates will often begin running for president 2-4 years in advance in terms of organization. -They must calculate how to get enough delegates (people who will vote for them at the national party convention) in the presidential primaries and caucuses, esp. the early ones. -Primaries -Caucuses
Electoral college possible reforms
-Similar to Maine and Nebraska, split up electoral votes inside state -have a popular vote
How did we get Washington DC?
-before 1791, the federal govt had no permanent site. The early Congresses met in eight different cities: Philadelphia, Baltimore, Lancaster, York, Princeton, Annapolis, Trenton, and New York City -in 1788, the state of Maryland ceded to Congress "any district in this state, not exceeding ten miles square," and in 1789 the state of Virginia ceded an equivalent amount of land. A 1790 Act of Congress made this the District of Columbia -French engineer Pierre Charles L'Enfant planned the new city of Washington. L'Enfant's plan, which was influenced by the gardens of a Versailles, arranged the city's streets and avenues in a grid overlaid with baroque diagonals
Primaries and caucuses/ the nominating process possible reforms
-have more caucuses and less primaries: more democratic -regional primary: have primaries in states in same region on same day -rotate which states go first in primaries
Senate Organization
-senate led by majority leader (currently Mitch McConnell, R-KY) - controls Senate's agenda and recommends committee assignments - president of senate is the Vice President, whose only real power is to break tie in a 50-50 vote - also have a President pro tempore, usually a very senior member from the majority party. He or she presides over the Senate and is #4 in line for presidency (currently Chuck Grassley)
The "old rules" for members of congress included
-specializing in a small # of issues -seniority rule (deferring to those who had been in Congress longer) -courtesy (no criticism of fellow members) -apprenticeship (waiting your turn to speak and introduce legislation)
Fixed, staggered, and sometimes limited terms
-the length of term in an office is fixed, specified -staggered terms refers to the fact that not all offices are up for elections in the same year (eg. Senate), some states allow senators to run for president and senate at the same time (eg. Lieberman in Connecticut)
Primaries and caucuses/ the nominating process complaints
-too much focus on Iowa and New Hampshire: not enough diverse representation -hyper focused on early debates: not seeing who governs well, but who looks good
Electoral college complaints
-you can get more votes and still lose
Twice in history when no candidate has a majority
1. 1800- before 12th amendment, house had to break a tie vote between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. 2. 1824- House picked John Quincy Adams over Andrew Jackson and William Crawford. Henry Clay finished 4th, and threw his support to Adams. Andrew Jackson won the popular vote, but angrily lost the election, but won 4 years laters -for the Vice President, the top two vote getters go to the Senate, with each senator getting one vote
What influences a member of Congress in how they vote?
1. Policy and Philosophical Convictions 2. Voters 3. Colleagues 4. Congressional staff 5. Party 6. Interest groups 7. The president
Stages for Running for President
1. Nomination 2. Convention 3. General Election
Rules of elections
1. Regularly scheduled elections 2. Fixed, staggered, and sometimes limited terms 3. Term limits (for president) 4. Winner take all 5. Electoral college
Why is there turnover in the House?
1. When redistricting occurs (once every decade) 2. Incumbents die, retire, or seek some other office (eg. 1/3 of House retired between 1992-96) Redistricting is done through state legislatures, and they do not often create "competitive" districts
Bicameralism
2 house legislature with very different characteristics weakens the legislative branch, and allows the branch to check itself
Primaries
3/4 of states have this method of choosing delegates to the national convention. States have a variety of methods to divide up the delegates: 1. Proportional representation- used in most states; including all the Democratic primaries 2. Winner take all- used by republicans in some states. All delegates go to winning candidates -First primary is in New Hampshire in February of elections year. Others states have tried to move their primaries up in an effort known as "front loading". This makes the nomination race, in reality, a race of many weeks instead of months.
House of Representatives
435 members, ranging from 1 in smaller states to 53 in California
The senate
6 year term and much more exposure in Senate. Races cost millions of dollars to run. -incumbency is still an advantage, although not as big as HoR (2002- 86%, 2004- 96%, 2006- 79%, 2008- 83%, 2010- 84%, 2012- 90%, 2016- 87%) -outside groups will pour money into big or large states in attempt to win a senators race. Political parties will also be active in recruiting prime candidates to run
Caucuses
A meeting of local party members to choose party officials or candidates for public office and to decide the platform. -about 12 states use a caucus or convention, including Iowa (first in nation) -caucus starts at a local (in Iowa, precinct) level, and then goes to a county, state, and national convention -the process is much more democratic, but also much more time consuming All candidates face the dilemma of having to appeal to the very "active" members of their party, conservative or liberal, in order to get the nomination, and then appealing to the moderates in order to get elected at the general election -winning the early primaries and caucuses is not as important as meeting or exceeding expectations eg. John Kerry ran much better in Iowa in 2004 than expected; Howard Dean ran (screamed?) much worse on the Democratic side
Standing committee
A permanent committee established in a legislature, usually focusing on a policy area, where most of the work gets done
The duplicity of congress
Americans characterize Congress as "a bickering, timid, ignorant, selfish, or narrow-minded institution" • But Americans admire their own member of Congress' stamina and civic responsibility • Individual members are more popular than the institution (60-70% approval vs. 20-30% approval)
Safe seats
An elected office that is predictably won by one party or the other, so the success of that party's candidate is almost taken for granted. (70%)
Proportional representation
An election system in which each party running receives the proportion of legislative seats corresponding to its proportion of the vote.
Power of oversight
Can question executive branch officials to see if their agencies are complying with the wishes of Congress.
Parliamentary System Checks and Balances
Check picture
Stage 2: Convention (part 2)
Conventions used to be times of high drama and excitement, but none has really held that drama in the past 50 years. Delegates are bound to candidates, or the candidates have already amassed an insurmountable lead. -biggest drama is sometimes the selection of the Vice-press candidate, but the late trend has been to choose this person before the convention -the idea of the vice-presidential candidate was typically to "balance the ticket" either geographically with somebody from another part of the country, or politically (eg. Match by political orientation, or govt experience) but that does not apply as much anymore (eg. Clinton and Gore both from South; Bush and Cheney both with a Texas ties) -the days are highlighted by a keynote address, the party platform, official balloting, and the nomination acceptance speech -party platforms are drafted in somewhat general language, but they are not binding for Presidential candidates -very little tv coverage is given. Tune in to C-Span or CNN
Policy and Philosophical Convictions Influences
Liberal, conservative, etc
Serving in congress
Evolved from a part-time job to a full-time one by the 1950s. Since then, the advantages of incumbency have kept them there well over 90% of the time.
2010 census on House of Representatives
Gaining Seats Losing Seats Arizona +1 Illinois -1 Florida +2 Iowa -1 Georgia +1 Louisiana -1 Nevada +1 Massachusetts -1 South Carolina +1 Michigan -1 Texas +4 Missouri -1 Utah +1 New Jersey -1 Washington +1 New York -2 Ohio -2 (More red) Pennsylvania -1 (More blue)
HoR candidate main hurdle
Gaining visibility, how do you get your name out in public without as much money and with less media time devoted to politics
Citizens against govt. waste
Group against govt waste - porker of the year/month
Party caucus
Held at the beginning of the session mainly; to elect party officers and approve committee assignments
Is a natural disaster congress' best friend for pork?
Hurricane Sandy- hits early November 2012 - Dec. 2012- $9.7 billion approved for National Flood Insurance Program for Victims - Jan. 28, 2013- $50.7 billion Relief Bill passes Congress - $25 million to improve weather forecasting - $118 million for Amtrak (only $32 million storm-related) - $16 billion for any community previously declared a disaster zone - $2 billion for national highways - $150 million for fisheries in Alaska (storm hit East Coast)- removed after public pressure - $56 million for 2011 tsunami cleanup- removed after public pressure
Legislative record
Important for later execution, oversight, and interpretation—all committees are responsible for building a legislative record in support of a bill
Redistricting in Iowa
In Iowa, this means that our 5 districts went from 5 down to 4. Two of our members in the House were put into the same district, and had to run against each other. In this race, both members enjoyed the advantages of incumbency
Minority leader
Legislative leader selected by the minority party as spokesperson for the opposition
Majority leader
Legislative leaders selected by majority party; helps plan party strategy
Parliamentary System Branches of Government
Legislative, executive, and judicial (there is no formal separation of these powers)
Iowa's members of Congress
Joni Ernst (R), Chuck Grassley (R), Steve King (R), Abby Finkenaur (D), Cynthia Anne (D), Dave Loebsack (D)
The dual nature of congress
Members are expect to write laws and policy for the entire nation, and yet respond to their constituents' demands. This demands both a national and local focus
Colleague influences
Members consult colleagues, especially respected members of the committee from where the bill originated. Party leadership also plays a role in a member's vote. Cooperating with another member in a quid pro quo situation on voting is referred to as log rolling
Party Influences
Members generally vote with their party. Party-line voting has steadily increased since the 1970's. e.g. In 1998, 98% of House Republicans voted to impeach President Clinton; 98% of House Democrats voted not to impeach. With redistricting, there have also been more "safe" districts created, making for more members on the liberal and conservative ends of the political spectrum.
Running for congress
Most congressional elections are not close. This is due to composition of district (safe seat), or the advantages of popular incumbents and fund raising. Presidential popularity (or lack thereof) affects Congressional races. A popular President that gives a boost to candidates of his party is known as the coattail effect. In midterm elections, presidential popularity and the economy have been associated with losses or gains in Congress, most directly in the House of Representatives. In all the midterm elections from 1934-98, the party in the White House lost at midterm elections. The string was broken with Bush in 2002. It returned to previous trend with Democrats gaining control of the House in 2006 during Bush Presidency, and Republicans regaining control of the House in 2010 during Obama Presidency.
The importance of compromise
Not just amongst the parties, but also between the chambers • What advantages does the majority party have, particularly in the House? • What are the advantages and disadvantages of a divided government?
Stage 3: general election (election night)
On the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November, each state holds its presidential election. The candidate capturing the most votes in each state will capture all of that states electors. The # of electors given to each state corresponds to its population, and also corresponds to its representational congress (# of senators + # of representatives in house = the # of electoral votes of a state)—-As a result, each state is guaranteed at least 3 electoral votes
Presidential action
Once passed in identical form, the bill goes to the President, who may: • Sign it, therein making it law • Veto it, therein sending it back to Congress • Pocket Veto (Less than 10 days left in Congressional session) • No action and Congress remains in session - becomes law
Speaker of the House
Presiding officer of House -Nancy Pelosi -#3 in line for presidency after Vice President
Congressional reaction to presidential action
Pocket Veto - no reaction, the bill is dead • Override - bill returns to chamber of origin w/ the letter of veto: Congress can override the veto with a 2/3's vote in both houses
Stage 3: General Election
Presidential Debates- historical turning point was first televised debate of John Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960. This may have won the election for JFK. Those listening on the radio thought Nixon won, but Kennedy came across better on television Like the earlier primary and caucus season, the presidential debate a matter of meeting or exceeding expectations. There are now several different formats for debate (single moderator, panel, crowd asking questions) and also a vice presidential debate Debates are run by the non-partisan commission on presidential debates. They allow a third-party candidate to participate in they are getting at least 15% average in the five major polls used by the commission
Senatorial courtesy
Presidential custom of submitting the names of prospective appointees for approval to senators from the states in which the appointees are to work.
HoR incumbents
Rarely challenged within their own party
The House Rules Committee: The "traffic cop"
Rules Committee issues rules on debate (closed rule- no amendments or open rule-amendments allowed) on the floor and sends it to the full House • House Leadership can control the Rules Cmte and bills that make it out of committee will die in the Rules Cmte. • Discharge Petition: a way to circumvent the Rules Committee and force a bill to the floor • Requires a majority; few and far between
4 other times the loser won the popular vote
Samuel Tilden received more votes than a Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876, Grover Cleveland got more votes than Benjamin Harrison in 1888, Al Gore received more votes than George W. Bush in 2000, and Hillary Clinton received more votes than Donald Trump in 2016. It almost happened in 1960 and 1976. The 1876 race was decided by a Federal Election Commision after the electoral vote in 3 southern states and Oregon was disputed. If the House were to decide the Presidency, it would be the newly elected House, and not the old one.
HoR incumbent percentages
Since 1970, over 95% of incumbents in House running for re-election have won. In 2000, 98% won. In 2002, 98% won and incumbents outspent their opponents 3 to 1. In 2006 and 2008, a 94% re-election rate. 2010 saw an 85% incumbent re-Leviton rate in the House; 84% in the Senate. 2016- 97% re-election rate in House. 87% re-election rate in Senate.
Select committee
Temporary; created for a specific purpose, sometimes to investigate
Floor debate and passage in the senate
Smaller, more informal • More room for Senators to propose riders (amendments to spending bills) • Once a member is recognized, he/she holds the floor (no time limit) • Filibuster - only in the Senate; most effect with a few people, but just the threat is enough • Cloture - formerly 60 members vote to limit debate; now only 51
Pass the pork
Spending provisions added on to bills • These "earmarks" were outlawed in 2010. Or were they? • Looks good back home • Logrolling- Members support each other's bills • Are these unnecessary spending bills, or do they not matter compared to other items of "real cost."? (i.e. Social Security, Medicare, National Defense)
Congressional staff influences
Staff members do research and help draft bills for members of Congress. Some of them are also placed in the home state to answer constituents' concerns. Since there is roughly the same amount of money for the house and Senate for staffing, Senate staffs can be much larger
What does a bill need in order to pass the committee?
Support from the majority party
US term limits vs thornton
Supreme Court declared that a state does not have the power to impose limits on the number of terms for which its members of the US congress are elegible
Electoral college
System for electing president in which voters for electors pledged to cast their ballots for a particular party's candidate. -electoral votes based on population; each state has as many electors as it has senators and representatives added together -each party chooses a slate of electors for their state. No recent "faithless electors", although there have been a few in history -only exceptions to the "winner take all" electoral vote is Nebraska and Maine, where electors are based upon each district, and 2 for the state as a whole to the winner. -if no candidate has a majority (270), the top 3 candidates go to the House of Representatives, where each state delegation has 1 vote. This has happened twice in history
Coattail effect
The boost that candidates may get in an election because of the popularity of candidates above them on the ballot, especially the president.
Shaw vs Reno
The creation of "majority-minority" districts was ruled unconstitutional
Regularly scheduled elections
The party in power cannot choose when to hold an election
Interest group influences
Try to lobby members of Congress. They especially keep an eye on amendments added by members of Congress that favor other interest groups. Campaign contributions and organizing constituents to contact members of Congress also influence legislation.
Passage in the house
Voting cards- "yes", "no", or "present"
Winner take all
a system in which the candidate with the most district votes in a state gets all of the delegate votes from that state
Voter influences
although 3/4 of public never make contact with their members of Congress, members are still concerned with how to explain votes at election time
Authorizing committee
pass laws that tell government what to do (eg. Student loan program)
Revenue and budget committee
deal with raising the money that appropriating committees spend
Single member districts
in any given district for any given election, the voters only elect one person. There is no proportional representation
Conference committees
made up of House and Senate members to iron out the differences in a bill before it goes to the President
Conference committee
• A bill must pass through each house with a simple majority • If passed in only one house before adjourning, the bill dies • The wording must be exactly the same in each passage, if not it goes to the Conference Committee to work out the language (ex: Immigration Reform Acts were very different) • Then must be passed through each house of Congress again using the same language
Filibuster
• A senator on the floor may talk as long as they wish. Occasionally, a senator of small group of senators can filibuster, or attempt to "talk a bill to death." • A vote of cloture is needed to end the filibuster (60 votes). However, its power has diminished, as the majority party threatens to use the "nuclear option", which would just change the rules to require a simple majority. (51 votes)
Reconciliation of bill
• legislative process in the United States Senate intended to allow consideration of a contentious budget bill without the threat of filibuster. It limits debate and amendment, and therefore favors the majority party. Only a simple majority vote is needed. • The Democrats used Reconciliation to pass Health Care legislation. The Republicans have actually used it more in the past than Democrats (e.g. Welfare Reform-1996). • The question: Is health care a budget issue?