Chapter 9 Book Notes- McCain proposed a “town hall meeting” with Obama in 2008 presidential electionso Audience members could pose questionso Questions were screened and selected by a moderator (unlike real town hall meetings)o Candidates has set rules that limited interactions and audience members made no decisions- Representatives: specialists in governmental-making decisions- Founding Father called such a representative government “republican government”Making Laws- Key function of legislative branch is to make law- All state legislatures make statutory laws and play significant role in amending state constitutions- Executive/judicial branches play role in implementing and interpreting laws (after legislative branch has acted)- Representatives must have information before they can make a good lawo Information should be provided by a variety of sources, including legislative staff, bureaucrats, interest groups and citizen volunteers- Public hearings provide opportunity for those concerned to engage legislators, present opinions, and propose solutionso Next, legislators engage in deliberations through committee meetings and meetings of the entire chambero Majority of those voting in each chamber must agree to an identical billo Bills that pass state legislatures become law unless vetoed by governor Legislatures can override vetoes with supermajority votes in each chamber- Some laws are passed only for symbolic importanceo E.g. when legislature authorizes programmatic change or a new program but does not provide necessary fundingo E.g. when legislature prohibits a certain behavior but imposes no penalty/enforcemento Sometimes intended to help with reelection or maintain political relationsConstituent Service- Provided when legislators help individuals and groups from their districtso Generally involves helping a constituent with unresponsive/negative bureaucracy, seeking relief for a constituent who was hurt by a law E.g. local restaurant owner finding no-smoking law costs him too much E.g. voter who opposes abortion E.g. Individual charged too much in income taxes- State legislature staff coordinates meetings, arrange tours, welcome visitors, write to congratulate district residents on achievements, etc.Bringing Government Funds to the District- State legislators are as active as members of Congress in seeking funds and programs to benefit their districts- Members of Congress tend to take more advantage of every opportunity to take credit for anything that boosts their district than state legislators doLegislators as RepresentativesGeographic Representation- All legislators are chosen from geographically defined districtso Can we local/small portions (population below 500,000) or even state wide (for US Senators)- State legislators establish their own districts and the districts for members of the US House of Rep- Counties, municipalities, school districts, local gov’t set own districts- Constitution says each state shall have two senatorso Seats in House of Rep are to be apportioned by population- Compactness and contiguity = required for congressional districting beginning in 1901o Compactness means that the district should closely match a square/rectangleo Contiguity means all portions of the district must be in contact with each othero Common requirement that districts not divide counties/municipalities- Compactness is no longer an important consideration for legislative districts- Contiguity remains only spatial requirement for contemporary geographic districtsProblems of Geographic Representation- In past, representatives could easily see desired policies (lack of rain, poor soil, threatening insects) because they affected everyone equally in district- Now, we pay high costs for geographic selection of representatives- More difficult to represent a heterogeneous district rather than homogeneouso Hetero – mix of different people Make representation difficult, but encourage compromise to win voter support before elections Winner must appeal to broad range of voters/opinions- Use statements with no substance- “It’s time for a change!” or “Let’s get America moving!”o Homo – “identical” people Make representation easier, but force compromise to take place after elections- Most modern districts lack compactness and any sense of identityAlternatives for Selecting Representatives- WWII, states began to allow absentee voting by mail for those out of town on Election Dayo Oregon uses mail ballots, Washington uses this someo San Diego and other local gov’ts experimenting with voting by mailo More convenient; not increased voter turnoutApportioning and Districting PopulationEqual Population Requirements- Industrialization and the accompanying concentration of people in cities resulted in equal-sized geographic districts no longer including the same number of peopleo Meant that selecting representatives from each county meant rural areas controlled legislatures (because of many living in few urban areas and few living in many rural counties) Few representatives of urban areas, many rural representativeso Policies were not of majority because rural reps could easily outvote urban- US Census of 1960 made inequity all the more evidento FL: state senate districts ranged from 10,000 to 935,000o LA,CA: with 40% of state’s population holding only 1 of 40 seats in Senate- Baker v. Carr (1962)o TN case involving a poorly apportioned state legislature lower houseo Federal district order reapportionment of TN lower house based on population- Gray v. Sanders (1964)o Justice Douglas declared “the conception of political equality from the Declaration of Independence…means one person, one vote”- Wesberry v. Sanders (1964)o Population-based equality was the prime criterion for apportioning seats in state houses of representatives – this case applied it to the House of Rep- Reynolds v. Sims (1964)o “Legislators represent people, not trees or acres”o Dubbed “one man, one vote” principleo Vote of any citizen is approximately equal in weight to that of any other citizen in the state- States require districts with equal populations, not voters- Karcher v. Daggetto US Supreme Court struck down congressional redistricting plan that had an overall range of less than 1%- Congressional districts must be “as equal in population as practicable”Race and Ethnicity Requirements- Voting Rights Act, passed in 1965, requires that all laws
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