representation in congress ryan d. williamson 17 february 2015
TRANSCRIPT
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REPRESENTATION IN CONGRESSRyan D. Williamson
17 February 2015
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Agenda
• Attendance• Return Exam One• Midterm Evaluations• Lecture on Congress• Reading for Thursday
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Questions?
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Objective
• Debate how members of Congress can best represent constituents.
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Constitutional Prerogatives: Powers of Congress
• Designed to be the most powerful branch • Primary lawmaking body • Article 1, Section 8, lists enumerated (or expressed) powers
• Also lists the necessary and proper (or “elastic”) clause, where the broadest power is found
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Constitutional Prerogatives: Structure
• Representation through a bicameral legislature• Comprised of the House and Senate• Connecticut Compromise between large and small
states
• Compare and contrast the House and the Senate Principal-agent problem: public representation
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Causes of Individualism in Congress: Plurality & SMD• Elections for the House and Senate use single- member districts (SMD) and plurality rule
• In single-member districts, each district/state chooses one representative
• Plurality means that whoever receives the most votes wins
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Causes of Individualism in Congress: Primaries
• Candidates for office used to be determined by political parties
• Primaries started as a way to nominate candidates in the early 20th century
• Primaries allow voters to choose who will appear under the party label on the general-election ballot
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Causes of Individualism in Congress: Redistricting
• The number of districts in each state is based on population, with each state getting at least one
• The total number of districts has been fixed at 435 since 1911
• Most states redraw district lines every ten years even if they don’t lose or gain seats
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Redistricting and “One Person, One Vote”
• Supreme Court put restrictions on the drawing of districts in the 1960s • Baker v. Carr (1962)• Wesberry v. Sanders (1964)• Reynolds v. Sims (1964)
• Districts must adhere to “one person, one vote” standard
• Forced states to draw districts with equal populations
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Baker v. Carr
• Prior to the 1960s, the state of Tennessee had failed to redraw districts lines since 1901 despite mandates dictating that they do so after each census.
• Over those decades, the population shifted in such a way that Shelby County had 10 times as many residents as some other districts.
• Baker then argued that this inhibited him from receiving equal treatment under the law because his vote was weighted much less.
• The Supreme Court then ruled in his favor.
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Wesberry v. Sanders
• Wesberry, a member of Georgia’s fifth congressional district, sued the governor over the distribution of voters in the state.
• Because his district had between 2 and 3 times more voters, he argued that he and other voters in his district were being discriminated against.
• The Supreme Court then ruled in his favor.
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Reynolds v. Sims
• In the Alabama state legislature, state senators represented grossly different sized populations. One senator represented 41 times more people than another.
• Voters in Jefferson County brought suit against the state arguing that this violated the equal protection clause.
• The Supreme Court ruled in their favor, arguing that districts need to be as close to “one person, one vote” as possible.
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Gerrymandering
• Politics easily intrudes into the drawing of districts
• By redistricting, states can manipulate representation
• Districts are frequently drawn in strange shapes to gain political advantage
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Illinois 4th
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Maryland 3rd
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North Carolina 12th
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Pennsylvania 7th
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Florida 5th
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Redistricting and Minority Representation
• Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the election of more minority candidates
• Also a rise in the number of women elected, but Congress still does not demographically mirror the nation as a whole
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Partisan and Racial Redistricting
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What is the Best Type of Representation?
• How does a member determine how best to represent her constituents?
• Edmund Burke proposed that sometimes members act like trustees and other times like delegates
• Most members try to balance these visions of representation
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The Incumbency Advantage
• Members of Congress are reelected in very high numbers
• What causes this advantage? • Gerrymandering• Pork• Television access • Campaign finance• National party efforts
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Questions?
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STRUCTURE AND PROCESSES
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Agenda• Attendance• Announcements
• Quiz 2 next Thursday• Pick up your test after class if you didn’t get it Tuesday
• Discuss midterm evaluations• Lecture on congress• Reading for next week
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Questions?
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Averages
Difficulty: 6.0
Workload: 5.3
Interest: 4.9
Presentation: 6.9
Class overall: 7.1
Instructor overall: 8.4
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Difficulty• http://www.wwnorton.com/college/polisci/americanpolitical
systemcore/welcome.aspx• [email protected]• Tuesday & Thursday 2-3pm, by appointment
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Difficulty• Emphasize the more important aspects• Use more “real world” examples• Don’t lecture so quickly• Get away from pure lecture
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Objective
• Identify the structure and composition of Congress
• Describe how a bill becomes a law
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Internal Institutions of Congress and Unstable Coalitions • Institutions and procedures of Congress are designed to grant agenda control to a subset of people
• Agenda control helps overcome unstable coalition problems and prevent chaos
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Party Leaders
• Party leaders solve coordination and unstable coalition problems by enforcing party discipline
• Reed’s Rules provide procedural guidelines for party leaders
• Party leaders are elected at the beginning of a • Congress by the members of each party:
• Speaker of the House• Majority/Minority Leader• Majority/Minority Whip
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Committees
• Much of the detailed legislative work in Congress occurs in committees
• Each committee focuses on a particular area of policy (jurisdiction)
• Allows for specialization and expertise in committees—so better public policy
• Also allows self-selection for members, who may craft legislation, find district benefits, or rise in prestige
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Types of Committees
• Standing committees • Exist permanently
• Special/select committees • Formed for a specific purpose
• Joint committees• Members of House and Senate, no legislative authority
• Conference committees • Members of House and Senate for resolving differences
over a bill
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Committee Membership
• Determining committee assignments is a highly political process
• Party leaders determine committee assignments, and therefore more loyal members are rewarded
• Chairs of committees and chairs of subcommittees are powerful
• Agenda setters: Help to resolve unstable coalition issues
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Other Internal Features
• Caucuses, staff, and research services also play a role in Congress
• Caucuses are a way for members to group themselves for business
• CBO and CRS provide independent information for members
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The Legislative Process I• Bill proposals: only legislators can introduce bills • Bills referred to proper committee based on jurisdiction
and party goals • Committee action
• Most bills not acted on in committee • Committees may mark up bills for the floor
• House uses special rules to bring bills to the floor • Open rules, closed rules, and restricted rules
• Senate uses unanimous consent agreements to bring bills to floor• this empowers individuals
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The Legislative Process II• Floor action can be exciting, though typically well- scripted • Little debate, chambers almost empty • Roll calls in both chambers • Resolving differences between House and Senate bills • Enrolled bills sent to president
• Sign, veto, pocket veto
• House and Senate can override veto with 2/3 vote of each chamber
• Separation of powers system creates bias against action (“institutional friction”)
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Senate Distinctiveness
• Unlimited debate is allowed • Filibuster • Cloture
• Committees less powerful • No germaneness rule
• Parties less powerful • Individual rights trump collective action in Senate
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Questions?
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For next time…
• Read chapter 5 of Bullock and Gaddie