Section 4 Political Institutions Congress Congress and the public Public approval of congress as an institution o Public opinion is at an historical low o Congress is not view well by the public o Some of this negative opinion is unwarranted Members of congress well paid and under worked Public approval of congress as individuals o We don t like Congress as a whole but we continue to reelect the same members Explaining an anomaly hating congress but loving its members o home style The way members behave when they reback in their districts Individual members are making themselves look better by tearing dow the institution and other members as a whole o Constituency casework Favors done for individual members of the constituency o Institutional reforms increased number of power slots Leads to increased access to campaign funds Leads to a large increase in incumbency advantage Result is congressional membership increasingly independent of party control Evaluating how Congress works 3 criteria for measuring congressional behavior o Responsiveness is congress sensitive to the varying needs of the many different o Accountability are the pubic realistically able to change the makeup of congress if they interests in society so desire More members now effectively answering only to primary voters recall empowering the extremists o Responsibility is congress providing solutions for the nation s problems Reforming Congress to meet criteria o To increase responsiveness democratizing congress Power Decentralized Weakening committee system Elevating roles of individual members o To increase accountability putting congress on display Sunshine laws recorded floor votes o To increase responsibility Reasserting congressional power relative to the White House Budget Act of 1974 War Powers Act 1976 More support staff leads to increased oversight capabilities Restoring congressional efficiency Parties leadership strengthened Congressional reform in broader context Internal congressional environment opposing pressure DC policy environment multiple pressure points o Giant increase in number and influence groups o Reinvigorated media o Strengthened presidency active supreme court National electoral environment increasingly partisan voter districts Current Status of Congress Both less and more popular More partisan divide on party ideological lines o House of representatives a lot more conservative Less responsibility Worst of both worlds Parliamentary discipline without the parliamentary efficiency THE PRESIDENCY The Textbook Presidency Origins o Emergence of the US as a world power o Growth of federal government presidency rise relative to state local congress o Media obsession with the White House Consequences increased expectations o White House activism encouraged to combat Coalition of minorities Espically important with regard to foreign policy rally around the flag effect o After 9 11 we rallied around Bush to show the world we were a united front May lead to gun boat diplomacy o More militaristic less negotiation to reach an agreement May have unintended negative consequences for poliics o White House obsession with public opinion Constant effort at news management Media focus on presidency Everything now on record Extreme caution in public speech presidency now less accessible accountable The Public Presidency Origins shift in how government works o institutionalized pluralism gave way to individualized pluralism Institutionalized pluralism public policy laws made y bargaining with organized interest groups lots of bargaining between institutions Individualized pluralism selling a policy to a frequently disinterested public o System now less open o the former o Key has been decline of political parties Coalition building less through elite bargaining and more through direct mobilization of national groups Presidential vs Parliamentary Politics o American prep for White House ceaseless campaigning o Parliamentary prep for government leadership apprenticeship governing o Poliical party plays central role in parliamentary systems o Critical difference between presidency and parliamentary how they build and maintain support Consequences Prime minister works from inside out by governing effectively Presidency works from outside in by obsessing on public opinion o Lack of strong party base short sighted politics retail politics becomes norm selling politics to uninterested public o Constant campaigning for support symbolic politics prevails Pitchfork and bunhead used to sell the image of American dream o Distinction lost between campaigning and governing Campaigning strategic responsiveness Governing democratic responsibility THE EXECUTIVE BUREAUCRACY still presidency Defining the federal bureaucracy o Size and location o Changed nature Much more professionalized Wields much more power Pays subsidies to targeted groups Transfers money from federal government to states and local government Writing and enforcing regulations Not Controlling the Bureaucracy President interested in making policy rather than implementing it o President seen as apart from rather than part of executive bureaucracy o Gaps grow between officials loyal to own agencies and officials loyal to the White House stealth bureaucracy o Doesn t work for the government but under contract with the government o Private contractors Capturing the Federal Bureaucracy Iron Triangles sub governments regulating Issue networks 3D Iron triangles technical expertise Triangles vs Networks o Agency officials link to interest groups congressional sub committees o bureaucracy may end up servicing the interest groups they are supposed to be o Policy makers interest groups adapt to changing government by forming issue networks o Shared knowledge groups tying together large numbers of participants with common o Sub governments incentives to cooperate o Issue networks incentive to hold out for another better deal o Courts media as recent additions to issue networks Modern presidency reacted to lack of control over bureaucracy by setting up their own Avoiding the bureaucracy bureaucracy within the White house Key areas and agencies o Foreign defense policy NSC CIA o Economic Policy OMB CEA o Domestic Policy Office of White House Communications congressional liaisons THE SUPREME COURT Anonymous but relatively popular Supreme courts authority o Jurisdiction When the courts MAY are allowed to decide on a matter They can only decide on things when they are