- Collective Action SolutionsSo how does leadership in the House and Senate help overcome coordination issues and collective action problems to get things done?Their Collective Action ProblemHow 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 MODELRank 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 statusAgents only have power so long as principals desire them toPower goes to leaders when people need leaders to achieve a collective goalPrincipals expect agents to act on their behalfGiving 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 interestsPrincipals get upset when agent does things counter to their wishesOne 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 membersOther things that party leaders do to promote the interests of their party and accomplish legislative goals:Institutional MaintenanceOrganization of ChamberScheduling floor businessAgenda SettingPARTY LEADERS ALSO PROMOTE INTERESTS THROUGHPARTY MAINTENANCEOrganize partyPromote party unityHelp with campaignsParty leaders build the branch of the party so it does well in elections and can accomplish goals-THEORIES OF CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIPLast 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 historyBOTH OF THEM REALLY RAN THEIR PARTY IN THE HOUSE WELLEVEN IF YOU DON’T AGREE WITH THEIR POLICIES, RESPECT THEIR SKILLCURRENT SPEAKER, JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH, 2011-), NOT WEAK, BUT NOT AS STRONG AS THOSE 2BUT WHY ARE SOME CONGRESSIONAL STRONGER THAN OTHERS?CONDITIONAL PARTY GOVERNANCE (ALDRICH AND ROHDE 1997, 1998)A THEORY THAT WHEN:1. RANK AND FILE MEMBERS SHARE POLICY VIEWS2. CONFRONT AN OPPOSITITION WITH SHARPLY DIFFERENT VIEWSSTRONG CENTRALIZED LEADERSHIP ARISESWHEN 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 todayMembers want leaders to help keep them in line to accomplish goalsOut of desire to create good policy desire for strong party brand to aid re-electionWhen Conditional Party governance occurs, its evidence of more discipline within partiesBut when would we say parties are more cohesive and theres more discipline within them?When we see more party-line votesThose with a majority of one party opposed to majority of other partyNot many votes are party-line votes, maybe 25-30%But major legislation more likely to have party-line votesNot many moderates and few opportunities for compromiseWhy are there few opportunities for compromise? Ideological distanceThink of a line that represents ideology of Members of congressVirtually 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)& theres a gap b/t themThus, 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 votesMembers of congress like to talk about bipartisanship (2 parties working together to pass legislation)But on major, important bills it is generally unlikely to happenAlso, 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 billsHarder in the senateSO 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 GOVERNANCE1. 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 ENOUGH2. CONFRONT AN OPPOSITION WITH SHARPLY DIFFERENT VIEWS (TRUE)REMEMBER PLOT: ALL DEMOCRATS GENERALLY LIBERAL, MORE LIBERAL THAN MOST LIBERAL REPUBLICANSSO SPEAKER BOEHNER IS RELATIVELY STRONGWHAT DO PARTIES DO IN CONGRESSPARTIES EXIST IN PART TO COORDINATE PREFERENCESBUT THEY DO OTHER THINGS TOOPARTY CAUCUSES/CONFERENCES: ALL MEMBERS OF CONGRESS IN 1 PARTY IN HOUSE OR SENATESO HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAUCUS/CONFERENCE IS A….PARTY CAUCUSES DO A LOTHELP WITH THE UNITY OF CAUCUS POLICY PREFERENCESHELP MEMBERS KNOW WHAT THEIR CONSTITUTENTS POLICY PREFERENCES AREFORMER 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 COMMITTEESFREQUENTLY DECIDE POLICY OFF HOUSE/SENATE FLOORORGANIZATION ASSOCIATED WITH PARTY CAUCUSES AND WHAT THEY DO:CAUCUS ITSELF DECIDES ON MESSAGING: WHAT PARTY BRAND IS AND HOW TO MARKET TO VOTERSELECTION COMMITTEES: RECRUITMENT OF NEW CANDIDATES AND FUNDRAISINGPOLICY COMMITTEES: SPECIFIC AGENDA DEVELOPMENT-PARTIES IN CONGRESSMANY SUBGROUPS WITHIN PARTY CAUCUSES: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-committeesCommittees allow those members of congress to reap benefits of a division of laborMembers of congress with policy expertise can apply it in the relevant committee, and grow more knowledgeable over timeMembers of congress with policy priorities (for ideological or district/state reasons) cant focus on those policiesSub-Committees allow for even more specializationBeyond just considering legislation, committees and subcommittees produce guidance and reportsSome committees are more powerful and desired by Members of Congress than others-Rules and InstitutionsA few notes about rules & institutions in CongressAgenda setting:Majority party