The terms "closed rule" and "open rule" refer to congressional provisions regarding floor debate and amendments, not public access, committee assignments, or lobbyists. A closed rule prohibits all amendments during floor debate, while an open rule places no restrictions on amendments.

1. Chapter 12
The United States Congress

2. Clicker Question
Do you approve or disapprove of the
way Congress is handling its job?
a) Strongly approve
b) Approve
c) Disapprove
d) Strongly disapprove
e) I don’t know…

3. Clicker Question
Do you approve or disapprove of the way
your member of Congress is handling
his or her job?
a) Strongly approve
b) Approve
c) Disapprove
d) Strongly disapprove
e) I don’t know…

4. Clicker Question
"If the election for Congress were held today,
would you vote for the Democratic
candidate in your district or the Republican
candidate in your district?" If unsure: "Well,
if you had to vote, which way would you
lean?"
a) Democrat
b) Republican
c) Other

5. Clicker Question
"Right now, are you inclined to vote to reelect
your representative in Congress in the next
election or are you inclined to look around
for someone else to vote for?"
a) Reelect
b) Look Around
c) Depends
d) Unsure

6. Clicker Question
Do you believe we should have
term limits for Members of
Congress?
a) Yes
b) No

7. Clicker Question
Should we increase the Term
Length of the House to 4 years?
a) Yes
b) No

8. Clicker Question
A presidential veto can be overridden
by a:
a. two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress
b. majority vote in both houses of Congress
c. three-fourths vote in the Senate
d. majority vote in the House of
Representatives

9. Congress: The First Branch
The U.S. Congress is the “first branch” of government
under Article I of our Constitution and is the world’s
most important representative body.
“All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested
in a Congress of the United States, which shall
consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.”

10. Bicameral Legislature

11. Sociological Representation?
Is it important that Congress be demographically
representative of the American people?
Descriptive Representation – Sometimes called
sociological representation, means that the
composition of a representative body reflects
the demographic composition of the population
as a whole.
Would the lack of descriptive representation make
a difference for democratic representation?

12. Clicker Question
Do you think it is important that the
demographics of Congress represent
the social, racial and economic
demographics of the country?
a) Yes
b) No

13. Comparing Congress to the Public

14. Women, African Americans and
Latinos in Congress (1971-2008)
Would Term
Limits make
this process
faster?

15. Representatives as “Agents”
While descriptive representation has not
occurred, much evidence suggests that our
representatives do work hard to represent
the interests of their constituents…at least
the ones who are paying attention.
As agents, representatives only need do
their duties if they know that we are
evaluating their performance…

16. Electoral Connection?
If representatives can somehow be punished or
held to account for failing to speak properly for
their constituents, then they have an incentive to
provide good representation even if their own
personal background, views, and interests differ
from those they represent.
Elections can create a “connection” between voters
and elected officials…a connection that demands
that officials represent the wishes of citizens
Punished? Do we do this?

17. Clicker Question
When members of Congress cast a vote,
which of the following factors should
typically most influence their decision?
a) The interests of the country as a whole
b) The interests of their district or state

18. Americans clearly
HATE the job that
Congress, as a
whole, is doing…

19. So then, we kick them out frequently, right?...

20. How Members Represent…
Can
Challengers
do any of
this?

21. Clicker Question
I think that Pork Barrel spending is a
HUGE problem and needs to be
stopped.
a) I agree
b) I disagree

22. Pork Barrel Spending
(or greasing the wheels of democracy…)
Particularized Benefits: Funding for government
programs whose benefits are concentrated in a
particular area but whose costs are spread out
among all taxpayers.
COSTS = $19.6 BILLION = $ 64/person
Credit-Claiming: Showing your district that you
are working for them in Washington…whether
you did it or not…

23. The Organization of Congress
How do 435 Representatives and 100 Senators go about the
business of legislating across broad policy areas each
consisting of highly complex issues?
How do things get done in Congress?
1. Political Parties and Leaders
2. Committee System
3. Regularized Process
•The first Congress had no parties, no committees, and no real
process of getting things done…The reason these structures
developed is because each became a useful tool capable of making
the work of Congress possible.

24. 1. Party Leadership in the House and Senate
Political parties in Congress (primarily the majority party)
are the fundamental building blocks from which policy
coalitions are fashioned to pass legislation and monitor its
implementation.
(Majorities = 218+ in House and 51+ in Senate)
Caucus or Conference
Every two years, at the beginning of each new Congress,
the members of each party gather to elect their leaders,
plan strategies and make decisions regarding other
legislative matters.

25. Parties in Congress
Majority Party Status = Procedural Control (Control
of the Agenda…the Rules of the Game)
•Key leadership positions – Speaker of the House, Floor
Leaders, Whips
•All committee and
subcommittee
chairmanships
•Surplus on committee ratios
•Supermajority on
Rules Committee
•Additional staff assistance to
facilitate action

26. Clicker Question
Which type of representation takes place
when representatives have the same
racial, ethnic, religious, or educational
backgrounds as their constituents?
a. sociological
b. delegate
c. trustee
d. agency

27. Clicker Question
The most common occupation among
members of Congress before coming to
Congress is
a. business executive.
b. sales representative.
c. professor.
d. lawyer.

28. Clicker Question
Pork-barrel legislation
a. deals with specific projects and their location
within a particular congressional district.
b. deals with specific agricultural subsidies.
c. funds efforts to increase the levels of America’s
meat exports.
d. grants a special privilege to a person named in
the bill.

29. Clicker Question
Majority Party Status equals _______
control of the legislative process.
a) Underhanded
b) Procedural
c) Committee
d) Limited

30. Clicker Question
The need to divide the labor of
legislation is best exemplified in
what formal structure of Congress?
a. the establishment of party whips
b. the establishment of standing
committees
c. the strict control over floor time in
Congress
d. the use of conference committees

31. 2. The Committee System
•The congressional committee system consists of a set
of standing, select, and joint committees, each with its
own jurisdiction, membership, and authority to act.
•As opposed to the hierarchy-of-power that determines
leadership arrangements, the committee system
represents a division and specialization-of-labor system.
•Most of the work of Congress takes place in its
committees and subcommittees.
•Generally, members seek assignments that will allow
them to influence decision of special importance to
their districts.

33. How a Bill Becomes a Law
The rules and procedures that
govern the entire policy process
(from the introduction of a bill
through its submission to the
president for signing) influence
the fate of every bill and
determines the distribution of
power (who gets to be the
decider) in the Congress.

35. 1. Committee Deliberation
No floor action on any bill can take place until the committee with
jurisdiction over it has taken all the time it needs to deliberate.
Committees 1. Collect information through hearings and
investigations 2. Draft the actual language of bills and resolutions
and (Markup) 3. Report the legislation to their parent chambers
for consideration
Most bill are simply allowed to “die in committee” with little or no
serious consideration because they were introduced simply to
please constituency groups.
The majority party holds a majority and the chairperson on each
committee and therefore gets to decide who the “experts” are and
how to write the legislation they are considering before they
present it back to the floor.

36. 2. Rules Committee (Protecting Party Bills)
Once a bill is approved by the relevant committee, the
whole bill or various parts of it are transmitted to a special
committee, the Rules Committee, which determines the
specific rules under which the legislation will be
considered by the full House.
Here the Speaker influences when debate will be
scheduled (controlling the calendar), for how long, what
amendments will be in order, and in what order they will be
considered.
Open Rule – A rule placing no restrictions on amendments.
Restrictive Rule – A rule restricting amendments during debate
Closed Rule – A rule prohibiting all amendments during debate

37. Clicker Question
“Closed rule” and “open rule” refer to
congressional provisions regarding
a. whether deliberations are closed or
open to the general public.
b. assignment to powerful committees.
c. whether lobbyists are allowed inside
Congress.
d. floor debate on a bill.

38. Congress
Rules Committee - Who’s on the Rules Committee?
Majority (9) Minority (4)
•Louise M.Slaughter, NY, Chair •David Dreier, Ranking Member, CA
•James P. McGovern, MA •Lincoln Diaz-Balart, FL
•Alcee Hastings, FL •Pete Sessions, TX
•Doris Matsui, CA •Virginia Foxx, NC
•Dennis Cardoza, CA
•Michael Arcuri, NY
•Ed Perlmutter, CO
•Chellie Pingree, ME
•Jared Polis, CO

39. 3a. House Debate
Party control of the agenda is reinforced by the
rule giving the Speaker of the House the power
of recognition during debate on a bill.
Debate is governed by the “rule” assigned to
each bill. Typically, 1 to 1.5 hours allotted.
In the House, virtually all of the time allotted by
the Rules Committee for debate on a given bill is
controlled by the bill’s sponsor and by its leading
opponent (usually the committee chair and
the ranking minority member on that
committee).

40. Clicker Question
“Closed rule” and “open rule” refer to
congressional provisions regarding
a. whether deliberations are closed or
open to the general public.
b. assignment to powerful committees.
c. whether lobbyists are allowed inside
Congress.
d. floor debate and amendments on a
bill.

41. 3b. Senate Debate
In the Senate, other than the power of recognition,
the leadership does not have the same level of
control over floor debate.
There is no Rules Committee – Debate is technically
unlimited.
Filibuster – A tactic used by members of the
Minority Party in the Senate to prevent action on
legislation they oppose by continuously holding the
floor and speaking until the majority backs down.
Cloture – A vote of 60 Senators that can end a
filibuster.

42. 3c. Floor Voting and Party Discipline
In both the House and Senate, party leaders have a
good deal of influence over the behavior of their party
members (The Whips).
Building majority coalitions in support of party policy
positions is a central job of leaders.
Party leaders can influence legislators’ votes
through the direct impact of the party leaders’
tools of persuasion:
committee assignments
leadership positions
campaign money

43. 4. Conference Committee
Bills must pass both chambers of Congress in identical
form. If the chambers cannot both agree on a single
version of a bill, a Conference Committee consisting of
members from both chambers meets to resolve
differences.
The Conference then reports back to both
chambers who then vote on the “compromised”
bill – the “CONFERENCE REPORT”
Conference committees are appointed by the
Speaker and Senate Majority Leaders and are
composed of senior members of the committees
or subcommittees that initiated the original bills.

44. 5. Presidential Action
Once adopted by the House and Senate, a bill goes to the
president, who may choose to sign the bill into law or veto
it.
The veto is the president’s constitutional power to reject a
piece of legislation. The president must return a vetoed bill
within ten days to Congress along with his objections.
Pocket Veto – If Congress adjourns during this 10 day
period and the president takes no action, the bill is
considered to be vetoed.
A presidential veto may be overridden by a two-thirds
(2/3) vote in both the House and Senate.

45. Congress
Presidential Vetoes and Overrides
Veto Pocket Total Overrides