POLS 102 1st EditionLecture 20Outline of Last Lecture1. Law funnels2. Partisan conflict reduces progress3. Ideological Polarization in Congress4. Declining productivity in Law MakingOutline of Current Lecture1. How much should the US spend on Defense? 2. Median Voter3. Majority Party Infuence4. Haster RuleCurrent LectureHow much should the US spend on Defense? Everyone (Democrats and Republicans) will have different answers. - People vote for policy based on their preferences and the choices that are closest to what they believe the budget should be. Median Voter (Will be on the test**)- The median voter should get what they want because their vote is necessary to enactlegislation- Theoretically, the median voter has al of the power … they decide the majority party and which side wins and they are a member of a political party. o But that’s not always how the House of Representatives workso The Republicans and Democrats bully the Median Voter- The Median Voter is always the majority party. Majority party wins the majority of the issues.- Where do political representative’s preferences come from? o Ideology is a function of:  Personal Beliefs Interests AgeThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute. Where you are from- “All politics are local” = politicians need to be a direct representative of their constituents. o “When people have liberty, they will pursue their own interests”- Bottom Line: Although representatives have the be moderate; the majority party is not always content with the Median Voter having the power. Therefore, they bully the Median Voter. o See diagram on Ecampus – “A unified majority party can encourage its moderates to tow the party line”Majority Party Influence – The process of making moderates comply (Republican Example)1. The Republicans elect the speaker, majority leader and majority whip - The majority whip coordinates the bullying of median votera. These leaders are very conservative because the party itself is very conservativeb. AKA the 10 conservative outvote the 2 moderates in choosing these leaders. - See diagram on Ecampus – “A unified majority party can encourage its moderates to tow the party line”2. The Republican Steering Committee, which controls committee assignment, is formed. You can get assigned to an unappealing committee if you don’t vote with your party, as a consequence.a. The speaker of the House has 5 votes on the Steering Committee; Majority Leader has 2 votes; Majority Whip has 1 vote.b. Regional representatives to the Steering Committee are elected: mostly conservatives, too, since the Republican Caucasus is mostly conservative. Conservatives outvote moderates but you still need the moderates. 3. The RSC makes committee assignments (268-276 in the textbook)a. Members of Congress value assignments greatly because they want to be on committees where they can make great improvements for their constituents.b. In making assignments the RSC can punish moderates (or any member) by denying committee assignments if they don’t adhere to party positions4. The full Republican Caucasus votes to ratify (or not) the RSC choices5. The choices are ratified because the conservatives choices reflect the conservative preferences of the party6. The ratification of these assignments by the Republican Caucasus is their introducedas a House Resolution. It must be passed by a majority of members for the committee assignments to be made.7. Even though the Median Voters are moderate the bottom line, the ideologs control what the liberals whata. Laws that are passed are sometimes not because the conservatives have control over things like committee assignments that moderates want8. Moderates don’t always do exactly what conservatives want. But conservatives in the majority party control the incentives to encourage moderates to come around9. Moderate Republicans could vote with Democrats to reject their parties choices for committee assignments (has occurred in the past, but is rare)Haster Rule- The representatives won’t consider a bill if a majority of the majority party opposes it- Controls the agenda- Blocks the 2 Republican moderates from voting with the Democrats- Gives the majority party leverage to pursue what they want- House of Representatives is set up (currently) to help the majority party get what it