I. The Representatives and Senators (354-358)

A. The Job

The most prominent characteristic of a congressperson’s job is hard work. The typical representative is a member of six committees and subcommittees; a senator is a member of about ten. The foremost attraction to the job is power, but there are many other perks.

B. The Members of Congress

There are 100 members of the Senate and 435 members of the House of Representatives. Most members are from high-status and -income occupations. African Americans and Hispanics are underrepresented, but the most underrepresented group is women. Members cannot claim descriptive representation, but they do engage in substantive representation, representing the interest of groups.

II. Congressional Elections (358-364)

A. Who Wins Elections?

Incumbents are individuals who already hold office. Incumbents usually win. Ninety percent of the incumbents seeking reelection win. Senators typically win by narrower margins than House incumbents do because an entire state is more diverse than a congressional district, senators have less personal contact with their constituencies, senators receive more media coverage, and senators draw more visible challengers. Incumbents often feel quite vulnerable, therefore tend to raise and spend large amounts of money.

B. The Advantages of Incumbents

There are three primary activities that increase the reelection probability of incumbents. First, incumbents use advertising to gain visibility and get themselves known in their constituencies. Second, congresspersons engage in credit claiming, which involves personal and district service. Casework is helping constituents as individuals. Pork barrel is the mighty list of federal projects, grants, and contracts available to cities, businesses, colleges, and institutions. Third, congresspersons engage in position taking on matters of public policy and positions they take may affect the outcome of an election. Another advantage for incumbents is that they are likely to face weak opponents since effective opponents are often unlikely to risk challenging an incumbent.

C. The Role of Party Identification

At the base of every electoral coalition are the members of the candidate’s party in the constituency. Party loyalty is still a good predictor of voting behavior.

D. Defeating Incumbents

Incumbents almost have to beat themselves through scandal or corruption. Incumbents may be redistricted out of their familiar turf, which hurts their reelection chances. Major political tidal waves may also defeat incumbents.

E. Money in Congressional Elections

When an incumbent is not running for reelection and the seat is open, there is a greater likelihood of competition. Most of the turnover in Congress results from vacated seats. It costs a great deal more money to elect a Congress than to elect a president. Most of the money spent in congressional elections comes from individuals, but a significant amount comes from political action committees (PACs). PACs seek access to policymakers. Thus they give most of their money to incumbents, who are likely to win anyway. Some organized interests circumvent the limitations on contributions and create or contribute to several PACs. This increases their leverage with those to whom they contribute.

Spending a lot of money in a campaign is no guarantee of success. Money is important for challengers because the more they spend, the more votes they receive. Money buys them name recognition and a chance to be heard. Challengers usually are outspent by incumbents. In open seats, the candidate who spends the most usually wins.

F. Stability and Change

Because incumbents usually win reelection, there is some stability in the membership of Congress that allows them to gain some expertise but may insulate them from political change. Reformers have proposed term limitations for representatives and senators.

III. How Congress is Organized to Make Policy (364-375)

A. American Bicameralism

A bicameral legislature is a legislature divided into two houses. The U.S. Congress is bicameral. Each state is guaranteed two senators, and the population of the state determines its number of representatives. No bill can be passed unless both the House and Senate agree on it. The House is more institutionalized, more centralized, more hierarchical, and less anarchic than the Senate. Party loyalty to leadership and party line voting are more common in the House. Both the House and Senate set their own agendas and use committees. The House Rules Committee reviews most bills, schedules the bill, allots time for debate, and specifies amendments.

The Senate has responsibility for ratifying treaties, confirming presidential nominations, and trying impeached officials. The Senate is just as liberal as the House. The real difference between the bodies lies in the Senate’s organization and decentralized power. The Senate is less disciplined and centralized. Senators are more equal in power. Unique to the Senate is the filibuster that permits unlimited debate on a bill. Sixty members present and voting can halt a filibuster by voting for cloture on debate.

B. Congressional Leadership

Most of the leadership in Congress is party leadership. The Speaker of the House is the only legislative office mandated by the Constitution. The Speaker is a senior member of the party. The Speaker is second in line to succeed the president. The Speaker presides over the House, plays a major role in committee assignments, appoints the party’s legislative leaders, and controls which bills are assigned to which committees. The Speaker also has a great deal of informal clout. The majority leader is responsible for scheduling bills in the House and rounds up votes on behalf of the party’s position on legislation. The party’s whips assist the majority leader. The minority party is organized in a similar manner.

The vice president of the United States serves as president of the Senate, but usually slights his/her senatorial chores. The Senate majority leader and whips corral votes, schedule floor action, and influence committee assignments.

Congressional leaders are not in strong positions to move their troops because of the decentralized nature of Congress. Leaders cannot punish those who do not support the party’s stand. Party leadership has been more effective in recent years. There has been more policy agreement within the party and more party unity in voting on the floor.

C. The Committees and Subcommittees

Most of the real work of Congress goes on in committees. Committees control the congressional agenda and guide legislation. There are four types of committees: 1) standing committees are formed to handle bills in different policy areas, 2) joint committees draw membership from both houses, 3) conference committees are formed when the Senate and House pass a particular bill in different forms, and 4) select committees are appointed for a specific purpose.

Every bill goes to a committee. Only bills getting a favorable committee report are considered by the whole House or Senate. Bills go to subcommittees, which can hold hearings. The most important output of a committee is the “marked up” bill submitted to the whole House or Senate for debate. Members of the committee manage the floor debate. Committees are also involved in legislative oversight, the process of monitoring the bureaucracy and its administration of policy. Oversight is handled through hearings. Oversight gives Congress the power to pressure agencies and to cut their budgets in order to secure compliance with congressional whims. Committee staff members can keep track of the implementation of public policy. Congress substantially increased its oversight activities in the 1970s and 1980s in reaction to the growth of national government and tight budgets.

Members seek committees that will help them achieve reelection, influence in Congress, and the opportunity to make policy in areas they think are important. Those who have supported the leadership are favored in committee selection, but generally the parties try to grant members’ requests for committee assignments whenever possible.

Committee chairs are the most important influencers of the committee agenda. Until the 1970s committee chairs were chosen on the basis of seniority. Today seniority remains the general rule, but with exceptions. Reforms have somewhat reduced the clout of the chairs from that of a generation ago.

D. Caucuses: The Informal Organization of Congress

A caucus is an informal grouping of members of Congress who share some interest or characteristic organized to promote their shared interests. Caucuses press for committees to hold hearings, they push particular legislation, and they pull together votes on bills they favor.

E. Congressional Staff

Most staff members work in the personal offices of individual members. They spend most of their time providing services to constituencies. Other staff helps members with legislative functions. Senators are particularly dependent on their staff. Committees also have staff who organize hearings, research, draft reports, write legislation, and keep tabs on the activities of the executive branch. There are three important staff agencies that aid Congress in its work. These include the Congressional Research Service, the General Accounting Office, and the Congressional Budget Office.

IV. The Congressional Process (375-383)

A. Introduction

A bill is a proposed law, drafted in precise, legal language. Only members of the House or the Senate can formally submit a bill for consideration. Congress is a reactive and cumbersome decision-making body. Reforms in the 1970s decentralized the internal distribution of power in Congress, making legislating more difficult. Party leaders are heavily involved in the legislative process. Party leaders negotiate compromises among committees, negotiate between houses, and use omnibus legislation that addresses numerous subjects to create winning coalitions. Leaders in the Senate have less leverage and individual senators have retained great opportunities for influence. Thus it is more difficult to pass legislation in the Senate.

B. Presidents and Congress: Partners and Protagonists

The president is often called the chief legislator because they help create the congressional agenda. Presidents have their own legislative agenda and try to persuade Congress that their agenda should be adopted. The president must usually win at least ten times to hope for final passage. The most effective leader is the less heroic facilitator who works at the margins of coalition-building to recognize and exploit opportunities presented by a favorable configuration of political forces.

C. Party, Constituency, and Ideology

Parties are most cohesive when Congress is electing its official leaders. Differences between the parties are sharpest on questions of social welfare and economic policy. Party leaders in Congress help to “whip” their members into line. Recently the parties have been a growing source of money for congressional campaigns.

Constituents expect members of Congress to represent their interests in Washington. Edmund Burke favored the concept of legislators as trustees, using their best judgment to make policy in the interests of the people. Others prefer the concept of representatives as instructed delegates, mirroring the preferences of their constituents. Most members are politicos, adopting both the trustee and instructed delegate roles as they strive to be both representatives and policymakers. The best way constituents can influence congressional voting is to elect a representative or senator who agrees with their views. It is difficult for legislators to know what people want. Even legislators whose votes conflict with the views of their constituents tend to be reelected. On some controversial issues, legislators ignore constituent opinion at great peril, but usually legislators can safely ignore constituency opinion. On most issues they rely on their personal ideology, but when constituency preference is particularly strong, members tend to follow constituency wishes.

D. Lobbyists and Interest Groups

Groups interested in influencing Congress hire lobbyists. Lobbyists spend a considerable amount to influence legislation. Lobbyists provide legislators with crucial information and often assurances of financial aid in the next campaign. Members of Congress can frustrate lobbyists and regulate them. A 1995 law requires anyone hired to lobby Congress to report what issues they are seeking to influence, how much they spend, and the identities of their clients. The law also restricts gifts, meals, and expense-paid travel that public officials may accept from lobbyists. Despite these restrictions, groups and lobbying continues to thrive.

V. Understanding Congress (383-387)

A. Congress and Democracy

Success of democratic government depends on the quality of representation. Some aspects of Congress are very unrepresentative. Members are an elite and they choose their own leaders. Congress does try to listen to the American people. Linkage institutions do link voters to policymakers. However, legislators find it hard to know what constituents want. Members of Congress are responsive to the people, if the people make it clear what they want.

B. Reforming Congress

Reformers have tried to promote a more open, democratic Congress. Reforms in the 1960s and 1970s democratized Congress. The reforms spread powers around, reduced the dominance of senior members, and reduced the proliferation of subcommittees. The growth of informal caucuses tended to decentralize power in Congress. Reforms passed in 1995 weakened subcommittees and limited the time served by committee chairs, but at the moment, both the Speaker and the committee chairs are stronger than they were in the 1980s. Critics charge that Congress is responsive to so many interests that policy is as uncoordinated, fragmented, and decentralized as Congress itself. Some observers feel Congress is too representativeóso much so that it is incapable of taking decisive action to deal with difficult problems. Decentralization reduces the chances of an oligarchy able to prevent the legislature from taking comprehensive action.

C. Congress and the Scope of Government

If Congress is responsive to a multitude of interests and those interests desire government policies, the scope of government will widen. Congress does not impose programs upon a reluctant public; instead, it responds to the public’s demands for them.