POLS 206 Lecture 16Outline of Previous Lectureo11.3American BicameralismCongressional LeadershipCommittees and SubcommitteesCaucusesOutline of Current Lectureo11.4How a Bill Becomes a LawPresidents and Congress Part, Constituency, Ideology o11.5Congress and Democracy Congress and the Scope of Government -Ch. 12: The Presidency o12.1Great ExpectationsWho They Are LectureCongressional staf-Personal Staf-Casework -Legislative functions -Committee Staf-2000 staf members -Legislative oversight -Staf agencies - know for test*****-Congressional Research Service (CRS)-Headed by Library of Congress -Get about 5000 requests for information every year -Government Accountability Office (GAO)-Investigate if bills are being implemented correctly and whether money is being spent correctly -Congressional Budget Office (CBO)-Make economic forecasts-Policy predictions -Tell congress how much things will cost - they can only go buy what is in the billo11.4-Know figure 11.2: how a bill becomes a lawHow a Bill Becomes a Law -Goes to House and is sent to a committee -In committee it can be pigeon holed it is basically dead -Can receive a discharge petition to revive it (218 votes in house)-If passed then it goes to rules committee where debate rules are set and is then sent to House where it is debated -If passed it then goes to Senate to repeat the process but without a rules committee (Senate doesn’t have as many rules on debate) -If passed it goes to conference committee to iron out diferences and is sent back to both Houses for vote -If passed it goes to President for signature or veto -Veto it goes back to congress and needs a 2/3 vote to overturn -Presidents and Congress: Partners and ProtagonistsPresident's legislative agenda-Persuade Congress -Work at the margins but usually win -Yet Congress is quite independent -Party, Constituency, and Ideology Party Influence -Economic and social welfare policies Polarized politics -Parties more internally homogeneous-Less likelihood of compromise Constituency opinion vs. member ideology -Trustees versus instructed delegates -Trustee - make decisions on what they think is best for us -Instructed delegate - do what constituents want -Politico - combines the two o11.5-Congress and DemocracyDemocracy depends upon representationCongress unrepresentative -Members are elites -Leadership chosen, not elected -Senate based on states, not population Obstacles to good representation -Constituent service -Reelection campaigns Representativeness vs. Efectiveness -Congress and the Scope of Government Does the size of government increase to please the public?-Pork barrel spending Contradictory preferences -Against large government, for individual programs -Ch. 12: The Presidencyo12.1-Great ExpectationsAre expectations realistic?-Ensure peace, prosperity and security -Power does not match responsibilityCognitive dissonance:-Americans want a strong leader but fear concentration of power -We want government to be small and limited, yet solve all social and economic problems -Who They Are Basic requirements: (Constitutionally) -Natural-born citizen -35 years of age or older -Resident of the US for previous 14 years White, male,
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