POLS206 7 19 13 Lecture 9 Collective Action Solutions So how does leadership in the House and Senate help overcome coordination issues and collective action problems to get things done Their Collective Action Problem o How can leaders mobilize a majority to pass a bill when it is in the interest of most lawmakers to do nothing and free ride PRINCIPLE AGENT MODEL o Rank and file members principals delegate certain powers to party leaders agents to act in a way that enhances the principals desire to make good policy win reelection and maintain or gain majority status Agents only have power so long as principals desire them to Power goes to leaders when people need leaders to achieve a collective goal Principals expect agents to act on their behalf Giving power to an agent is like selling a house but when you hire a real estate agent you trust them to present your house in the best light and look after your interests Principals get upset when agent does things counter to their wishes o One of the reasons also signs that current speaker of the house John Boehner R Ohio has not been as powerful as previous Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is that Boehner has violated the HASTERT RULE enough to upset many Republican members Other things that party leaders do to promote the interests of their party and accomplish legislative goals o Institutional Maintenance Organization of Chamber Scheduling floor business Agenda Setting PARTY LEADERS ALSO PROMOTE INTERESTS THROUGH o PARTY MAINTENANCE Organize party Promote party unity Help with campaigns Party leaders build the branch of the party so it does well in elections and can accomplish goals THEORIES OF CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP Last time it was mentioned that Nancy Pelosi D CA 2007 2011 Newt Gingrich R GA 1995 1999 have been some of the strong speakers of the house in recent history o BOTH OF THEM REALLY RAN THEIR PARTY IN THE HOUSE WELL o EVEN IF YOU DON T AGREE WITH THEIR POLICIES RESPECT THEIR SKILL CURRENT SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER R OH 2011 NOT WEAK BUT NOT AS STRONG AS THOSE 2 BUT WHY ARE SOME CONGRESSIONAL STRONGER THAN OTHERS CONDITIONAL PARTY GOVERNANCE ALDRICH AND ROHDE 1997 1998 o A THEORY THAT WHEN 1 RANK AND FILE MEMBERS SHARE POLICY VIEWS 2 CONFRONT AN OPPOSITITION WITH SHARPLY DIFFERENT VIEWS STRONG CENTRALIZED LEADERSHIP ARISES o WHEN 1 OR BOTH OF THESE 2 CONDITIONS DOESN T EXIST LEADERSHIP WILL NOT BE AS STRONG Why would Conditional Party Governance occur Strong agreement within parties and high disagreement between parties usually the case today Members want leaders to help keep them in line to accomplish goals o Out of desire to create good policy desire for strong party brand to aid re election When Conditional Party governance occurs its evidence of more discipline within parties But when would we say parties are more cohesive and theres more discipline within them o When we see more party line votes Those with a majority of one party opposed to majority of other party o Not many votes are party line votes maybe 25 30 But major legislation more likely to have party line votes Not many moderates and few opportunities for compromise Why are there few opportunities for compromise Ideological distance o Think of a line that represents ideology of Members of congress o Virtually all republicans are to the right more conservative than all democrats more liberal The parties ideological views are clustered around 2 poles with few in middle called polarization o theres a gap b t them o Thus if you want to change the status quo or existing policy to a different one and status quo policy is moderate it can be hard to get more than your party s votes Members of congress like to talk about bipartisanship 2 parties working together to pass legislation o But on major important bills it is generally unlikely to happen Also in the house as long as you can get 218 votes of 435 your bill passes So if the majority in the house favors a bill and can get every member of majority party to vote for it minority is unnecessary to pass bills Harder in the senate SO WHAT DOES CONDITIONAL PARTY GOVERNANCE TELL US ABOUT JOHN BOEHNER WHY MIGHT HE NOT BE AS STRONG NANCY PELOSI WAS REMEMBER 2 CONDITIONS OF CONDITIONAL PARTY GOVERNANCE o 1 RANK AND FILE MEMBERS SHARE POLICY VIEWS MOSTLY TRUE REMEMBER PLOT ALL GOP MEMBERS GENERALLY CONSERVATIVE BUT LONG TAIL RIGHT WITH TEA PARTY TYPE MEMBERS WHO MAY NOT THINK LEGISLATION IS CONSERVATIVE ENOUGH o 2 CONFRONT AN OPPOSITION WITH SHARPLY DIFFERENT VIEWS TRUE o o o o REMEMBER PLOT ALL DEMOCRATS GENERALLY LIBERAL MORE LIBERAL THAN MOST LIBERAL REPUBLICANS SO SPEAKER BOEHNER IS RELATIVELY STRONG WHAT DO PARTIES DO IN CONGRESS PARTIES EXIST IN PART TO COORDINATE PREFERENCES BUT THEY DO OTHER THINGS TOO PARTY CAUCUSES CONFERENCES ALL MEMBERS OF CONGRESS IN 1 PARTY IN HOUSE OR SENATE o SO HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAUCUS CONFERENCE IS A PARTY CAUCUSES DO A LOT HELP WITH THE UNITY OF CAUCUS POLICY PREFERENCES HELP MEMBERS KNOW WHAT THEIR CONSTITUTENTS POLICY PREFERENCES ARE o FORMER DEMOCRATIC SENATE PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE ROBERT BYRD D WV WAS KNOWN FOR SITTING DOWN WITH LESS EXPERIENED SENATE DEMOCRATS BEFORE BIG VOTES AND SAYING THINGS LIKE THIS IS A YES FOR YOU AND THIS IS A NO FOR YOU ELECT LEADERS AND SELECT MEMBERS FOR COMMITTEES FREQUENTLY DECIDE POLICY OFF HOUSE SENATE FLOOR ORGANIZATION ASSOCIATED WITH PARTY CAUCUSES AND WHAT THEY DO o CAUCUS ITSELF DECIDES ON MESSAGING WHAT PARTY BRAND IS AND HOW TO MARKET TO VOTERS o ELECTION COMMITTEES RECRUITMENT OF NEW CANDIDATES AND FUNDRAISING o POLICY COMMITTEES SPECIFIC AGENDA DEVELOPMENT PARTIES IN CONGRESS MANY SUBGROUPS WITHIN PARTY CAUCUSES o Examples Republican study committee very conservative GOP members of congress creates conservative policies Republican main street partnership moderate gop Blue dog coalition moderate dem Congressional progressive caucus very liberal dem committees Committees allow those members of congress to reap benefits of a division of labor o Members of congress with policy expertise can apply it in the relevant committee and grow more knowledgeable over time o Members of congress with policy priorities for ideological or district state reasons cant focus on those policies Sub Committees allow for even more specialization Beyond just considering legislation committees and subcommittees produce guidance and reports Some committees are more powerful and desired by Members of Congress than others Rules and Institutions A few notes about rules