Exception to incumbency advantage: scandal or unpopular president

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1 The Incumbency Advantage Incumbency tradition is high in both Senate (generally above 50%) and House (generally above 80%, incumbent rate more stable than Senate) Media coverage is higher for incumbents Incumbents have greater name recognition due to franking (use govt $), travel to the district, news coverage Members secure policies and programs for voters Easier to raise campaign contributions because lobbyists seek their favors Redistricting that incumbents do (gerrymandering and malapportionment) Sophomore surge- second term election strength Constituents can see what incumbents are doing in their community Exception to incumbency advantage: scandal or unpopular president Consequences? Continuity (less radical change), more experienced, established relationships with interest groups, policy specialization discourages challengers, lack of responsiveness, fewer minorities

2 Incumbent House Members Running for Reelection, Number defeated Number reelected

3 Reelection Rates of House and Senate Incumbents In 1974, huge drop in House and Senate Republican seats due to Watergate scandal; huge drop of Democratic incumbents due to Ronald Reagan s popularity and Jimmy Carter s failure Percent reelected House Senate

4 Determinants of voting patterns Representative as vs. Delegate: act on what constituents want (agent of the voters, even if they disagree) Trustee: members act on their own personal beliefs of what is best for society (Constituent influence): members vote to please their constituents, in order to secure re-election Interest group influence, constant visits at home with constituents, s, phone calls, town hall meetings (colleague and party influence): where constituency interests are not vitally at stake, members primarily respond to cues from colleagues Party leadership pressure, vote along party lines (more than 75% of the time) (personal views): the member s ideology determines her/his vote Congressional approval ratings very low (30%) overall distrust of Congress as a whole; higher approval of individual members Anomaly: incumbents reelected

5 Confidence in American Institutions, 2007 "I am going to read you a list of institutions in American society. Please tell me how much confidence you, yourself, have in each one--a great deal, quite a lot, some, or very little?" The m ilitary Sm all business The police The church Ban ks Supreme Court P ublic schools M edical system The presidency Television news Newspapers Crim inal justice Organiz ed labor Big business HM Os Con gress Confidence in government institutions is comparatively low Percent responding "great deal" or "quite a lot" Source: CNN/USA Today/ Gallup poll, June 11-44, 2007.

6 Congressional Approval, Do you approve of the way Congress is handling its job? 90 Americans are far more favoring towards their own member of Congress Percent responding " approve"

7 Party Leadership in Congress Overview After legislative election (every 2 years), the party with the most representatives is the party Significance: majority party holds the most significant leadership positions and the majority of seats in committees Political parties are very important in the basic organization of leadership and member s voting in the House and Senate Overview of leadership positions: Speaker of the House (House of Reps) Nancy Pelosi Majority leader (House and Senate) Minority leader (House and Senate) Party whips (House and Senate) President pro-tempore (Senate) President of the Senate (Senate)- Joe Biden - Currently the 111 th Congress January January 2011 Democrats - Soon we will be in the 112 th Congress January Divided

8 Party Structure in the House House is most important leader of majority party and presides over House (once all powerful until revolt in 1910) voted for by majority party, senior member w/ leadership exp over meetings Recognizes members to speak members to select & conference committees Directs business on the floor to committees Exercises behind the scenes influence over party members 3 rd in line for succession Usually one votes in case of a tie leader and leader: floor leaders, schedules bills, rounds up votes for party favors, stepping stone to Speaker position, spokesperson for minority party keep leaders informed (go betweens for leaders and members), round up votes of party members, pressure members to support leadership, inform members of important bills Committee assignments and legislative schedule are set by each party

9 Senate Party Leadership President of the Senate is the Vice President of U.S. (rarely present, only votes in ties) office President pro tempore ; this is the member with most seniority in majority party (a largely honorific office, no real powers) leaders are the *majority leader and the minority leader, elected by their respective party members first Senator heard on the floor, determines Senate agenda, influences committee assignments Party whips: keep leaders, round up, count noses Each party has a policy committee: schedules Senate business, prioritizes bills Committee assignments are handled by a group of Senators, each for their own party

10 Committees work of Congress Bills are worked out or killed in committees Investigate problems and oversee the executive branch Four types of committees: 1) Committees (*legislation) Most important, basically permanent, handle bills in diff. policy areas, only type of comm. to propose legislation by reporting a bill to full House (Senate-16, House-19) *Most important: Ways and Means (taxes), Senate judiciary, Rules Committee 2) (*special, temporary issues) Formed for specific purposes, temporary (but may become standing committees), sometimes produce legislation Ex. Investigated Watergate scandal 3) Committees (*joint special issues) Select comm. consisting of members from both House and Senate, conduct business between houses, help focus public attention on major issues, oversee institutions, investigations 4) Committees (*compromise bill) Consist of members from houses, hammer out differences between House and Senate versions of similar bills, make a compromise bill to be sent back to each house for approval (104 th Congress, Republicans) reformed # of committees (reduced from ), term limits on committee chairmen (6 yrs) Each member of House serves on 1-2 standing committees (unless limited to one of exclusive); Senators may serve on two major committees (average 7 subcommittees) and one minor committee

11 Committee Membership and majority of each standing committee comes from party with a minority of minority party members (try to be proportionate to Congressional party split) Assignments are based on personal and political qualities of the member, region, reelection help Members from safe districts (elected with than % of the vote, guaranteed reelection) can be on an important committee that helps the nation and public welfare, while marginal districts (elected with than % of vote, reelection is not secure) need committees that suit the need of constituents (ex. Kansas rep on Agricultural committee) Method of committee membership: Each party has a Committee on Committees Speaker of the House selects Select and Conference Committee members (powerful!)

12

13 Committee Chairmen (House) Powerful decides what is on the committee House Revolt transferred power to chairmen and away from Speaker of the House Chairmen chosen by system Member with the longest continuous service of majority party on committee is placed automatically as chair (whoever has been in the committee the longest is the chairman) 1970 reform secret ballots of majority members elected chairmen, may only chair 1 committee, committee meetings usually public, increased staff size for all Before 1970s, work was done primarily by chairmen behind closed doors Reforms gave more rights to members, especially with little seniority but still very powerful In practice, most chairmen are still senior members 1995 Republican Reforms 6 year term limits for House chairmen

14 Functions of Committees Proposed bills are assigned to specific committees, the comm. Controls the life or death of the bill 11,000 bills are introduced in each 2 year session, committees weed the bad bills out Pigeonholed when a bill is put aside in a committee for possible future consideration majority of bills are forgotten forever and never make it out of committee Those approved move to subcommittees who hold hearings over bill supporters and critics of the bill appear at hearings and are questioned by subcommittee. Bill is then (changed or rewritten) and returned to full committee where more alterations may be made Sent to Committee (House decides on rules for the bill, may be amended by members, amount of debate) or straight to floor (Senate) A Bill s Destiny: Option 1: by committee or chair (not considered) Option 2: (temporarily put aside for future consideration) Option 3: to subcommittee for further consideration

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