policy process midterm - content

senate

upper chamber, slightly removed from the people, long tenure, smaller(100)

6 year term

house

lower chamber, closer to the people, larger(435)

2 year terms

Article 1, Section 5

Each house may determine the Rules of its Proceedings

gatekeeping power

power to keep legislation off floor entirely

proposal power

power to decide the version of legislation to vote on

caucus

democrats elect leaders

conference

republicans elect leaders

Speaker

leader of house, from maj party

whips

get members in line on important issues and votes

president pro tempore

ceremonial president of senate

congressional agenda setting

shaped by congressional leadership, determine committee assignments, and such

leadership PACs

allow members to support the campaigns of other members, hope for future support

committee assignments

used by leader as stick and carrot, creates obligation

logrolling

the addition of amendments into legislation that specifically benefit the districts of specific legislators

homogeneous party

party is united in ideals and priorities, so they give the leaders more power and overall, get more accomplished

heterogeneous party

leadership is weaker because they have less power, party is divided on important issues, gridlock

standing committees

committees that permanently exist; fixed membership offices, staff, etc.

jurisdiction is parallel to bureaucracy; initiates legislation

H&S Rules

decide rules for debate, housekeeping, etc.

committee assignments

wielded by leaders in order to benefit from members, use strengths of congresspeople, committees should be full of ‘experts’

closed rule

severe limits on debate, no amendments or very few amendments, what bill supporters wanto

open rule

no debate limits, amendments allowed, what bill’s opponents want, can cripple/delay bill

cloture

end debate with 60 votes

filibuster

hold the floor until the majority gives in

presidential veto

returned within 10 days of passage with objections

pocket veto

congress adjourns within the 10 days and president doesn’t sign

veto override

2/3 of both chambers override presidential veto

constituency pressure

congresspeople care a LOT about being reelected, so they care what their constituents think

why firms get into lobbying

competitor pressure, large firms invite scrutiny

campaign finance

contributing money to the political campaign of a candidate with the hope they will later go on to support what you believe in

inside lobbying

firm builds relationship with members of Congress and staff

outside lobbying

shift public opinion and engagement

grassroots

mass mobilization into politics, the public

grasstops

elite(usually experts) mobilization into politics

‘group’ view of parties

coalitions of interest groups and activist; groups that seek governmental power to advance their goals

Republican Party

agent of ideological movement, shared beliefs

Democratic Party

coalition of social groups with a variety of interests, less united more patchwork

paradox in public opinion

surveys have found that while individuals on an issue by issue basis overwhelmingly support more liberal policies, when asked which school of thought they would align themselves with, they do not choose being liberal

party platforms

big national convention every four year when the principles, priorities, and policy positions for the each party are clearly defined

bipartisanship

necessary for legislation to pass, despite strength of the majority

congressional majority party cohesion

when the maj congressional party is extremely unified, they accomplish significantly more than if they were divided

the Byrd rule

no ‘merely incidental’ budget effects

budget reconciliation

created by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, committees write changes to budget

policy agenda

the policies that government is actively considering

agenda universe

any possible policy

systematic agenda

not formally under consideration, but politically feasible

institutional agenda

policy that’s being considered

decision agenda

policy that is going to get voted on

horizontal levels of gov

legislative, executive, judicial

vertical levels of government

local, state, federal

focusing events

terrorism, environmental disasters that lead to legislation being passed

outside actors

interest groups, social movements, mass public

inside actors

congressional committees, presidents, regulatory agencies with bureaucratic discretion

window of opportunity

when the three stream ‘problem, policy, & political’ converge, so that policy can be more easily passed

pluralism

the idea that many groups compete to influence policy

elite theory

the idea that policy is influenced by the elites

presidential resources

• the veto

• expertise

• executive branch info

• influence over budget/spending

• the power to persuade

State of the Union

president gives a public speech updating on the state of the country, can intro specific legislative they want to be on the current policy agenda

honeymoon phase

presidential approval and support in Congress is the highest in the first year of the presidency

unified gov

when the president and the majority party in Congress are the same party

divided government

when the president, house maj, and senate maj are not all of the same party

polarization

over time each party has become more like their most fringe parts

veto anticipation

Congress writes bills the the president will just barely be willing to sign off on, same distance from the president’s feelings as the status quo is

veto threats

when the president threatens a veto, causing Congress to make concessions

blame-game politics

when Congress doesn’t care if the president vetoes because then they can make the public blame him for the failure of a bill

line-item veto

struck down in 1998, allowed the president to veto specific parts of a bill

reasons to delegate power to the president

• president shares goals and has resources

• in an emergency, things need to happen quickly and Congress is really slow

broad delegation

ex. after 9/11 power given to president to use force against those he determined had planned the 9/11 attacks

narrow delegation

ex. 2012 FAA Reauthorization, stipulated exact milestones the FAA had to meet to keep funding

oversight

power of senate, hold hearings and ask questions