American Government 1101 Final Exam 6

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CONGRESSIONALv. PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM

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A Parliament is a legislativeassembly within a fused powers system.

Parliaments can consist of one ortwo chambers. In many parliamentary systems with bicameral assemblies, onechamber is superior to the other.

Ina parliamentary system the executive is not directly elected by the citizens,but is placed in office and held accountable through parliament, which isdirectly elected.

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Parliamentary system

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In a parliamentary system such as Great Britain, the executiveintroduces legislation in parliament. In Britain, we have the HOC and the HOL. The HOC is the most important chamber.

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What is descriptive representation?

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Members of Congress have a college education and frequently a lawdegree.

Vast majority are white male, protestant, trained in higher statusoccupations than the average citizen.

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Joseph Rainey

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(South Carolina) was the first African American elected to Congressin 1870

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Jeannette Rankin

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of Montana was the first woman elected to Congress (1916)

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Nancy Pelosi

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First woman to serve as Speaker of the HOR

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CongressionalDistrict:

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Ageographic area served by one representative. Congressionaldistricts cannot cross state boundaries. Eachdistrict currently has about 650,000 residents.

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Apportionment:

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Thedistribution of house seats based on population

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Reapportionment:(federal)

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Allocationof House seats to each state every 10 years after a census.

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Redistricting:(states)

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Redrawingof district lines by states after every census

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Gerrymandering:

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Drawing of district boundary lines for partisan political advantage

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Differences Between House and Senate

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HOUSE

Larger(435 members)

Shorterterm (2 years)

Lessflexible rules

Narrowerconstituency

Policyspecialists

Lessprestige

Moreexpeditious floor debate

Lessreliance on staff

Lessmedia coverage

Morepartisan

Powerof the purse

Referredto as the Lower House

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Differences Between House and Senate 2

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SENATE

Smaller(100 members)

Longerterm (6 years)

Moreflexible rules

Broaderconstituency

Policygeneralists

Moreprestige

Lessexpeditious floor debate

Morereliance on staff

Moremedia coverage

Lesspartisan

Hasadvice and consent powers

Generallyreferred to as the Upper House

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Differences Between House and Senate in Georgia

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HOUSE

Larger(180 members)

Term(2 years)

Narrowerconstituency

Lessprestige

Age:21

Insession for 40 legislative days

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Differences Between House and Senate in Georgia

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SENATE

Smaller(56 members)

Term(2 years)

Broaderconstituency

Moreprestige

25In session for 40 legislative days

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The (HOR)

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The(HOR) was intended to be responsive to ordinary people.

Responsiveness was encouraged by short two-year terms that would keeprepresentatives attuned to the people’s wishes.

Torun as HOR member, one must be at least twenty five years old, citizen of theU.S. for at least seven years, and resident of his/her state.

TheHOR is too partisan

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The Senate: A Stabilizer Factor

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Designed to represent the states.

Each state has two votes (equal presentation) Originally, Senators were elected by state legislatures not directpopular vote.

In 1913, Congress passed the 17th Amendment requiring direct election of HOR members and Senators.

The Senate was also designed to be a brake on radical change, andto check the more democratic House (and the tyranny of the masses).

The Senate was designed to foster more thoughtful, and gradualchange. To be a Senator, one has to be at least thirty years old, U.S.citizen for nine years and resident of his/her state

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The Senate: A Stabilizer Factor 2

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Senators servesix-year terms. The terms are staggered, with one-third up for reelection everytwo years. With 100 members,the Senate is more collegial than HOR.

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POWERS OF CONGRESS

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Congress has enumerated or expressed powers: Law making.

Powers to declare war.

Regulate Interstate Commerce.

Establish Post Offices.

Power of the purse.

Powers to establish the army and navy

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KEY FUNCTIONS OFCONGRESS

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Law Making.

Constituent Services or Casework. Representation: Districts States

Conflict Resolution.

Public Education.

Oversight

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Oversight:

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Haspowers to review actions of executive branch. Has powers to hold hearings and conductinvestigations.

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Necessary and Proper Clause:

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Allows Congress tomake laws that are deemed to be necessary to carryout the expressed powers.

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Trustee v.Instructed Delegate

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In political representation, an instructed delegate is a representative who acts according to the wishes of his constituents, while a trustee exercises his own judgment.

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Pork-BarrelLegislation:

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is the appropriation of government spending for localized projects secured solely or primarily to bring money to a representative's district. The usage originated in American English.

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Frankin Privileges

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Benefits members of Congress enjoy. free newsletters to constituents, parking, etc.

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Perks and Privileges. Frankin Privileges

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Pensionsand health care.

Permanentprofessional staffs.

Congressionalagencies.

Privilegesand immunities under the law.

Congressionalcaucuses

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The FormalLeadership

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Political partiesorganize the formal leadership of Congress. In the HOR, theSpeaker, the Majority and Minority leaders and Party Whips provide leadership.

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Speaker of the House:

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An office mandated by the Constitution.

This position is filled by a vote taken at the beginning of eachcongressional term.

The speaker traditionally is a member of the majority party who hasrisen in rank and influence through years of service in the House.

The speaker has agreat deal of power.

The speaker hascontrol over what bills get assigned to which committees.

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Speaker of the House: 2

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The Speaker presides over the sessions of the House.

May vote in the event of a tie.

Interprets and applies House rules.

Determines the outcome of most of the votes taken.

Schedules bills for action.

Plays a major role in making important committee assignments.

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MAJORITY LEADER:

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Electedby the caucus of party members.

Actsas spokesperson for the party to keep party members together.

Plansthe party’s legislative program.

Organizesother party members to support legislation favored by the party

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MINORITY LEADER:

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Notas powerful as the majority leader.

Hassimilar responsibilities as majority leader.

The primary duty of the minority leader is to maintain cohesion withinthe party.

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WHIPS

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Are assistants tothe majority and minority leaders.

Whips try to determine how each member is going to vote on certainissues.

Will advise party leaders on the strength of party support.

THEFORMAL LEADERSHIP IN THE SENATE.

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TheVice President:

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TheConstitution established the Vice President as the presiding officer orPresident of the Senate.

TheVice President is rarely present for a meeting in the Senate.

TheVP may not take part in Senate debates and may caste a vote only in the event of a tie.

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PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE (PRO TEM)

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to preside in the absence of theVP.

Elected by the whole senate.

Usuallya member of the majority party with the longest continuous term of service inthe Senate.

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MAJORITY LEADER 2

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the most powerful individual in the Senate Serves as chief spokesperson of the majority party

Directs the legislative program and party strategy

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MINORITY LEADER 2

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Commands the party’s opposition to the policies of the majority party.

Maintains cohesion of members of the minority party.?

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WHIPS: 2

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Each party in the Senate also has whips Senate leaders have less power than House leaders, as the Senateprovides for more individual independence

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COMMITTEES IN CONGRESS

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Mostlegislative work and agency oversight occurs in committees.

Thecommittee system helps manage the workload of thousands of bills in bothchambers Eachmember is assigned to a few committees.

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Committees andsubcommittees are commonly known as

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little legislatures” Membersbecome experts in their respective area(s) of assignment.

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There are five key committees in Congress

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Standing Committee

SELECT COMMITTEE

JOINT COMMITTEE

CONFERENCECOMMITTEE

HOUSERULES COMMITTEE

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Standing Committee:

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This is a permanent committee which deals with legislation pertainingto a particular area.

There are three standing committees in the Senate and two standingcommittees in the HOR

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SELECTCOMMITTEE

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Thisis a temporary or (ad hoc) committee created to conduct studies orinvestigations (Iran-Contra,Watergate, the assassination of president Kennedy etc.

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JOINT COMMITTEE

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Comprisedof membersfrom bothhouses, created to achieve agreement on legislation. Focuseson issues of general concern.

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CONFERENCECOMMITTEE

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Another type of joint committeeformed to reconcile House and Senate versions of a bill.

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HOUSERULES COMMITTEE

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Uniqueto the HOR, necessary to set rules for 435 members

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OpenRule

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Theterms and conditions applied to a particular bill that allow members ofCongress to make a wide range of amendments to a bill.

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ClosedRule

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The terms and conditions appliedto a particular bill that restricts the types of amendments that can be made toit.

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Markup

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The process by which members of acommittee or subcommittee rewrite, delete, and/or add portions of a bill.

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Filibuster

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Aprocedure by which a Senator(s) might delay or prevent action on a bill.Usually,they make long speeches and engaging in unlimited debate.

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Cloture

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A mechanism by which Senators can end a filibuster and cut offdebate.

It requires 60 Senators toend a filibuster.

Once a cloture is in place,each Senator will have onehour to talk about the bill.

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Earmarks

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Theseare federal funds that support specific local projects.

fiscal 2008, there were 11,000 earmarks worth $15 billion

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SUPPORT AGENCIES INCONGRESS

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GovernmentAccountability Office (GAO)

Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

Congressional Research Services.

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Government Accountability Office(GAO)

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Established in 1921

Serves as an investigative body formembers who want to know more about programs and bureaucratic agencies.

Also studies policy issues uponcongressional request.

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Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

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Establishedin 1974

Providesmembers with information about the cost of policies they are considering.

Alsofocuses on economic implications of different budget proposals.

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Congressional Research Services.

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Established in 1914

Handles hundreds ofthousands of requests each year from members seeking information. CRS employees takeinventory of all bills introduced in Congress and track their progress

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CongressionalStaff

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Membersof Congress are assisted by roughly 11,000 staff member.

Theyperform all sorts of tasks.

Collectionand analysis of information is their primary responsibility.

Onthe average, each Senator has 40staffers working for him/her.

Houseof Representative members have 17staffers.e":1,"was_installed_by_default":false,"was_installed_by_oem":false}

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HOW A BILL BECOMESLAW

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A bill can be introduced in the HOR or the Senate.

Only members of Congress can introduce a bill The person who introduces a bill is called a sponsor.

Tax/revenue bill bills must start in the HOR, due to its popularrepresentation and the concept of “no taxation without representation.”

Bill will be sent tostanding committee with policy jurisdictionMost bills “die”in committees due to chairman’s neglect or committee vote against.

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Budgeting Process

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Budget Authorization: is the creationof the legal basis for government programs. Congress passes authorization billsoutlining the rules governing the expenditure of funds.

Appropriation: Congress determineshow many dollars will actually be spent in a given year on a particular set ofgovernment activities.

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Continuing Resolutions

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When Congress isunable to pass a complete budget by October 1, it passes continuingresolutions, which enable the executive agencies to keep doing whatever theywere doing the previous year with the same amount of funding.

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Congress is afragmented institution.

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It has no singleleader.

The HOR and theSenate have separate leaders neither of whom can presume to speak for the otherchamber.

Today, the U.S. Congress has 535members, comprises women and members of other minority groups.

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The Framers

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favored a bicameral legislature so that the two chambers, the House ofRepresentatives and the Senate, might serve as checks on each other’s powersand activities The Constitutionprovides for the apportionment of House seats on the basis of their respectivepopulations. The number of Houseseats per state is based on census results