Chapter 6 Leaders and Parties in Congress I The Speaker of the House 1 The Speaker possesses the most visibility and authority out of any member 2 Based on the Constitution the Speaker does not have to be a House Member but always has been leadership succeed the presidency 3 Presidential Succession Act of 1947 puts the Speaker in line behind the Vice President to 4 Speaker combines procedural and political prerogatives with policy and partisan 5 Speaker presides over the House controls points of order announce voting results refer legislation to committees choices who serves on conference committees and select committees maintains the order House agenda control of the Rules Committee influences the decisions of their party coordinates policy making with Senate and discusses the House s position to the public and in charge of administrative matters 6 The Speaker focuses a lot of attention on the external activities 7 Speakers are elected by House members 8 Once in the position of Speaker it is usually maintained as long as that party has majority leadership in the House A The Changing Role of the Speaker 1 Throughout history there has been much disagreement over the majority party s right to govern and the minority party s right to have input 1890 the House adopted Reed Rules to facilitate action based on the majority party 2 The minority party used to use stall tactics to affect decision making 3 4 After the 1910 revolt committees became more powerful than party leaders 5 Power in Congress had typically been held by very few people often called dukes or barons 6 During the 1970 s the power dynamic in the House changed dramatically a Newly elected liberal representatives joined forces with other disgruntled members to change the status quo power of committee chairs b A two pronged approach was taken to distribute the power 1 Limit the ability of committee chairs to act independently from their party 2 Strengthen the hand of party leadership 7 In the late 1970 s rank and file Democrats wanted the party leaders to use their new power to overcome institutional fragmentation and to curb the minority party s ability to obstruct action on the floor B The Speaker s Influence Style and Context 1 Congressional Analysts disagree with the amount of influence that congressional leadership has on policy outcomes 2 Congressional party leaders have fewer tools to induce party loyalty 3 Political scientists stress context over personal style as the main factor for affecting the Speaker s institutional clout 4 Conditional party government to explain why congressional leaders appear to be stronger during some ears than others C House Floor Leaders 1 The majority leader and the Speaker s principal deputy is the party s floor leader 2 Elected every two years by secret ballot 3 Floor managers usually two per bill and frequently the chair and ranking minority member of the committee floor 4 Majority leader duties political strategist spokes person for the party and monitor the 5 Minority leader floor leader of the opposing party promotes unity among the party monitors the progress of bills criticizes the majority party s initiatives and developing alternatives to them mange internal conflicts most important is to craft a strategy to win back the majority control D House Whips II 1 Whip and whip s team encourage party discipline count votes mobilize winning coalitions 2 Chief whip serves as the liaison between the members and the leadership assembles and communicates political and policy intelligence assigns deputy whips to take the temperature of factional groups within the party and provide scheduling information 3 Large whip teams the larger the number of members involved in leadership decision making and more incentives to have back top leaders ensures leadership representation for important party groups and broadens the party s appeal to outside constituents Leaders Of The Senate 1 The Senate of today is one that tolerates and promotes individualism 2 Senate leaders lack the institutional prerogatives and procedures designed to facilitate majority rule and must rely on personal skills and negotiations 1 The Senate s majority leader the highest ranking officer The Vice President in the Senate rarely presides over the Senate 2 Three types of presiding officers in the Senate a The constitutional president of the Senate is the Vice President of US b The Constitution provides for a president pro tempore to preside in the absent of the Vice President 12 or more senators for the majority party junior members serve one hour a day as presiding officers c E Presiding Officers F Floor Leaders 1 Majority leader is head of the majority party leader on the floor and leader of the Senate 2 Minority leader is the leader of the minority party now prefers Republican or 3 Majority and minority leaders are elected every two years by a secret ballot of their Democratic leader respected party 4 Neither position mentioned in the Constitution created in the early 1900s 5 In the early years of the Senate the small size promoted informal and personal style of leadership 6 The seniority ruled club liked Senate was ended by three developments Influx of independent minded and activist senators Internal senatorial changes that promoted egalitarianism a b c External developments in the broader political environment 7 These changes lead to the more individualistic Senate known today 8 More Senators now are far left or far right leaving few in the middle and making bipartisanship difficult 9 The minority leader of the Senate must constant with the majority leader constantly because the Senate runs on consensus 10 The minority leader is their party s representative when in the present of the President 11 Senate s whip system carries out functions similar to the House by counting votes monitoring the floor and fostering party consensus III Selection Of Leaders 1 Before each new Congress legislators elect the leadership positions by secret straight party voting therefore majority party elects the Speaker 2 Leaders are typically chosen from the mainstream of their respective parties 3 Seniority is one of the most important criteria for party leadership 4 Party leadership in the House is generally a full time job in the Senate leaders sit on one or more committees because of the smaller size IV Leadership Activities 1 The duties of leadership can be described as institutional and party maintenance 2 The responsibility of the