Congress Balancing National Goals and Local Interests Chapter
Congress: Balancing National Goals and Local Interests Chapter 11
Congress as a Career l Election to Congress l Using incumbency to stay in Congress l The service strategy: taking care of constituents l Campaign fund-raising: raking in the money l Redistricting: favorable boundaries for incumbents © 2009 Mc. Graw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. 2
Congress as a Career l Election to Congress l The pitfalls of incumbency l Disruptive issues l Personal misconduct l Turnout variation: the midterm election problem l Strong challengers l Safe incumbency and representation l Who are the winners in Congressional elections? © 2009 Mc. Graw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. 3
Party Leadership in Congress l House leadership l Speaker of the House l Elected by the House membership l By default a member of the majority party l Said to be the second-most-powerful official in Washington, after the President © 2009 Mc. Graw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. 4
Party Leadership in Congress l Senate leadership l Majority party leader is the most powerful Senator l The Vice President presides over the Senate; however has power only to cast tie-breaking vote l Senate president pro tempore presides over the Senate in the VP absence, l Largely a honorary position held by the majority party’s senior member © 2009 Mc. Graw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. 5
Party Leadership in Congress l The power of party leaders l Relatively weak compared to the power exercised by party leaders in other democracies l Have grown stronger in recent years as partisan divide has become more dramatic © 2009 Mc. Graw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. 6
The Committee System l Committee jurisdiction l Bills introduced must be referred to the proper committee for deliberation l Committee membership l Typically mirrors the party ratio of the body l Committee chairs l Typically the senior member of the majority party l Committees and parties: who is in control? © 2009 Mc. Graw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. 7
How a Bill Becomes a Law l Committee hearings and decisions l Most work on legislation is done in committee l From committee to the floor l Rules for debate are defined l Leadership and floor action l Debate, changes, and vote by full membership l Conference Committees and the President l Reconcile differences between similar legislation © 2009 Mc. Graw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. 8
How a Bill Becomes a Law © 2009 Mc. Graw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. 9
Congress’s Policymaking Role l Lawmaking function of congress l Makes laws authorizing federal programs l Representation function of congress l Represents the interests of constituents l Oversight function of congress l Sees that executive branch carries out the laws faithfully © 2009 Mc. Graw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. 10
Congress: Too Much Pluralism? l Pro (advantages): l Diverse interests represented l Cons (disadvantages): l National interest subjugated to special interests © 2009 Mc. Graw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. 11
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