Congress Representation in theory 1 Madison a Less interested in what the public has to say b But wants to keep the legislation accountable by frequent elections 2 How do you make sure that your representative s interests are the same as ours 3 Article 1 a Especially for the legislative branch a Congress is most powerful and most important b Fed 51 i Legislative authority dominates in a republic c Most detailed and longest article d Section 8 gives congress s powers in more detail than president or court e Section 9 gives congress limitations Comparative perspective 1 How are we similar and different are we from different countries 2 Things that make us unique a We allow for the possibility of divided government i We don t always have it but there is always the possibility ii Doesn t take hold really until the 20th century iii Very uncommon in rest of the world 1 We have built in gridlock 2 Actually make it difficult to pass laws iv Congress can completely ignore the president if he asks them for a law v President can veto vi Why so many road blocks vii Germany and Britain 1 Parliamentary systems 2 Prime minister is chosen from one of the parties that controls parliament 3 They re from the majority party a Prime minister always has majority backing 4 Simpler system b We have frequent elections i Mostly not common to vote as often as we do ii We go at least every 2 years iii With primary elections 1 We actually go much more than every 2 years 2 Plus state elections and governors and city council etc iv Our government asks a lot from us v Parliament 1 Maximum number of years they can go without an election 2 On average it s 5 years 3 Government can call for early election a If they re having a good term they can call early re election b Might have a better chance of re election c Both houses have significant power i Usually one or the other is stronger 1 Upper house would be our senate a Not popularly elected b Canada s senate is appointed c Germany s upper house are chosen by state legislatures d UK s house of lords has changed but it s still got people who inherited their seats or were appointed i If house of commons wanted to they could get rid of house of lords e Upper house is going to be weak d Legislature has lots of power to govern and originate policy i Parliamentary 1 Rubber stamped whatever the monarch wanted a Just went ahead and passed it so it looked like parliament had power but didn t 2 Newer power ii Then there s us president a Now still leans toward prime minister having i Laws start at the executive level 1 Congress is just as active at laws and plans as the How representative is Congress 1 Fed 51 a Because congress is so powerful we must have 2 competing bodies b He even said the two houses should have different jobs that just somewhat overlap 2 House should be closest to the people a Most representative b Sways to our emotions c The heart of partisan politics d This was the intent Interests should be closer to those of your house member i ii You can always just get rid of him 3 Senate a Senators have much more in the way of their populations to represent b Varies widely based on state size i Texas senator can t be close to their people because we have so many people c Longer term to get in and learn the ropes d Madison thought of it as being a majestic body i Says the senate checks the house of representatives e Senatorial trust i Stability of character and tasked with more information ii Should know more iii Should be less swayed by passion and more by ethics f Thanksgiving dinner i Kids table and adults table 1 Kids table age ranged a Babies b Teens that want to move up c d e House Insane In kitchen so it was easier to clean up 2 Adult table a Living room b Goes back to kid table to clean up and get them to stop c Better food d Senate g Madison thought of this and in original constitution we didn t directly i Changed so we now elect them and changed the senate in 1913 elect senate 4 How representative is congress a Descriptive i Do they look like us and in the right percentages b Delegate vs trustee i Delegate 1 Do what I want ii Trustee 1 You trust them to do the right thing 2 Improve upon what you want iii All will work hard at their jobs 1 Constituency service to try to get us to reelect them 2 Individual things they do for us a Not how they vote b You can call and try to get help from them c Like a fourth of there time is spent on it d Staff s time 67 is spent on it e All to try to get elected again with a personal touch c As a whole we don t seem to like congress i We like the court and president more so Congress II Leadership Structure 1 The constitution a Slightly vague b House c Senate ii Even on your individual representation disapproval has risen 1 Usually we hate congress but we like our guy 2 Because we know who he is a An individual 3 Constituency service iii Hate congress because we don t understand it so we don t like it In reality it was set up to be slow and difficult 1 2 We can t blame them for the set up i Has a speaker and other officers i More details ii Presided over by the vice president 1 He has more jobs 2 If there is going to be a tie he will preside iii Actually presided over by a president pro tempore 1 Temporary president of senate 2 Mostly a ceremonial position 3 Leader of the majority longest serving 4 Goes with the party but doesn t have much power d Parties helped structure the leadership from the very beginning i House 1 Beginning of each congress 2 Parties organize a Each goes to caucus b Choose their majority leader and majority whip and who will be speaker c Minority knows they won t get the speaker i Only choose minority leader and minority 3 Entire house has to vote on speaker since they re over whip everyone a Minority just runs their leader since they ll lose ii Senate 1 Works similarly 2 No speaker vote a Majority and minority leader and whip 3 If majority and minority switch positions will most likely change too e Whips i Party discipline ii What to know how everyone will vote 1 Communication network 2 Less likely that they re going to force your vote 3 Mostly vote counting iii House 1 More important here than in the …
View Full Document
Unlocking...