i. contrast parliament v. congress

I. Contrast parliament v. congress

A. Compare w/ GB– 1. Parl- candidates selected by their party• a. Become candidate by asking your party• b. Voters choose between natl parties; not people

• c. MP’s select Prime Minister and leaders• d. Party members vote together on most issues

• e. Renomination depends on being loyal to party

f. Principal work is debating natl issues

g. Members have very little power, low pay– 2. Congressional candidates run in primaries• a. Vote for person, not party• b. Result is independent reps from ind. district• c. Members do not choose chief exec• d. Principal work is representation & action• e. Party discipline limited• f. Members paid well, many perks

Evolution of Congress (History)

Text. 6 Phases, plus Senate Historical Timeline (dates,

characteristics, leaders, where the power is, events and issues

“Highlight” Phases

3 Theories on how Members of Congress Behave

Think of this as an essay question

want to get reelected, so they vote to please the constituency

1. Assumes constituent’s have a clear view on issues

2. Find out the correlation between constituent’s opinions and rep’s votes -strong on civil rights and welfare; weak on foreign policy

3. On divided issues their stuck (may leave)

4. Marginal districts are just as independent

Representational

PROBLEMS -P.O is not clear on most issues

-Relying on Interest groups can be misleading

-Even though the public may not pay attention to your votes, your opponent will

Organizational

constituency doesn't follow reps vote, so it doesn't matter what they think, but it is important to please other reps

3 POLITICAL CUES

1. Principle “cue” is from the party

2. Opinions of “ideological similar” reps

3. Members of their party who are on the sponsoring committee

Attitudinal

with so many conflicting interests, they cancel each other out allowing the rep to be free to vote on their own beliefs

Speaker of the House (powers)

1. Decides who speaks 2. Assigns bills to committees 3. Rules on Motions 4. Appoints members to special

committees (and Rules) 5. Informal powers such as offices and

patronage

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Senate Majority Leader

Harry Reid, Runs the Senate

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Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi

House Majority leader Steny Hoyer D- Md


Senate Minority Leader

Mitch McConnell, R, Kentucky


Organization of Congress Committees (4 Types) 1. Standing (permanent) 2. Select (limited, temp) 3. Joint (both reps and senators) 4. Conference (joint to resolve

difference between sen and rep bill)

General Functions of Committees

1. Consider bills 2. Oversight of exec agencies 3. Conduct investigations *1995 Repubs “slimmed down”

committees

Advantages of Majority Party

1. Always have a majority of members (ratio)

2. Allowed to select chairperson







HBBL

Advantages Lee Hamilton speech His goal is to increase understanding of

Congress 10 lessons to Read, take notes, and

explain.

Open Rules v. Closed Rules

Closed rules--, powerful chairman, strong speakers

1. Makes it easier to get things done 2. Puts House in good bargaining position w/Pres

3. Reduces the power of special interests

‘;

Open Rules

Weak chairs, more sub comm, public

1. Individual members have more power and say

2. Everyone gets heard, public open

3. HARDER TO GET THINGS DONE

Committees Match Interests

-policy oriented (foreign, finance, budget)

-Constituency oriented

(Small business, vets)

Filibuster

Only allowed in the Senate

Prolonged Speech to delay a bill

Rule 22 Cloture could stop with 60 votes

Party

From 1933 to 2004 36 Congresses convened (every 2 years)

Democrats controlled both houses in 25 of them (page 328 practice essay)

Vote seat gap included


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AP Free Response Practice

Q. The Democratic Party experienced great success in legislative elections, even when the Republicans have won Presidential elections. During the mid 1990’s however, the Democratic domination appears to have ended. Discuss and examine the reasons for the Democratic domination, and for the subsequent decline.

Organize your thoughts

Understand what is being asked Jot down notes Brainstorm Each paragraph could be a new piece

of evidence and support Keep in the scope of the question 25 minutes per question!

Why Democrats Dominated Congress (Historically)

1. Vote Seat Gap 2. District apportionment 3. Incumbent Advantage 4. Better, experienced candidates 5. More activist support

Why Democratic Domination Ended 1. 1990 anti-incumbency feelings 2. “Mess” in Washington 3. Budget Deficits 4. Gridlock and arguing 5. Congressional scandals 6. Public Respect for the Institution down 7. Dems less unified/ loss of South/unions

Incumbency Advantages

Review It is worth 8%






Conservative Coalition

What is it? Why is it not as important today?




Congressional Staff- What Do They Do? 1. Constituency Service 2. Legislative Functions 3. Advocates of their Employer




Growth of Staff

With many subcommittees, more staff is needed (snowball effect)

Members of Congress do not deal with each other as much





Staff Agencies

CRS 900 employees Politically neutral GAO Headed by comptroller general (15yr) 5000 employees OTA, CBO

How a Bill Becomes a Law

Some bills move slow while others move fast

($ and regulations move slow/ bills w/ clear, appealing ideas move fast) Why the difference?

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Advantages and Challenges

Complexity of law making gives advantages to opposition

Easier to block than pass

Two things that are essential for law makers:

1. coalition building2. understanding popular sentiment

Ways to introduce a Ways to introduce a bill:bill:1. House can hand it to clerk, or

place in the “Hopper”

2. In Senate, they must be recognized by the presiding officer

If Bill Fails….

Considered dead Has to be introduced again in the next

session

Who Initiates legislation??

Congress? President?

Congressional Scandals

Find a scandal described in your text from the 104-108th congress. Write a quick news article (5 w’s) Include any consequences.

Read all pages except pages 321-324, up to Filibuster for Test on Ch 13

pp. 317-20 (skim) Read/ review notes Pp. HBBL Worksheets and terms reforming congress notes/ handout

Type of Question

Straightfoward such as “Choose 2 of the following Supreme Court cases and explain the position of each side, state the SC ruling, and discuss whether it increased or decreased the rights of individuals”

Short Answer Review

Obvious from notes! Dominance of Democrats in leg End of Democratic domination Powers of the Speaker Current Congressional leaders Types of Committees

Review

Functions of Committees Advantages of Majority party Characteristics and effects of closed rules

and open rules Functions of congressional staff How a Bill becomes a law Checks on the Executive branch Power of Lobbies

Review Cont.

Incumbency Advantages Franking Gerrymandering Pork barrel projects 3 views of Representation Effects of Party Polarization 3 General types of caucuses

1970’s Bill of Rights

1. Secret ballots for chair elections. 2. Each member can only chair one 3. Mandatory subcommittees 4. More staff, open to public 5. Overall, decentralized

Effect of 70’s Bill of Rights

Gave more power to individual members

Lessen the power of party leaders and chairpersons

Made it harder for chairs to block legislation

AP Ch 11 Quiz

When? Tuesday, March 7th, 2006 What? All VOCAB and HBBL study guide

i. contrast parliament v. congress

Documents

party members

individual members

majority of members

reps votes strong

independent reps

little power

foreign policy

constituents opinions