American Democracy Now

Chapter 11: Congress

Chapter Summary:

Understanding the constitutional powers of Congress enables citizens to participate more easily in civic engagement. This chapter provides such understanding to students through its explanations of the following:

  • The origins of Congress
  • Congressional elections
  • The powers and functions of Congress
  • A comparison of the bodies of Congress
  • The legislative process
  • The structure and powers of legislative leadership
  • Decision-making in Congress from the perspective of political parties, interest groups, the president, and constituents
  • The people and their representatives (demographics of Congress)
  • A re-examination of Congress’s role in American politics

Chapter Learning Objectives:

Having studied this chapter, students should be able to do each of the following:

  1. Explain how Congress was structured by the framers.
  2. Describe factors affecting congressional elections.
  3. Describe the sources of congressional power.
  4. Compare and contrast features of the House and the Senate.
  5. Explain the legislative process in detail.
  6. Describe the leadership positions in the House and Senate.
  7. Compare Congress’s demographics with those of constituents.

Chapter Outline:

  1. The Origins of Congress
  2. Congressional Elections
  3. Incumbency
  4. Reapportionment and Redistricting
  5. Powers of Congress
  6. Functions of Congress
  7. Representation Comes in Many Forms
  8. Models of Representation
  9. Pork Barrel and Earmarks
  10. Casework
  11. Policy Making: A Central Responsibility
  12. Oversight: A Check on the Executive Branch
  13. Agenda Setting and Civic Engagement
  14. Managing Societal Conflict
  15. The House and the Senate Compared
  16. The Legislative Process
  17. Introducing a Bill
  18. The Bill in Committee
  19. Debate on the House and Senate Floor
  20. Presidential Action
  21. Congressional Leadership
  22. Leadership in the House Of Representatives
  23. Leadership in the Senate
  24. DecisionMaking in Congress: The Legislative Context
  25. Political Parties and Partisanship in Decision Making
  26. Colleagues and Staff: Trading Votes and Information
  27. Interest Groups: Influence Through Organization
  28. The President’s Effect on Decision Making
  29. Constituents: The Last Word
  30. The People and Their Elected Representatives

Complementary Lecture Topics:

  • Today, the combination of safe seats and the incumbency advantage makes it difficult for challengers to remove members of Congress from office. Does this mean that voters no longer have a real choice during elections? What does safe incumbency imply for public influence on the legislative process?
  • Americans tend to hold a negative view of Congress as an institution, often accompanied by a favorable impression of their local representative. Can this apparent contradiction be explained by the constituency orientation of many members of Congress?
  • Compared to legislatures of other Western democracies, which put more emphasis on party leadership and unity, Congress is far more individualistic by nature. Why? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each system? Which interests tend to dominate each system?
  • Congressional careerism was not widespread in nineteenth-century America, but has become the norm in present-day American politics. Relate this development to social, economic, and political change, and assess its implications.
  • Some analysts maintain that the United States is poorly served by a Congress that is often beset by inaction and localism. Supporters of Congress maintain that the institution is a superior deliberative and representative institution. Which argument is the more persuasive, and why?
  • The focus of members of Congress on local and constituent concerns can be explained by the importance of these issues to reelection. Should steps (such as a constitutional limit on length of service in Congress) be taken to reduce the policy influence of reelection pressure?
  • Discuss the policymaking relationship between the president and Congress in terms of the distribution of power between the two institutions. What impact would a line-item veto have on this relationship?
  • What are the chances of Congress formulating a successful national drug policy (or any similar policy)? How would the fragmented nature of Congress affect the policy-making process? What would be the sources of leadership and information within the institution?

Class Discussion Topics:

  • Congress is admired by those who favor negotiation, deliberation, and the rewarding of many interests, particularly those with a local constituency base. Critics of Congress maintain that it hinders majority rule, fosters policy delay, and caters to special interests. Encourage students to debate these features, and assess, using evidence, the relative merits of each of these positions.
  • Congress lacks the direction and organization required to provide consistent leadership on major national policies, but it is well organized to handle policies of relatively narrow scope. At times, Congress takes the lead on broad national issues, but ordinarily it does not do so. Although this approach has proven prudent in the past, how effective will it be in addressing some of the major challenges of the twenty-first century? Ask students to identify some of these challenges, some of which might be characterized as “broad national issues” (energy scarcity, infrastructure upgrades, security and defense policy challenges, etc.), and get them to assess, based on precedent, whether Congress will be able to address them.

Chapter Activities:

I.THEN, NOW, NEXT Discussion Activity

Participants: entire class in small-group or large-group discussion

Time: 10-15 minutes

Directions

Utilize the “Then, Now, Next” questions from the beginning of the chapter as a basis for class discussion.

  • Then—The framers granted to Congress certain explicit powers, as well as key implied powers by which the national government strengthened and broadened its authority.
  • Now—A much more demographically diverse Congress exercises wide powers,
    its decision making influenced by shifting constituencies in a fast-growing, fast-changing country.
  • Next—
  • Will technology significantly affect the ability of “average” citizens to influence Congress?
  • Will the composition and policymaking of Congress more broadly reflect the changing face of the United States?
  • What pressing new issues will Congress be forced to consider?

II.Cri-Think Team Activity

Participants: entire class in pairs

Time: 6 minutes

What to Do

Students will engage in a mini debate. Taking ONE of the prompts below, one student will argue the pro position and one student will argue the con position. (In order to save time in choosing, you may simply designate the person whose last name comes first alphabetically to the pro position and the other student to the con position.) Students will each have two minutes to state their side, and one minute each for rebuttal.

Suggested Prompts

  • Should the United State move to a form of proportional representation to elect legislative representatives?
  • Should there be term limits placed on members of Congress?
  • Yes/No: Members of Congress are unduly influenced by lobbyists and special interest monies.

III.Blog/Forum Activity

Participants: entire class

Time: 15 minutes initial set-up; 20 minutes for students outside class time

You will need to spend approximately 15 minutes on initial set-up, using the blog platform or forum of your choice. Each student will then spend approximately 20 minutes outside of the classroom, reading and responding to postings by class members.

What to Do

Brief students on the topic to be discussed on the Internet forum. Then ask students to visit the discussion site and respond to the question posed. Students may also be asked to visit the discussion a second time to comment again, based on the thread of the conversation generated by the rest of the class.

Suggested Prompts

  • Discuss: Incumbency provides unfair advantages that are nearly impossible for challengers to surmount.
  • Discuss: Congress as an institution unfairly attracts the most criticism from the public.
  • Individual members of Congress are generally viewed favorably by citizens in their own district. Examine both the voting record and the constituency work of your member of Congress and evaluate how good of a job that person is doing for your district. How does that rating differ from how you would rate Congress as a whole?
  • Reflect on what you still “just don’t get” about the way Congress works in America. (After the initial round of responses, ask students to reflect on whether these questions can be answered or whether they are a reflection of dissatisfaction with the system rather than a lack of comprehension.)

IV.Online & Library Out-of-Class Research

Participants: individual

Time: 20-30 minutes, to be done outside of class time

What to Do

Ask students to independently research the following:

  • Think of an issue of specific importance to you. What, if anything, has Congress done regarding your issue? Has Congress passed a piece of legislation dealing with this topic? What does this legislation say? What committee normally deals with this issue? Is there a bill that hasn’t passed yet, but is stuck somewhere in a congressional committee? What is the expected impact of the legislation? How easy is it for an average citizen to follow a topic through the legislative process? (Students may be directed to the website for the Library of Congress:

V.Peer Quiz Activity

Participants: entire class in small groups (approximately 4 students per group)

Time: 20-30 minutes in class, or unlimited as suggested exam review for outside of class

What to Do

Have students utilize the review section at the end of the chapter to increase their understanding of the material and to prepare for upcoming examinations.

  • Have students divide the “Key Terms” evenly and take turns explaining the concepts to the other members of the group. Group members are encouraged to ask questions of the speaker to further test depth of knowledge.
  • Have students take turns leading the group through each of the “For Review” questions. Students can each then try to come up with one additional question regarding the chapter material that they believe could be a plausible test question.
  • Have students independently take the “Practice Quiz” at the chapter’s end. Instruct students to review their answers and ask group members to explain the correct answer to any question that was missed.

Internet Resources:

– U.S. Senate website, which provides information about members, votes, pending legislation, committees, and session schedules, as well as information about the Capitol building and visitor information.

– The U.S. House of Representatives website, which provides information about members, votes, pending legislation, committees, and session schedules, as well as information about the Capitol building and visitor information.

Thomas is the website for the Library of Congress, the foremost authority for information about Congress, legislation, hearings, votes, and other federal matters.

The website for Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill since 1955, offering insights into issue analysis, politics, and opinions.

The cable television network’s source of information on Congress, which includes Internet video, audio, and podcast programs of congressional hearings, committee hearings, the C-Span video series, and other public affairs information.

– The Federal Register, on GPO Access, is the daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of the federalgovernment. Also contains archives access.

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