POS1041 Exam 2 Review Complete Study Guide Congress 1 Two worlds of Congress lawmaking and representing a Capitol Hill in Washington D C lawmaking Congress b District members relate to constituents representing Congress i Winning elections is the baseline of the relationship 2 Congressional Paradox why a Congress has extremely low approval ratings but incumbent members are re elected at high rates 3 Power of congressional incumbency and advantages of incumbency a Power of incumbency i Almost all incumbents run for re election almost all win 1 Largest surge after 1st term b Advantages of incumbency i Name recognition and relevant experience ii Money iii Campaign organization iv Time challengers run a compressed campaign 4 Kernall and Jacobson s Strategic Politician s Hypothesis a Experiences politicians make strategic rational decisions about when to run for higher office b Potential campaign contributors make strategic decisions when and whom to contribute c Appearance of incumbent invincibility i Deters potential strong challengers d Self fulfulling prophecy 5 Congressional campaign spending a Incumbent money spent on campaign has NEGATIVE correlation with election success i Spurious relationship correlation doesn t causation b Caused by strong challenger that forces incumbent to spend more 6 Mayhew s continuous campaign a 3 kinds of activities i Advertising 1 Members efforts to get their names themselves in front of constituents in a positive light trips home franking privilege a Franking privilege allows congressional leaders to send mail under their signature w out postage ii Credit claiming constituents 1 Members claim personal responsibility for moving gov t to do things for district and a Federal grants and money pork barreling and earmarks concentrated benefits dispersed costs i Pork Barrel Legislation Legislation that provides members of Congress with federal projects and programs for their individual districts Earmarks Money set aside by Congress in the federal budget to pay for projects in the home district of a member of Congress ii b Casework helping constituents via staff deal w government bureaucracy make more friends and not enemies and non partisan people Morris F argument iii Position taking 1 Take the right position and cast right vote on most important matters in the district at minimum cast a reasonable vote 7 Representation and ir responsibility in Congress a Criticism of members b Members always tempted to over produce if seeking re election c d Particularized benefits see earmarks e Collective action problem each member pursues rational individually productive strategy collective Individual responsiveness to district but lack of collective responsibility in Congress irresponsibility 8 Wave elections a When incumbents lost more often in election years typically incumbents are prom party in power i Vast majority of incumbents still win b One political party sweeps and becomes in power 9 Nature of representation instructed delegate trustee and sociological Instructed delegate member votes how his constituents would want a b Trustee Edmund Burke member listens to constituents but votes his own conscience c Sociological the members share socio demographic characteristics of constituents i Does Congress look like the nation 10 Features of Congress that enable work to get done i e bills passed into law a How does anything get done 2 i Complex legislative Congress ii 5 000 bills introduced annually iii 2 chambers w 535 members iv Scheduling nightmare for collective action b How things get done bills passed into law i Formal organization committee systems ii Political parties and party leadership Informal norms and rules of behavior iii c Role of congressional standing committees subcommittees House Rules Committee and conference committees etc i Committees serve as filters trap bills prevent overload 90 of bills die in committees ii Provides division of labor ensures members develop expertise specialization d Roles of party leadership and political parties in Congress Speaker of the House majority and minority leaders in the House and Senate i Speaker of the House the presiding officer of the House The Speaker is elected at the beginning of each congressional session on a party line vote As head of the majority party the Speaker had substantial control over the legislative agenda of the House ii Majority leader the formal leader of the party controlling a majority of the seats in the House or Senate In the Senate a majority leader is the head of the majority party In the House the majority leader ranks second in the party hierarchy behind the Speaker iii Minority leaders the formal leader of the minority party e Informal congressional norms and rules of behavior for example respect and institutional loyalty reciprocity and logrolling i Norms of respect and institutional loyalty ii Norms of reciprocity be willing to bargain compromise and work with others iii Logrolling vote trading 11 Why the rise in party unity disappearance of Conservative Coalition Low bipartisanship levels a b As the southern Democratic wing meshed into the Republican party the Conservative Coalition was no longer needed 12 Conditional Party Government a Party responsibility only exists if there is a widespread majority agreement 13 Differences between the U S House an U S Senate including role of filibuster unanimous consent agreements and cloture a In the House relative to the Senate i Party leaders tend to be stronger ii Greater specialization 3 iii More limits on floor debate and amendment no Rules Committee in Senate and possibility of a Senate filibuster unless a Unanimous Consent Agreement UCA 1 Invoking cloture can bring a filibuster to an end but requires 60 Senators iv 2 year terms relative to 6 year terms Presidency 14 Transition to Modern Presidency a FDR s presidency 1933 1945 was a big change 15 Rossiter s presidential roles and responsibilities a Constitutional roles i Chief of State ceremonial symbolic ii Chief executive chief administrator iii Chief legislator iv Chief diplomat v Commander in chief b Extra Constitutional roles i Chief of political party ii Manager of the economy iii Voice of the people iv Protector of peace v World leader 16 Conceptions models of the modern presidency 17 Neustadt s treatment of presidential power and role of persuasion Presidential power is the power to persuade a b Professional reputation i The idea of the president s reputation concerns
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