Congressional Behavior
PS 426
Influences on member behavior
lConstituency: Ambiguities in
determining constituent preferences. The
division of labor in members’ offices: district communication is filtered
through various layers of the staff hierarchy (Paul Schlomer’s
research).
lMembers’ preferences
(ideology, religion, career background).
Barry Burden’s work on this subject:
Rick Santorum and Arlen Specter.
lParty (leadership and general
party identification).
lCommittee membership
lInterest groups – link to
district is important.
lPresident – obviously more
influential with own party.
Deciding how to participate
lMembers’ goals: reelection, policy, power within the
institution (Fenno).
lVoting (or abstain).
lCosponsor a bill.
lSpeak on behalf of a bill and
try to build coalitions for its passage.
lSponsor a bill – actively
involved in writing the bill and amendments.
Participate at the committee level.
lNon-legislative behavior: constituency service (we will cover this in
the next topic on the syllabus).
Putting it all together
lProcess is decentralized,
deference to committees, serial process of many stages: much opportunity for delay.
lJohn Kingdon’s
model of consensus and roll call voting.
–Cue taking and
the “field of forces”
–Salience of the
issue, positions of the relevant actors.
lTie Kingdon’s
theory to the members’ goals. Link to
the constituency and the reelection goal: the “string of votes” that may get
the member in trouble.
lDoug Arnold and the importance
of the potential challenger. Activates
the latent opinions of the public, so the incumbent has to be responsive even
if it looks like the public isn’t paying attention. Members try to avoid “traceability” on
controversial issues: can allow more
responsible behavior, but not necessarily.
Closing bases versus pay raises.
Other aspects of floor behavior
lCalendars: bills move from the
committees to calendars, from which they are called up in order. Non-controversial bills are considered under
“suspension of the rules.” Controversial
bills are usually considered under a “rule.”
lAmending bills
–Special orders or
rules (House) and unanimous consent agreements (Senate). Committee of the Whole in the House to
consider amendments (under 5 minute rule). May ask for revote of the entire House, but
rarely done. Controversy over House
delegates in 1993 led to dozens of revotes.
–The amendment
tree.
lDeliberation (Quirk) – makes
policies more legitimate, educates the public, and helps Congress reach
intelligent decisions. Many obstacles to
good deliberation.
The actual vote
lAfter all of the amendments
are voted on in the Committee of the Whole, the bill is considered by the
floor. Amendments are approved as a
block and then the vote on final passage.
Senate doesn’t have a Committee of the Whole.
lTypes of votes:
–Voice vote,
division vote, and recorded vote (electronic voting system in the House, manual
roll calls in the Senate). 44 House
members and 11 senators may call for a roll call (one-fifth of a quorum; 25
House members needed in the Committee of the Whole). When would this be done?
–Roll calls in the House are held open for 15 minutes, but usually
takes longer in the Senate.
Typical use of UCAs in Senate
ORDER OF PROCEDURE -- (Senate -
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
time today from
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is
so ordered.
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
majority leader be recognized at
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is
so ordered.
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I note the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the
roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that
the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is
so ordered.
UCAs and the filibuster
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr.
President, let me add to the majority leader's observation that with regard to
the U.S. attorneys bill this morning, we have copies of a couple of amendments
that will be offered to that bill. That should allow us to go forward with the
unanimous consent agreement, as I indicated to the majority leader yesterday,
which may allow us to vitiate cloture on that measure.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, we agree generally with the
amendments. They appear to be reasonable. I think it would be a good way to set
this matter aside. We should be able to vitiate cloture. As we speak, the
persons interested in the bill are looking at the amendments and, hopefully,
the unanimous consent can be done rapidly.
A modified closed rule
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 985, WHISTLEBLOWER
PROTECTION ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives -
Mr. HASTINGS of
Resolved, That
at any time after the adoption of this resolution the Speaker may, pursuant to
clause 2(b) of rule XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the
Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of the bill (H.R. 985)
to amend title 5, United States Code, to clarify which disclosures of
information are protected from prohibited personnel practices; to require a
statement in nondisclosure policies, forms, and agreements to the effect that
such policies, forms, and agreements are consistent with certain disclosure
protections, and for other purposes. The first reading of the bill shall be
dispensed with. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived
except those arising under clause 9 or 10 of rule XXI. General debate shall be
confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour and 20 minutes, with one
hour equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member
of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and 20 minutes equally
divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking member of the Committee on
Homeland Security. After general debate the bill shall be considered for
amendment under the five-minute rule. An amendment in the nature of a
substitute consisting of the text of the bill, modified by the amendments
recommended by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform now printed in
the bill, shall be considered as adopted in the House and in the Committee of
the Whole. The bill, as amended, shall be considered as the original bill for
the purpose of further amendment under the five-minute rule and shall be
considered as read. Notwithstanding clause 11 of rule XVIII, no further
amendment to the bill, as amended, shall be in order except those printed in
the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution. Each further
amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report, may be
offered only by a Member designated in the report, shall be considered as read,
shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and
controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment,
and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the House
or in the Committee of the Whole. All points of order against such further
amendments are waived except those arising under clause 9 or 10 of rule XXI. At
the conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment the Committee shall
rise and report the bill, as amended, to the House with such further amendments
as may have been adopted. The previous question shall be considered as ordered
on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion
except one motion to recommit with or without instructions.
Bargaining and coalition building
lNature of bargaining and
eventual chances of passing the bill depend on:
–Topic of the bill
– what is at stake? Salience of the bill
for the public.
–Number of intense
supporters.
–Who the
supporters are – leadership, key committee members, president.
–Intensity and
size of the opposition.
Types of bargaining
lNon-negotiated
–Unilateral action
(leadership summits)
–Anticipated
reaction (same, but leaders take into account preferences of others).
lNegotiated
–Simple logrolling
(reciprocity norm)
–Time logrolling
–Compromise
–Side payments (
Race and
Representation in Congress
lHow to measure behavior in
Congress? Problems with relying on roll
call voting. Selection bias and bias of
interest group support scores (exaggerates ideological extremity and
mischaracterizes racial issues).
lAlternative measures of member
behavior: co-sponsorship and sponsorship of legislation; speeches on the floor,
committee assignments, leadership positions.
lWhat do these measures add to
the study of racial representation?
lWhich of these measures could
be dismissed as “symbolic” behavior? Do
they matter anyway?
Race
and Representation, cont.
lAggregate-level and
individual-level. Overall impact of the
lBehavior of commonality vs.
difference members of the Congressional Black Caucus (and older members) and
the extent to which white members represent the interests of African American
constituents.
lImplications for influence
districts and black majority districts.
The collective
dilemma in Congress
lExample of the institutional
dilemma: reporting campaign finance data
in the Senate. Debate on electronic
filing of information with the FEC.
lExample of the policy
dilemma: transportation bill and the “bridge
to nowhere” (more on this later).
lEnhancing responsiveness,
undermining responsibility: changes in norms, campaign finance, media
access.
l“Running scared” article: “America’s problem of governance is not
insufficient responsiveness on the part of its elected leaders. On the contrary, America’s problem is their
hyper-responsiveness.” Agree or
disagree?