WashU Legislative Process

Mayhew

• Reelection as the main goal of congress members. This affects how they behave and what bills they pass. 

Mayhew says a member’s actions can be conceived of as all aimed at improving his/her

“expected incumbent differential”

Incumbent Advantage

• Advertising

• Credit-claiming

  • Murtha’s Pennsylvania Airport for No One

• Position-taking

Federalist 52

The House should be the closest to the people and the closest body of representation

Federalist 55

Determines the size of the house. States that it can grow. Initially at 65 members, with. one new member for every 30,000 people.

Federalist 62

• The Senate is considered to be further from the people and a slow-moving body. 

• The Senate is a “salutary check” on efforts by the House, provides stability, national character, and can see long-term interests through longer terms.

Union Calendar

bills about revenue or appropriations

House Calendar

non-revenue bills

Private Calendar

immigration requests, claims against the

government

Consensus Calendar

rarely used

Lee - Senate Coalitions

Senators build coalitions with states that don’t cost as much in order to get measures passed.

Age to run

25 in House, 30 in Senate

Citizenship to Run

7 years in House, 9 years Senate

Residency

Must live in State

Sides

• Moderates are much less likely to run for election during high polarization. 

• How well a person “fits” within their party influences their decision to run.

Incumbency Scare off Effect

Deters strong challengers, makes them typically only face weak challengers. 

Fox and Lawless

Personal interest in running for office is a necessary precondition.

Roots of political ambition (Fox and Lawless)

• View of self as qualified to run for office

• Ideological motivations

• Minority status

• Political upbringing

• Competitive traits

• Stage in life

• Not addressed in the paper, but wealth.

• Women less likely to run.

Fiorina

• Politics is no longer local. 

• Parties have become nationalized and voters prefer to use straight-ticket voting over split-ticket, making it much more harder to hold congress members accountable.

Benefits of Campaign $

Invest in campaign, purchase voter files, dividend effect: having money gets you more money, signaling effect: bandwagon

Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971

First provisions against campaign finance.

• Limits amount of money a candidate can donate to their own campaign

• Disclosure requirements

Amendments to FECA

Created Federal Election Commission

Limits amount individuals can donate to campaigns

Limits independent expenditures

Independent Expenditures

Money in elections that is not made in coordination with any candidate

Buckley v Valeo (1976)

Second provision on election spending

• Restrictions on individuals upheld

• Struck down limits on: expenditures by candidates from their own personal or family resources and total campaign expenditures

• Independent expenditures only limited when they are “expressly advocate.”

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act 

Addresses soft money (money with no specific intent) in elections and issue advocacy ads; no issue ads that name the candidate 60 days before general election

Citizens United v FEC (2010)

Limiting independent political spending from corporations and other groups violates the First Amendment free speech. Allows for Super PACs to exist.

(Fiorina) Split-ticket voting and the incumbency advantage have

declined

Mansbridge

Four forms of representation: Promissory, Anticipatory, Gyroscopic, Surrogate

Promissory (Mansbridge)

• Representatives evaluated their ability to keep promises. 

• Voters use their power to reward or punish members based on behavior.

• Traditional form of representation

Anticipatory (Mansbridge)

• Representatives accountable to FUTURE voters.

• Will pass legislation based on what they predict the future electoral body will want. 

• Has a big impact when the constituency preferences change (ex. AI, BLM, Covid)

• Raised importance of opinion polling, focus and interest groups

Gyroscopic (Mansbridge)

• Representatives draw on their own background and common sense. 

• Voters receive representation based on who they elect to office. 

• Trustees concerned with their and the nation’s interests rather than preferences

• Gyroscopic representatives driven by preferences and district interests

Surrogate (Mansbridge)

• Representation by member in another district. 

• Individuals and groups turn to representatives 

• whom they have a non electoral relationship with to advance their advancements and interests.

Who benefits from Surrogate Representation?

The wealthy, minorities, underrepresented groups, those who “lose out” in their own district. Descriptive representation is also very important.

Substantive Representation

Does the representative faithfully reflect the policy position of constituents?

Schaeffer

• Racial and ethnic diversity continues to grow in congress.

• There are more women in congress than ever before. 

• Congress has diversified in sexuality, age, and religion.

• Veteran members have fallen.

• Foreign-born members have risen.

Grumbach

• How do personal characteristics and experiences affect substantive representation? How do the social-class backgrounds of Democrats and Republicans affect their behaviors? 

• Legislators with shared experience characteristics tend to represent specific groups better. 

• Causes legislators to focus on issues specific to their background.

Grumbach Summary

Legislators give specific attention to groups that they may have had affiliation with growing up.

Fenno: Home Style

Followed 18 house members. Fenno sorted them and their constituencies into groups. 

Constituencies and subconstituencies (Fenno)

• Geographic (biggest)

• Reelection - those who typically vote for the member. Defined by uncertainty.

• Primary - strong supporters. Not temporary.

• Personal

Presentation of Self (Fenno)

Qualification, Identification, Empathy

Person-to-Person (Fenno)

• Emphasis on identity and empathy

• “Personal” relationship with constituents - howdying.

• Little emphasis on issues.

“Popular Local Boy”  (Fenno)

• Focus on identity, but specifically on exceptionality. 

• “I’m the best of us, so I should represent us.”

• Focus on single-unifying issues.

Articulating the Issues (Fenno)

• Focuses on qualification

• Issue-oriented

• “The coffee” / open meetings

“Serving the District” (Fenno)

• Non-political / all-in on constituent service.

• Emphasizes empathy but in a particular way.

• Lack of local ties, lack of electoral skill.

Grimmer

• Procuring federal funding for the district can be a great way to heighten constituency support. 

  • It’s not about how much money is brought home, but how many times they send out messages about it.

Credit-claiming over Policy (Grimmer)

• representatives in competitive districts - marginal representatives - have incentives to avoid articulating policy positions and just credit claim instead.

• Representatives in safe districts can take more risks. 

  • Exacerbates polarization - only ideologically extreme candidates can really dominate debates. Members on the more riskier side lay low and credit claim. 

Why do members want stronger relationships with district? (Grimmer)

Leeway voting in Washington. 

Sulkin - Issue Politics in Congress

Incumbents who win reelection regularly take up their challenger’s priority issues and act on them in Congress - “Issue uptake.”

Sulkin Summary

Issue Uptake

Issue Uptake (Sulkin)

• Members focus on the issues their challengers raise because challenger’s issues serve as a signal of weakness and provide valuable information on the district/state. 

Suspension of Rules

In the House; 

• 40 minutes of debate

• No amendments

• 2/3 vote for passage

• No objections

Special Rules

The Rules Committee reports a rule detailing how a specific bill will be considered. Can limit debate, amendments, nearly any rule, nearly anything else.

Special Rules - Open Rule

Allows germane amendments to be proposed on bill

Special Rules - Closed Rule

does not allow any amending activity on bill beyond committee-sponsored amendments

Special Rules - Structured Rule

limits amending opportunity

▶ Only amendments to certain parts of bills

▶ Limits amending to pre-approved amendments

▶ Authorizes only specific lawmakers to amend

Consequences of the Rules

• Flexibility

• The majority is in control (when unified)

• Majority party leadership calls the shots (via Rules Committee)

• Obstruction nearly impossible

Committee of the Whole

Entirety of the House functions as one committee

Senators have a variety of formal and informal opportunities to influence measures regardless of the committee referred

Intercommittee consultation, floor debate, floor amendments, participation in conference

Single Senate Calender

Calendar of Business

▶ Any senator can make motion to bring a bill to the floor

▶ Right of First Recognition: Allows majority leader to speak first if multiple senators seek recognition

Revealed Preferance

we do not know exactly how each MC ranks the

committees, but we can infer based on their choices between pairs of

committee seats.

Right of First Recognition

Majority leader can speak first if multiple senators seek recognition

Unanimous Consent

All senators consent to operate outside of the Senate’s standing rules, limiting debate and amendments. Mainly for non-controversial legislation. Act like special rules in the House. Senators can unanimously place holds on UCAs.

Unanimous Consent Agreements

Formal, written document that codifies the terms of UC

Agreements between majority & minority leaders to consider legislation

•Before the Majority and Minority leaders agree to a UCA, they “hot line” the agreement

Motion to Proceed

Used when unanimous consent is unlikely, but opens the bill up to unlimited debate, filibusters, etc…

Cloture

Motion to end debate - typically need 3/5ths of senators, but for executive and judicial nominations only need 51.

Sinclair

• In the 1950s, the Senate used to follow more norms when it came to political activism and the hierarchy of roles.

• Eldest senators were expected to be the ones to speak most on issues, and freshmen senators would learn from them. 

• By the 1970s, freshmen using unrestrained activism and senators are proposing bills regardless of their relation to specialized committees.

Sinclair Summary

Senate norms have changed to more activist freshmen senators

Citizen Preferences of Policies

Instigators can help shape constituent preferences by revealing the stake citizens hold in an outcome

Role of Coalition Leaders on Citizen Preferances

Framing - Link to established popular/unpopular programs and positions, Traceability - Delegate to states / agencies / etc. for implementation, Modification - Alter incidence of geographic/group benefits to attract more supporters 

Seniority System

-System under which members were guaranteed chairmanship of a committee if they were the most senior member in the majority party

- This means that long-serving southern Democrats held the chairs for many pivotal committees...and they were set on blocking civil rights legislation

-Abolished in 1970’s

Getting Rolled

Policy passes that a majority of majority party didn’t want to pass.

Cartel Theory

Parties are structured like law or accounting firms

- Senior partners; junior partners

- Each member has equal voting power; but agenda setting power is unequal

Party Power = Agenda Power

- Agenda power: ability to choose what does (and doesn’t) come up for consideration

Senior partners: Speaker of the House; other majority party leaders (whips, majority leader, important committee chairs...)

Leader sets positive agenda control

Advancing bills that are highly favored by the party

Leadership excercizes negative agenda control

Avoiding legislation that will split the party

Challenge of Leadership

Legislating versus electioneering

Dietrich and Hayes

• Floor speeches are important acts in which congress members carefully choose their words to convey pathos and ethos. 

• Consequential on voting behavior, this study analyzed black symbolism and how it could increase support in specific groups.

• Agenda power is concentrated in majority party senior partners

Dietrich and Hayes Summary

Speech Symbolism

Arnold

Potential preferences - basically anticipatory representation. Senators adjust their decisions based on these perceived potential preference.

Arnold Summary

Senators weigh the costs of each decision and may vote in the favor of the majority or super minority

Types of costs (Arnold)

• General costs and benefits: costs all and affects all

• Group costs: Costs group affects group

• Geographic costs: Costs specific area, state, region, benefits this regional area.

Perceptions influenced by (Arnold)

• Magnitude

• Timing

• Proximity

Reasons for Passing Policy (Arnold)

Compelling, Attractive, Repellent, Unfeasible

Lee - Legislative Parties

Partisan Competition since the age where democrats were dominant gives everything in Washington partisan election dynamics. Incentives for party out of power to make the other party look bad.

McCarty

• Republicans now can actually

  win elections, leading them to strategically differentiate themselves

  from Democrats

• Polarization does not appear to be driven by contemporary events or institutional differences between the House and Senate →this includes gerrymandering

• There is major partisan asymmetry in polarization

• Elite polarization appears to cause partisan sorting, not the other way around

Expected Party Differential

Minority Party members try to increase this via opposing and attacking what is happening. The goal is to emphasize the other party’s failures, not to make constructive public policy. Both majority and minority parties often find it in their electoral interests to fail legislatively.

Drutman - House leadership writing bills behind closed doors for years

• Congress functioning behind closed doors. 

• Because nobody can see bills when they are kept secret, it is a strategy for leaders to bring bills to the floor in a rush and hold a vote before anyone can read them thoroughly.

Disadvantages of Legislating in the Dark

• Can erode trust, especially in moderate members. 

• Those outside of party leadership could revolt.

Centralization

Congressional leaders are able to call the shots on most matters, power lessened from committees. Rise of unorthodox lawmaking. Congress used to be decentralized.

Conditional Party Government

Predicts that a party’s strength within the legislature will be determined by the homogeneity of preferences within each party.

• If parties are heterogeneous, members will not delegate power.

• If parties are homogeneous, members will delegate power.

Heterogenous Parties

• Members fear giving away power, policy outcomes may not align with their prefs.

• Members may prefer policy outcomes that align with the other party

• Will not cede power; weaker party power

Homogenous Parties

• Policy outcomes that favor the other party will likely be less desirable

• Members have an incentive to try to resolve collective action problems to pass policy

• Will cede power; stronger party power

Curry

• Congress evolved to be a lot more party-centric over committees, but committee members are still turned to for their expertise. They are critical for legislation drafting due to their knowledge.

Types of Committees

Standing: Permanent; Authorizing, Appropriating, Control

Select/Special Committee: Temporary; usually cannot report legislation, focused on topical issues.

Joint: House and Senate membership, no reporting power

Conference Committee: Reconcile House-Senate differences

Three Theories of Committees

Division of Labor (information) - Committees are organized to develop policy expertise and divide policymaking labor

Individual Goals (distributive) - Committees are organized to benefit the individual goals of members. Centralization: still prominent players on issues.

Collective Goals (partisan) - Committees are organized to pursue partisan goals

Centralization: leadership delegates then “clears the way” for party-favored committee bills.

Formal Criteria for Committee Assignment

Leaders decide which proportions of each committee. Members must submit formal requests to the steering committee for assignments. Senators all guaranteed one “A” committee, one “B,” and one “C.” Each party and each chamber has a steering committee. Leader gets to pick most people on the steering committee. Then goes to a vote.

Informal Criteria for Committee Assignment

•Seniority

Party loyalty

•Geographic balance

•Substantive expertise

•District characteristics

•Electoral vulnerability

•Gender & racial diversity

•Fundraising help

Chairman Shuffle

Byrd Cascade; someone takes a new seat that they want, causing a domino effect.

Property Norm

Once you get on a committee, you typically stay.

Binder

Analyzes gridlock in congress

Binder Methods

Analyzes % of issues on the public agenda that were

addressed with a new law every Congress, over time