Congress Chapter 12 1 congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, - PDF document

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 Congress Chapter 12 1

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 The Constitution and the Legislative Branch of the Government • Article I describes structure of Congress • Bicameral legislature • Divided into two houses • Each state sends two Senators regardless of population. • Number of representatives each state sends to the House is determined by state population . 2

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 The Constitution and the Legislative Branch of the Government • Constitution sets out requirements for membership in the House and Senate • House – 25 years of age; reside in U.S. at least 7 years; serve 2 year terms • Directly elected, thus more responsible to the people • Senate – 30 years of age; reside in U.S. at least 9 years; serve 6 year terms ; originally chosen by state legislators, until 17 th Amendment (1913) • Congressional members must be legal residents of their states. 3

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 The Representatives and Senators • The Job • Salary of $174,000 (2009) with retirement benefits. Who sets their salary? ($193,400 for leaders, $223,500 for the Speaker) • Office space in D.C. and at home and staff to fill it. • Travel allowances and franking privileges. • Often requires 10 to 14 hour days, lots of time away from the family, and lots of pressure from different people to “do the right thing.” 4

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 The Representatives and Senators 5

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 6

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 Who is in Congress? • The House has become less male and less white • Membership in Congress became a career • Incumbents still have a great electoral advantage • But in 1994, voters opposed incumbents due to budget deficits, various policies, legislative­ executive bickering, and scandal – Republicans took control! • In 2006, the Democrats regained control of Congress 7

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 Congressional Demographics • Members tend to be • Better educated than the population in general • Ninety­five percent are college graduates; over 2/3’s have advanced degrees. • Richer • Nearly 200 are millionaires; 21 Senators are worth at least 3.1 million. 29 House members worth that much as well. • Male • White • Average age is 63 for Senators; 57 for House members. • Aaron Schock (R­IL) elected in 2008 at age of 27. • George LeMieux (R­FL) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D­NY) are the youngest Senator (40 & 42). Both were appointed • Occupations: No longer overwhelmingly lawyers • 214 members (182 Representatives and 33 Senators) list their occupation as public service/politics • 204 (152 Representatives and 51 Senators) list law • 201 (175 Representatives and 27 Senators) list business 8

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 Blacks, Hispanics, and Women in Congress, 1971­2006 – Trends? 9

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 Actual numbers, not percentages. For the 111 th Congress (2009), the breakdown is: Women – 92 Afr. Amer. – 43 Hispanic ­ 28 10

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 The Representatives and Senators 111 th Congress House Senate 257 57 • 40 2 360 83 75 17 8 3 42 1 25 3 360 93 11

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 Apportionment and Redistricting • Apportionment • Proportional process of allotting congressional seats to each state following the ten year census • Redistricting • Redrawing of congressional districts to reflect increases or decreases in seats allotted to the states, as well as population shifts within a state • 1929: House size fixed at 435. 12

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 Congressional Elections • Who Wins Elections? • Incumbent: Those already holding office. 13

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 Percentage of Incumbents Reelected to Congress Harold W. Stanley and Richard G. Niemi, Vital Statistics on American Politics , 1999­2000 (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press, 2000), table 1­18; 2004 updated by Marc Siegal. 14

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 Incumbents in Congress Reelected by 60 Percent or More 15

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 Congressional Elections • The Advantages of Incumbents • Advertising: • The goal is to be visible to your voters. • Frequent trips home & newsletters are used. • Credit Claiming: • Service to individuals in their district. • Casework: specifically helping constituents get what they think they have a right to. • Pork Barrel : federal projects, grants, etc. made available in a congressional district or state. 16

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 Congressional Elections • The Advantages of Incumbents • Position Taking: • Portray themselves as hard working, dedicated individuals. • Occasionally take a partisan stand on an issue. • Weak Opponents: • Most opponents are inexperienced in politics. • Most opponents are unorganized and underfunded. • Campaign Spending : • Challengers need to raise large sums to defeat an incumbent. • PACs give most of their money to incumbents. Why? • Does PAC money “buy” votes in Congress? 17

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 Running for Office and Staying in Office • Incumbency – Another Look • The fact that being in office helps a person stay in office because of a variety of benefits that go with the position • Name recognition • Access to free media • Inside track on fund­raising • District drawn to favor incumbent creating • Safe Seats • 1980 to 1990, an average of 95 percent of incumbents who sought reelection won their primary and general election races. 18

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 Incumbency 19

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 Congressional Elections • The Role of Party Identification • Most members represent the majority party in their district. • Defeating Incumbents • Some incumbents face problems after a scandal or other complication in office. • They may face redistricting. (ex. Texas gerrymandering) • They may become a victim of a major political tidal wave. (Watergate, or 1994) 20

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 Congressional Elections • Open Seats • Greater likelihood of competition, although in some districts it may only be in the primary. Why? • Stability and Change • Incumbents provide stability in Congress. • Change in Congress occurs less frequently through elections. • Are term limits an answer? 21

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 How Congress is Organized • American Bicameralism • Bicameral: Legislature divided into two houses. • The House • The Senate • 435 members, 2 year • 100 members, 6 year terms of office. terms of office. • Policy Specialists • Policy Generalists • Initiates all revenue • Gives “advice & bills, more influential on consent”, more budget. influential on foreign • House Rules affairs. • Unlimited debates. Committee • Limited debates. (filibuster) 22

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 The 109th Congress ­ Senate 23

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 The United States Senate 2009 24

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 House of Representatives – 2005­2006 25

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 Party Membership by District 2009 House of Representatives 26

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 The Evolution of Congress • The intent of the Framers: • To oppose the concentration of power in a single institution • To balance large and small states • Bicameralism • They expected Congress to be the dominant institution 27

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 Organization of the House • Historically, power struggles have occurred between members and leadership • 1994 brought changes: • Committee chairs hold positions for only 6 years • Speaker limited to 8 years • How can these changes be reversed? 28

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 Organization of the House – Post­1994 • Reduced the number of committees and subcommittees • The Speaker dominated the selection of committee chairs • The Speaker set the agenda (Contract with America) and sustained high Republican discipline in 1995 29

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 Evolution of the Senate • The Senate escaped many of the tensions encountered by the House • The major struggle in the Senate was about how its members should be chosen; 17th amendment (1913) • The filibuster is another major issue: restricted by Rule 22 (1917), which allows a vote of cloture • Define filibuster and cloture 30

congress powerpoint 90 slides February 27, 2015 How Congress is Organized • New Congress is seated every two years. • Elect new leaders • Each house has a hierarchical leadership structure. 31