Unit II The Legislative Branch Ideology means political

Unit II The Legislative Branch

Ideology means: political belief or view Liberal vs. Conservative Left ---------------------- Center -------------------- Right Liberal Stronger Government Control Open-minded Progressive Moderate Conservative Weaker Government Control Prefers tradition Status Quo

What’s the difference? ? ? • Liberal – progressive, giving, generous, liberty, equal rights, left-wing – Democrat Party • Conservative – opponent of change, cautious, conventional, right-wing – Republican party • Source: dictionary. com

Political Parties One-Party Systems Preferred by Dictatorships, only ruling party allowed Two-Party Systems U. S. has Two-Party System Often has splinter parties and single-issue parties as minor parties Multi-Party Systems Common to Parliamentary governments Politically unstable, but individual views better represented Coalitions usually required for control

Political Parties • List of United States political parties

U. S. Political Parties George Washington warned against political parties in his farewell address. Why? He feared they would divide the country and work against the good of the whole What does a political party do? Try to get their policies enacted What does a watchdog (out of power) party do? Resist the abuse of power by the in-power party Two major parties in U. S. today: Democratic Party Republican Party (a. k. a. the GOP or Grand Old Party)

Single-member districts One person represents everyone in an area Congress composed of area representatives This is the system used by the U. S. Proportional representation Leaders do not represent specific districts Leaders apportioned based on their party’s fraction of the vote in an election. Example: Oklahoma has 5 Representatives in the House. If we had a Proportional representation and an election turned out that statewide, 60% of voters voted Republican, 35% voted Democrat, and 5% voted Libertarian, 3 Oklahoma Reps would be Republicans, and 2 would be Democrats.

Minor Parties? What do minor parties (or 3 rd parties) do? Promote ideology not represented by a major party - Splinter Party A group that breaks away from a major party to form a new party - Single-Issue Party A party that is about one sole belief only - Protest Party A party attempting to draw attention to an alleged abuse in government or society

How do parties get their candidates on the ballot? Primary Elections An election to determine which candidate a political party will have on a general election ballot Open Primaries Anyone may vote for any party’s candidates Closed Primaries Only members of that political party may vote – we have closed primaries here in Oklahoma Caucuses A series of private meetings by a political party, often to select the party’s candidate for the general election ballot. Few states still do caucuses. Most do primary elections now.

Independents What are Independents? Persons who are not members of any political party - Why don’t Independents appear in primary elections or caucuses? Primary elections and party caucuses are only to choose which candidate will appear on the general election ballot for the party. Since independents are not members of any political party, they have no need - for primaries or caucuses. Any number of independents may run in a general election. Only one member of each political party may be on a general election ballot.

Political Parties in Congress - Support party members’ legislation - Keep party members promoting party ideology - Prevent party members from supporting the opposition - Majority Leader & Majority Whip - Minority Leader & Minority Whip Party Leaders promote ideology Party Whips keep members voting with the party

The United States Congress House Senate 2 year terms 6 year terms 25 yrs old 30 yrs old 7 yrs resident 9 yrs resident # of Reps based on Population 2 Senators per state Elected from district in state Elected statewide Vacancies filled by Special Election Vacancies appointed Elects their Speaker V. P. is President All tax bills start in House Elects Pres Pro tempore Does Impeaching Holds Impeachment trials BOTH must live in state and must be U. S. Citizens Very formal rules Informal rules

The United States Congress House Senate -Benefit from a free office, postage, retirement pension, and money for a staff -Majority political party decides leader and committee chairmen -Required to pass a bill to send to the President Breaks ties for President -Members serve on Joint Conference Committee Short debates, rarely lasting more than one day

Terms • • • President Pro Tempore - in charge of the Senate when Vice President is not present Simple majority (51%) of the House of Representatives must vote yea to pass a bill that spends money 2/3 of the House of Representatives must vote yea to pass a bill that proposes an amendment to the Constitution 3/5 (60 Senators) of the Senate must vote yea to stop a Filibuster This process is called Cloture Simple majority (51%) of the Senate must vote yea to pass a bill that spends money

Terms • Speaker of the House becomes President in the event that both the President and Vice. President are killed at the same time • President Pro Tempore is next after that • Committee - A small group of Congressmen who do most of the work on bills • President Pro Tempore - determines which Senator is in charge of committees in the Senate

Speaker of the House John Boehner R-Ohio

President Pro Tempore Daniel Inuoye D-Hawaii

Terms • Speaker of the House - determines which Representative is in charge of committees in the House • These two people selected for their jobs by getting elected by the majority party • When testifying before Congress, witnesses are sometimes granted immunity, freedom from prosecution if their testimony might tie them to illegal acts • Incumbent – someone currently in office and running for re-election

Terms • The President cannot refuse to spend money Congress has authorized. Doing so is called impoundment and it is illegal. • 2/3 vote in each house of Congress can Check and Balance the power of the President when it comes to Presidential vetoes by overriding the veto

• “Pork” or “Pork-Barrel Legislation” is abuse of Congressional authority by getting government spending for pet projects in their districts

• Congress never “spends” money, they appropriate it. • Once Congress has said how much money they will appropriate, they must pass an authorization bill to specify how that money will be spent.

Terms • • States cannot tax imports themselves States cannot print their own money States cannot go to war with other countries Congress cannot give selected states tax relief benefits • When the Senate Intelligence Committee meets to listen to testimony concerning our spies around the world, they will hold a closed hearing so their names remain secret. • Congress has the power to declare war

Gerrymandering • Gerrymandering - to redraw Congressional district boundaries for political gain • State Legislatures redraw U. S. House Districts after changes are made by the U. S. Census Bureau in the number of House seats allowed to the state. • There are two rules they must follow when drawing these boundaries: • 1) Each District has the same number of people. • 2) Each District must be contiguous (no isolated pockets)

Terms • The Constitution agree to stop importing slaves in 1808 • The Habeus Corpus can be ignored during wartime • Bill of Attainder - Punishments without a trial • Ex Post Facto law - A law passed making something illegal after it has been done • Income tax (Direct taxes) - type of tax was originally prohibited by the Constitution • What can’t any U. S. citizen accept or recognize inside the U. S. ? – Titles of Nobility

Terms • Elastic Clause (or Necessary and Proper Clause) - Article I, Section 8, Paragraph 18 of the Constitution gives Congress almost unlimited power • 51 members of the Senate must be present to conduct business – This is called a Quorum • Congress has to meet once per year

• The House of Representatives meet somewhere besides the Capitol by asking the Senate for permission • If the Senate wants to adjourn for more than 3 days, they have to get permission from the House of Representatives • State secrets are left out of the Congressional Record and Journals (on purpose)

Terms • The bill dies if the President refuses to sign or veto a bill within the last 10 days of a session of Congress – This is called a pocket veto • Entitlements - expenditures that Congress sets up to continue from year to year. • Lying under oath can get you held in contempt of Congress. • Perjury - lie under oath to Congress • Rider - An added piece of legislation to a bill, often having nothing to do with the original bill • Casework - Intermediary work for constituents that have problems.

Profile of House 68 109 369

Profile of Senate 31 69 86 2 2 1

th 111 U. S. Congress demographics • In the Senate, there were 17 women • There were 13 Jews, one Cuban American, one Japanese American, one Native Hawaiian, and one African American. The average of senators in 2007 was 62 years. • The 111 th Congress included the most religiously diverse House in history, including two Muslims two Buddhists, 31 Jews, one Quaker and one atheist. • In the House…There were 42 African Americans and 75 female representatives. There were also 27 Hispanics, six Asians, and one Native American. There were three openly gay members

Senate confirms Presidential appointments - Cabinet members - Federal Judges - Ambassadors Senate approves treaties Senatorial Courtesy (from the President) Must have a quorum present to do business 10 years Census taken every ____ - Purpose of census: to count every person in U. S. # of Representatives for each state for determining ______________ Each house creates its own rules Congressmen may not hold another job while in office

Congress’ Benefits • Congressional Salaries begin at $165, 200 per year • Free Office, free postage, free medical care, dental, life insurance, bodyguards • Money to hire a staff • Retirement pension (beginning at $70, 000 per year) • No Social Security Taxes • Travel expenses • Immune to arrest while on Congressional business (or going to or coming from Congress) • Must wait until reelection to benefit from a pay increase

• Bills are proposed laws • Resolutions are only passed by one house (not both), and have no force of law outside of their house • Public Bills If enacted will affect the public. Helps a single individual, a group of individuals or a • Private Bills corporate entity. • Constituents The people and interests that an elected official represents.

• • paid by an interest group to promote their Lobbyists Activist position to legislature. Logrolling – Exchange of political favors Earmarks Funds provided by Congress for projects or programs. Legislative Vetoes Actions by the executive branch is rejected by the legislative. • Power of the Speaker of the House and President Pro Tempore of the Senate – Committee Assignments – Congressional Calendars

Congressional Investigations • Congress may investigate anything it wants – Why is this important to checks and balances? – How might this power be misused for partisan politics? • General Accounting Office Investigative Arm of Congress • Subpoenas - a written command to a person to testify before a court or be punished. • Contempt of Congress Act of obstructing Congress or any of their committees.