Pols 207 Chapter 9 Practice Problems

Characterize the presence and type of legislatures across the US states.

All state governments have legislatures, and Nebraska is the only unicameral legislature in US.

Explain why conservative legislators might see advantages in signing the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. Also explain the potential downsides.

Potential upside to the Taxpayer Protection Pledge is that it effectively keeps signers from giving in during tax discussions. The potential downsides are that it can generate extreme pressure from constituents and other signers to keep the pledge, and you cannot change your mind.

Describe how the Game of Chicken from game theory illustrates the concept of tying hands as a winning strategy. Connect this concept to the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.

“Tying hands” is a winning strategy for a game of “chicken” in game theory. The idea is that you limit yourself down to one choice and if you communicate that to the other party, then unless the other party is dumb, they will make a choice in response. In the case of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, by signing the pledge, the legislators’ hands are tied and therefore, nothing anyone says or does can change it. This is how “tying hands” can be used as a winning strategy in tax debates.

List the high-level functions of a state legislature.

-Make statutory laws: some intended to solve problems, others are symbolic or honorific (or favors)

-Amend state constitutions

-Service constituents: made up of individuals (single member district representatives) who represent a group of people, and they do things for the people within their district (constituency)

-Bring government funding to their districts (more money = more secure seat)

Discuss how state legislatures might be seen as an ideal form of representative government, or at least as more ideal than the US Congress.

State legislatures might be seen as an ideal form of representative government since unlike congressional elections, members are sent by much smaller constituencies and therefore are more representative of their populations. Additionally, legislatures remain largely lay bodies which means that representatives at this level are more like “regular folks” and therefore are more representative of the majority of the population within a given region.

Explain what Dave McNeely said about the legislative system, the value of a legislator, the role of expertise, and the threat of supermajorities.

Dave McNeely said that:

-It is important to view legislature as a system with unique culture.

-The value of a legislator is how many votes he/she can bring to bear for the party or cause.

-The reliance on expertise of others in the legislative system is routine and necessary.

-Supermajorities that vote as a block mean that the party in power doesn’t need the other party to govern.

Describe how geographic representation works, as well as its drawbacks.

It is also known as zip code representation, and it is where every level of representative government has its own boundaries (which may overlap with another level’s boundaries). The drawbacks are that there is heterogeneous constituency without clear identity (there is a mixture of all types and concerns) and that it drives compromises as path to winning elections (this can be an issue because boundaries can be rigged => gerrymandering).

Explain how “equal” divisions of populations have been implemented since 1963.

Equal divisions of populations have been implemented since 1963, by implementing the “one person, one vote” idea, in which each legislator represents the same number of people.

Discuss the phrase “one person, one vote” and how it is interpreted to explain fairness in representation.

“Fair” redistricting is defined as “equal” division of population within a state, and is done through the “one person, one vote” ideal in which each legislator represents the same number of people (not the same number of voters).

Compare and contrast “equal population” and “equal number of voters”.

Equal population is not the same as equal number of voters. Out of 1,000 people there could be only 200 adults registered to vote. Therefore, while the population may be 1,000 people, the number of voters is significantly lower.

List the political factors that politicians consider when drawing district lines.

1. Party affiliation

2.Likelihood of voting

3.Registration rate

4.Past record of voting

Explain how a state’s apportionment can be both a legally fair and a politically unfair at the same time.

A state’s apportionment can be legally fair in the sense that all districts contain the same number of residents, but politically unfair in the sense that representatives are not proportioned the same as the population by party.

-40% Republican and 60% Democrat population by party, but 100% Democratic representatives and no Republicans

List and discuss the legal criteria for fair apportionment.

1.Equality of population - within limits

2.Contiguity - all portions of a district must be in contact with each other

3.Protected groups - groups previously prevented from voting by state law have a fair chance to affect the outcome of an election

4.Shape of district - cannot be bizarre but can be odd (means that the shape of a district being fair or unfair is dependent upon the court’s ruling at the time)

Describe how protected groups are connect to the Voting Rights Act and to apportionment in Texas today.

Protected groups are designated by the Voting Rights Act, in the sense that they are racial minorities that must receive special levels of attention to ensure fair treatment in elections. Protected groups must pass the redistricting test in the sense that these groups cannot be “worse off” than in previous districting schemes (this could result in other groups’ loses at the expense of protecting designated groups). In Texas, the designated protected groups are African Americans and Hispanics.

Discuss the role of maximum partisan advantage in redistricting and how this led to the Guardian headline: “In America, voters don’t pick their politicians, politicians pick their voters.”

There is no prohibition against the party in power “stacking the deck” by choosing where to draw district boundaries for max partisan advantage. This has led to the Guardian headline “In America, voters do not pick their politicians. Politicians pick their voters.” Since politicians use redistricting in order to have voters within their district which will better guarantee their spot in the upcoming elections.

Describe gerrymandering, including its origin and how it is done via packing and cracking.

Gerrymandering - The process of giving one political party and advantage over another political party by redrawing district lines.

-Packing: The process of drawing district lines and packing in your opponents like cattle into as few districts as possible. The fewer the districts there are, the fewer votes the opposition will get. Therefore, it decreases the opponent’s voter strength and influence.

-Cracking: Taking one district and cracking it into several pieces. This is normally done in districts where your opponent has many supporters. Cracking spreads these supporters among many districts, therefore denying your opponent a lot of votes (breaks the voting block up).

Explain how researchers were able to accomplish a notional reversal of the 2012 congressional election results in Pennsylvania.

The 2011 redistricting plan resulted in election in 2012 of 13 Republicans and 5 Democrat Congressional representatives, since the map of the plan shows how the Democratic districts correspond (mostly) to the areas of higher population density. Essentially, researchers were able to accomplish a notional reversal by reversing the Republican packing by cracking the areas (by drawing district lines differently), while still following “equal population” and other rules.

Describe what is often the consideration behind whether a district’s shape is acceptable or unacceptable.

A district’s shape is considered acceptable if it is shaped in a way that protects a minority group or another group or people’s ability to vote, and unacceptable if it is shaped in a way that is meant to reduce a minority or a group of people’s influence in elections. Essentially, the more bizarre the shape, the more likely it is to be unacceptable.

Describe the strategies that were used by activists to successfully oppose discriminatory gerrymandering for many years.

-Proving violations of equality of population, contiguity of district, representation of protected groups or shape of district.

-Legally arguing that redistricting should only be permitted once each decade.

-Legally arguing that the state officials redrawing the lines were showing excessive partisanship.

-Reliance on the federal government to stop most gerrymandering in all VRA-covered states via preclearance

Explain the SCOTUS decision in LULAC v. Perry and its consequences.

The 2006 Supreme Court decision concerning Texas congressional redistricting by Republican legislature undercut both legal arguments used to overturn gerrymandering by saying that perpetual redistricting is legal and by making it much harder to claim “unsportsmanlike conduct” during redistricting. The consequences are that now legislators can redistrict as much as they want with very little restrictions, and if someone sues a state over a map and they want to claim “excessive partisanship” they have to define it, the court has to approve it, and the person suing has to prove it.

Discuss why gerrymandering is not invincible.

Gerrymandering is not invincible because there can be a surge in voter turnout that ends up reducing the power of the party that gerrymandered in order to have higher chances of winning. Also, demographic changes in districts could result in changes in ethnic makeup within districts, and lead to changes in political culture preferences within a region.

Describe why gerrymandering is a major concern in Texas and other states.

It’s a major concern in all states where it is practiced because it reflects growing partisanship in how districts are drawn and now the party who will win the future election is largely controlled by redistricting. Essentially, making our legislative parties nonrepresentative of the large population.

Explain how gerrymandering played a role in Republicans gaining and keeping control of the Texas Legislature.

Republicans became the majority party immediately after districts were gerrymandered in 2001 and have remained such by continuing the unethical practice, since legislative general elections do not matter when gerrymandering is prevalent.

Describe how independent commissions are being used to push back against gerrymandering, as well as why Arizona and Texas are cautionary cases.

Voters are opting to remove their power to draw congressional districts by handing the power over to the independent commission that will draw the state legislative boundaries. However, independent commissions are difficult to enact and where it has been enacted, it has not always delivered the desired changes. For example, in Texas the Senate approved bills to establish a citizen; commission, but the Texas House never agreed. Meanwhile, in Arizona voters established an independent commission in 2000 via voter initiative, but the first district maps were not approved by commission until 2012. As a result, the Arizona legislature sued the commission to stop the use of maps, but in 2016 SCOTUS agreed that commission was legit and Arizona should use maps.

Characterize the use of alternative redistricting approaches in the US states.

The most widely used redistricting approach in the US is state legislature redistricting methods. The second most widely used redistricting approach in the US is independent commission (but is prevalent in the East). The least common redistricting approach is politician commission.

Discuss how proportional voting is laid out as a better means of resolving the problem of gerrymandering than are independent commissions.

Proportional voting ensures that each party is represented in some way, while independent commissions do not since there is no guarantee that the desired changes will be delivered, or if the commission will even be allowed.

Compare and contrast congruency and communication-based models of representation.

Congruence is similar in beliefs. Meanwhile, communication is legislators understanding that it is not possible for there to be congruence between them and their citizen’s and thus they seek to understand the differing opinions and wishes of the people (which they do through means of communication). Commonly used means of communication are political parties, elections and interest groups.

Characterize the similarities between state legislators and their constituents.

There is little-to-moderate congruence between legislators and citizens in the sense that views and beliefs may or may not overlap, key attributes often do not match, and parties have much more input than citizens since they pick representatives via gerrymandering and low-input primaries. However, state legislatures can be similar to their constituents by sharing the same occupation as some of their constituents and/or the same age, gender, race, and/or ethnicity.

Describe the different perspectives on the job of a state legislature.

-News media and textbooks say “passing bills” but only 20-25% pass in session.

-News media and textbooks say “weighing legislation” but most bills never even are given a chance because they are either dead on arrival, duplicates that will die, or die in committee without thorough consideration.

-Members say killing bad bills harms their constituents, wastes their resources, and is ideologically wrong.

Characterize the number of total bills considered, killed, and passed by a typical legislature in Texas.

-Most do not pass

-About 30% of bills are dead on arrival

-20% of bills never come out of committee

Describe the differences in likelihood of success for bills introduces in the Texas House vs. Senate.

It matters where bills start, because the senate contains 1/6 of the legislative numbers and 1/3 (double the amount) of the bills are introduced to the senate. This is because Senate bills tend to be more successful. Unfortunately, all bills are not sent to the Senate because it is such a small body.

Trace the path of a successful bill through the Texas legislative process.

1.Bill drafted

2.Introduction and first reading

3.Committee referral

4.Subcommittee

5.Second reading and floor consideration

6.Committee hearings

7.Committee action

8.Calendar placement

9.Third reading (when it gets its first vote on the floor) and floor vote

10.Reconsideration (2nd vote)

11.Sent to opposite chamber

12.If other chamber edits bill, bill has to be sent to a conference committee to come up with a compromise bill

13.Both chambers sign off on the bill

14.Governor signs the bill

Discuss the differences in success of HBs and SBs within the House and in the Senate internal processes.

In 2013:

-HB: 70% of bills deliberated, 44% passed the House committee, 25% passed the House, 21% were deliberated in the Senate, 19% passed the Senate Committee, 19% passed the legislature, and 18% were enacted as laws

-SB: 69% deliberated in the Senate, 55% passed the Senate committee, 50% passed the Senate, 46% deliberated in the House, and 36% of bills were enacted into laws

Describe how State Rep Rainey’s strategies did not and did succeed in requiring greater accountability from the Blinn College administrators.

State Rep Rainey’s strategies did not succeed in requiring greater accountability from the Blinn College Administrators because the HB 1903, which would “direct proportionate state funding based on contact hours to each of Blinn’s campuses” in order to remediate “the district’s failure in handling the college’s finances,” did not become law, but the senator did secure 2 key changes to the law affecting the college campus:

1.Amendment to HB 1 (biennial budget) - required junior college systems to account for spending campus-by-campus and to highlight any disparities

2.HB 2621 - required that 2 members of the Board of Trustees for Blinn College be from Brazos County

Walk through the legislative process for a bill, identifying both the uncertainty that exists and who controls the outcome at each step.

1. One or more legislators must sponsor and introduce the bill

-sponsors can be hard to find, and are not equal in clout or success record

-the sponsor(s) may only want to assuage the constituents, not fight for its passage

2. All bills are assigned to a committee, but many bills are never deliberated, and many bills are never approved by their committee

3. Bills that come out of committee are then assigned to a “calendar” based on content and priority, but different calendars have different rules about amendments, debate, etc.

4.Bills that are bored on in a chamber may not pass

5.Bills must pass both the initial floor vote and reconsideration

6.Bills that pass in one chamber must repeat the entire process in the other chamber

7.Bills that are passed by both chambers must be exactly alike, or a conference must try to find a compromise and resubmit the revised bill to both chambers for approval

8.Only if all of the previous requirements are met, will the bill go to the governor who can then veto or sign off on the bill

Describe what and why of the operations tempo in the Texas Legislature from start to finish with respect to how many bills are on the agenda of the two chambers.

1.During the 140-day legislative session there are usually about 3,000 bills on the agenda

2.The last week before the 60th day is when the legislature starts cramming. This is due to rule change on Day 60, which requires 80% consent to introduce new bills (except local and emergency bills).

3.For the first 60 days, a bill cannot be debated upon except for specialty bills.

4.During the last 80 days, 5.5 bills are passed per day and 19.5 are killed per day.

5.During the final 2 weeks, 46 bills are passed per day and 46 are killed per day. Therefore, 50% of all bills are passed during this time frame.

Explain how the Texas Legislature permits “clones” of bills and how these are used to increase the chance of success.

Since individual bills are not often successful, original bills are often augmented with “identical” bills. These identical bills can either be duplicate bills (copies of bills introduced in the same chamber), or companion bills (copies of bills introduced in the other chamber). These identical bills increase the chances of passage because it shares success between the authors of the original bill and each identical bill.

Explain the role and importance of readings and calendars in the process of passing (or not passing) a bill. Use the Senate’s Local and Uncontested Calendar as an example.

A reading is the recital of the bill’s caption. There are 3 readings, but they are not 3 careful considerations of the content of the bill:

1.The first reading of a bill accompanies its assignment to a committee.

2.The second reading is given when a bill passes out of a committee (copies of the entire bill are placed at each desk; any discussion, debate occurs at this point).

3.The third reading is when the first-floor vote is taken.

Meanwhile, calendars dictate:

-both rules and timing, in order to help the legislature’s leadership control

-whether a bill will ever come up on the agenda

-whether debate will occur on a bill

-whether amendments will be permitted to a bill

-whether a full vote or an expeditated vote will be what is required to pass the bill

For example, the Senate’s Local and Uncontested Calendar on May 25, 2011, at 9am had the bill laid out on the second reading, the bill passed on the second reading (31-0), the constitutional requirement that the third reading must take place the next day was waived (31-0), the bill was passed on the third reading (31-0), and finally the bill was passed (the bill passed was HB 14 which was relating to the eligibility for unemployment benefits of a person receiving certain forms of remuneration).

Explain the reason for the conflict between the efforts of Representative Bristow to pass his bill and his recognition that it was unconstitutional.

Not all bills are intended to pass. In fact, some bills are introduced with acknowledgement that they will die immediately but introducing them permits the member to tell the constituent “I tried”. This is what happened with Representative Bristow. Representative Bristow was aware that the Attorney General had already ruled that if the bill is passed, it will be unconstitutional, but he admitted to taking the time up in the House due to having letters and telegrams from every business and professional women’s organization in his district asking him to pass the bill (which concerned control of porno literature). The representative’s statement broke the tension and gain sympathy for the sponsor, and the bill passed, and was subsequently declared unconstitutional, but the representative did not disappoint anyone (including his own mother).

Describe how legislators determine their position on bills upon which they vote.

Sometimes they are the expert. Often, they look to other legislators with expertise and whom they trust. Often, they adopt positions of special interests (groups and lobbyists).

Discuss the phenomenon of ghost voting and its pros and cons.

Ghost voting is when a vote is registered for you but you are not the one who passed it. Many lawmakers vote more than once, even though they are not supposed to be doing it according to House Rules. However, they are never disciplined for it.

-Pros: It allows for bills to be passed quicker

-Cons: It means that bills are passed without careful consideration

Describe how the Texas House reacted to the negative publicity about ghost voting.

The Texas House changed the rules to where members can now formally vote for other members, and cameras as well as smart telephones are no longer permitted on the House floor or in the House gallery.

Explain how Texas State Senator’s bill requiring disclosure of donors is a possible commentary on legislative responsibility.

The bill that required the disclosure of donors to tax-exempt, politically active organizations in Texas was initially passed 24-5 and the next day, it was recalled 23-6, with the justification that it is a violation of the 1st amendment rights. What happened is that targeted interest groups had not spoken with senators before the vote but did so quickly afterwards (it was not on anyone’s radar until it passed the Senate). This highlights the central role of interest groups in providing vote-determining information when it comes to legislative decisions.

Characterize the role of partisanship and the ability of members of both parties to get their bills passed in Democratic-controlled and Republican-controlled legislatures in Texas.

Partisanship helps determine which bills pass and which do not. For example, when Democrats were the majority party in the House in Texas, bills from Republicans were more successful than bills from Democrats in most sessions. Also, partisanship was not strongly related to success of Senate bills, until Republicans became the majority party in the House. Thus, describing Texas sticking to its conservative roots even when it comes to bill passing.

Describe the differences in composition between heterogenous and homogenous representative districts.

What is the effect of each on election competitiveness? What about on forcing elected representatives to be more willing to compromise with views different than their own, including during election campaigns.

Explain the differences between a professional, a hybrid, and a citizen legislature. Which is most prevalent in the US?

Which type is Texas? List two things we discussed in lecture that indicate that Texas does not have a professional legislature.

With what two characteristics of a does legislative professionalism correlate best in Figure 9.7? Are more professional legislatures more representative of their states’ populations? Why or why not?