American Government and Organization

1
American Government and Organization

• PS1301-164
• Friday, 19 September

2
Plan for the lecture -

• Small change in course outline. We will discuss
  how congress is organized and then move on to
  discuss the legislative process.

3
Organization of Congress

• While the Constitution outlined a basic framework
  for Congress, throughout two centuries the
  institution has evolved into a complex mix of
  rules, procedures, and customs.
• To understand the House and Senate, one must
  understand what representatives and senators want
  to accomplish and what obstacles they have to
  overcome to achieve their goals.

4
The Basic Problems of Legislative Organization

• To exercise the powers conferred on them by the
  Constitution, the House and Senate had to solve
  some basic problems
• How to acquire information
• How to coordinate action
• How to resolve conflicts
• How to get members to work for common as well as
  personal goals.

5
The Need for Information

• A legislator cannot regulate the the stock market
  or attack environmental pollution without having
  key information related to these areas.
• Congress has attempted to solve the problem by
  utilizing division of labor and specialization as
  tools.
• By becoming specialists (or employing them) in
  policy areas, and by creating a support
  foundation of information gatherers and
  interpreters, they can make more informed
  decisions.

6
Coordination Problems

• Coordination (trying to act in concert) becomes
  more difficult (and necessary) the greater the
  groups workload and the more elaborate its
  division of labor.
• As Congress has grown, it has had greater need
  for traffic management.
• Congress has used its party leaders to act as the
  traffic cops giving them power to manage the
  business of legislating and control over the
  agenda.

7
Resolving Conflicts

• Legislation is not passed until the majorities in
  both houses agree to its passage.
• Many of Congresss rules, customs, and procedures
  are aimed at resolving or deflecting conflicts so
  it can get on with the business of legislating.
• Norms of collegiality.
• Parties are ready made coalitions.

8
Collective Action

• The problem what members do to pursue individual
  goals may undermine the reputation of their party
  or of Congress as a whole.
• Primary goal for individual members is to get
  reelected.
• The committee system, however, gives members
  individual incentives to work for collectively
  beneficial ends. How?
• Seniority rules automate decisions as to who
  serves on committees, etc. This minimizes the
  time and effort members might spend competing for
  these positions.

9
Organizing Congress

• The two most crucial institutional structures
  created to exercise Congresss constitutional
  powers are
• the party system, and
• the committee system.
• Without them it would be difficult to overcome
  the barriers to effective collective action.

10
The Importance of Consensus

• The degree of consensus within a party continues
  to affect how much authority party members are
  willing to delegate to party leaders.
• When there is broad and deep agreement, there is
  more cohesion among the coalition.

11
The Importance of Consensus

• Over the decades, there has been significant
  variation in the coordinating ability of parties
  in Congress.
• Since the 1950s there has been a decline and
  resurgence of congressional partisanship.
• As they have become more unified, they also
  become more polarized along ideological lines.
• Republicans grew more conservative.
• Democrats became more liberal as their partys
  conservative southern members were gradually
  replaced in Congress by Republicans.

12
Party Unity in the House
13
Party Unity in Senate
14
Party Leadership

• Party members give House party leaders resources
  for inducing members to cooperate when they are
  tempted to go their own way as free riders. These
  resources take the form of favors they may grant
  or withhold (committee assignments, direction of
  the legislative agenda).

15
Party Organization (House)

• Majority leadership positions
• Speaker of the House (Dennis Hastert R-IL)
• Majority Leader (Tom Delay R-TX-22nd District
  includes Brazoria, Fort Bend, and Harris
  Counties)
• Majority whip (Roy Blunt-R-MO)
• Whips form communication network connecting
  leaders to members
• Minority leadership positions
• Minority Leader (Nancy Pelosi D-CA)
• Minority Whip (Steny Hoyer D-MD)
• Link to Leadership offices in House

16
Party Organization (Senate)

• Majority leader (Bill Frist R-TN)
• Minority leader (Tom Daschle D-SD)
• Link to Senate leadership

17
Party Leadership in the Senate

• Senators have never delegated as much authority
  to their leaders as have representatives.
• The norm of equality (ambassadors from their
  states to the national government) led them to
  retain wider freedoms of individual action.

18
Committee System

• Standing Committee (exist from one Congress to
  the next)
• Fixed jurisdiction and stable membership
  specialization
• Bills are assigned to committees on the basis of
  subject matter
• Committees jurisdiction usually parallel those
  of the major departments or agencies in the
  executive branch.
• Each committee is unique
• Each committees hierarchy is based on seniority

19
Types of Committees

• Link to House website

20
Committee Power

• Numerous changes in Congress have negated some of
  the power of earlier committee chairs.
• Particular changes in the late 1950s and mid
  1970s produced a fragmented and decentralized
  committee system that impeded collective action
  because coordination was so difficult.
• When the Republicans took over the House in 1995,
  they revised the committee rules to ensure that
  the legislative agenda as outlined in the
  Contract with America would move swiftly to
  enactment.