Congress: Balancing National Goals and Local Interests

Chapter 11: Congress

Introduction

Focus: Balancing National Goals and Local Interests in Congress.

Congress as a Career: Election to Congress

Historical Context:
  - In the nation’s first century, service in Congress was not a career for most members.
  - The modern Congress is predominantly composed of professional politicians.
  - The majority of members aim to establish a career in Congress.
  - High rates of incumbents seeking reelection succeed.

Reelection Rates of House and Senate Incumbents

Figure 11-1: Reelection statistics demonstrate a strong probability of incumbents winning subsequent terms.
Important Note: Actual chances of reelection are often lower than statistical rates suggest due to voluntary withdrawals by incumbents facing tough campaigns.

Using Incumbency to Stay in Congress

Constituency: Refers to residents in an elected official's district or state.
Care Strategies: Incumbents maintain favor by providing constituents with benefits.
- Pork: Refers to pork-barrel spending, involving federally funded projects benefiting specific constituents.
Campaign Funding: Incumbents have an advantage in fundraising due to Political Action Committees (PACs) generally supporting them.
Open-seat Elections: Occurs when there is no incumbent running, leading to well-funded candidates from both parties.

Redistricting and Its Impact

Reapportionment: Requires the redistribution of House seats depending on census results.
Redistricting: The process of redrawing electoral district boundaries, often controlled by the majority party in the state legislature.
Gerrymandering: The practice of manipulating electoral district boundaries to favor one party over another.

Pitfalls of Incumbency

Disruptive Issues: Such as scandals or personal misconduct can significantly jeopardize incumbents.
Midterm Elections: These elections usually witness low voter turnout and waning enthusiasm, particularly for candidates of the president's party.
Primary Elections: Challenges can arise from strong candidates within one’s own party, leading to increased vulnerability.
General Election Challenges: Particularly troublesome for senators, as challengers often come from prominent political backgrounds. Super PACs may target vulnerable incumbents.

Characteristics of Congressional Candidates

Eligibility Criteria:
  - House: Must be at least 25 years old and a citizen for at least 7 years.
  - Senate: Must be at least 30 years old and a citizen for at least 9 years.
  - Both must reside in the state that elects them.
Informal Limits:
- Many congressional representatives hold law degrees.
- The makeup of Congress is predominantly white and male, with limited representation from working-class backgrounds.

Parties and Party Leadership

Bicameral Legislature: Congress is organized into two chambers: the House and the Senate, primarily along party lines.
Internal Party Dynamics: Party members elect their own leaders, facilitating strategy planning and resolving policy differences through caucuses.

Party Unity in Congress

Parties exert considerable influence in Congress, with a noticeable increase in unity over time.
Political polarization: Republicans are generally more conservative, while Democrats increasingly align with liberal stances.
Party Unity Defined: Cohesion among party members during legislative votes, evident in the increasing use of roll-call votes.

Party Leadership in Congress

Re-election efforts are largely individual due to members not being as beholden to party leadership.

House Leadership

Speaker of the House: Elected by House members, typically from the majority party.
- Acts as a key figure in legislative discussions, controls debate, and influences the House Rules Committee.
- Hastert Rule: Majority of the majority rule—bills are brought to the floor only if supported by most House Republicans.
Majority Leader & Minority Whip: Assist the Speaker and play roles in managing party affairs.

Senate Leadership

Majority Party Leader: Similar role to Speaker of the House, guided by a majority whip.
Senate Limitations: Tradition of unlimited debate; amendments can be proposed, allowing senators greater autonomy compared to House members.

Power Dynamics: Party Leaders and Their Members

While party leaders exercise some control, the individual interests of Congress members often take precedence.

Committees and Committee Leadership

Standing Committees: Core operational units of Congress responsible for specific policy areas.
  - House: Twenty standing committees.
  - Senate: Sixteen standing committees.
  - Other Types: Includes select committees, joint committees, and conference committees.

Committee Jurisdiction

Defined as the policy area where a committee is authorized to act; not always straightforward and can be contested.
Turf Wars: Occurs when committees seek to assert control over legislative proposals.

Committee Membership

Generally reflects the party ratio in either chamber, with the majority party commanding more seats.
Members serve on multiple committees, with House members typically on two and Senators often on four.

Committee Chairs

A powerful position responsible for scheduling meetings, presiding over discussions, and directing the committee’s actions.
Chairs are usually from the majority party and determined by seniority on the committee.

Committee versus Party Control

Majority parties generally exert control over committee composition and chair appointments, while individual committees maintain their own power and jurisdiction.

Legislative Process: How a Bill Becomes a Law

Definition of Bill: Proposed legislative act that can only be formally submitted by members of Congress.

Steps in the Legislative Process

Introduction: Bill is introduced in either chamber and sent to the relevant committee.
Committee Action: Committees conduct hearings, revise the bill and decide whether to recommend passage or table the bill.
- More than 90% of bills do not progress beyond committee.
Floor Action: Discusses bill in full chamber with set rules on debate established by House Rules Committee or Senate leadership.
Conference Action: If there are differences between House and Senate versions, a conference committee reconciles these into a single bill.
Executive Action: The president can sign the bill into law or veto it, with a two-thirds majority in Congress needed to override a veto.

Congress's Policymaking Role

Historical focus on Congress for policy leadership, especially pre-20th century. Currently, both Congress and the president share legislative responsibilities, albeit with variations in their roles.

Major Functions of Congress

Lawmaking: Congress is empowered to enact laws that authorize federal programs and allocate necessary funds.
Representation: Elected officials represent constituents' interests in Congress’s deliberative processes.
Oversight: Congress monitors execution of laws by the executive branch, ensuring proper spending and faithful implementation of the law.

Detailed Examination of Congressional Functions

Lawmaking Function of Congress

The fragmented nature of Congress, while limiting its effectiveness, enables focus on numerous narrow issues simultaneously.

Representation Function of Congress

Historically debated representation methods:
- Focus on local interests versus representing broader national issues.
- Partisan divisions complicate public perception of Congress.

Oversight Function of Congress

Conducted primarily through committee systems; oversight can diminish when targeting a president from the same party.
- Example: Lack of vigorous oversight regarding Russian meddling in the 2016 election due to political affiliations.

Conclusion: Congress as an Institution Divided

Constitutional design encourages compromise; however, the intense partisanship seen today was unforeseen by the framers. Both parties utilize unity strategically, with majorities working to pass legislation and minorities using it to obstruct the process.