Chapter 11
One thing we know for sure about
Congress: it is complicated. Its rules
are intricate; its organization is decentralized; its major areas of control
are surprisingly dispersed; its principal functions are not clearly defined;
its critics are too numerous to mention; its internal reform proposals are
endless; its turnover of bills is staggering.
And yet, it remains one of the greatest legislative bodies in the world.
Congress fulfills many
functions. It is a deliberative body and
has been likened to a court of appeals; it is a mediating body resolving
conflicts among minority groups and special interests; it is an investigative
body probing misconduct and corruption; it is a political body where
politicians form party blocs to defeat or promote policy and often frustrate
one another by filibustering; it is a rival to the president, seeking greater
involvement in domestic, budgetary, and foreign policies; and, perhaps most
important of all, it is the principal institution in our country where laws are
made.
Its committee system requires that
the committee chairs oversee not just the committees but also the multiple
subcommittees. These committees are
miniature powerhouses that serve very important screening and investigating
purposes. Its legislators are under
great political and collegial pressures and influences; yet they manage to
listen to their colleagues, to the president, and to their constituents back
home, in gathering information for their decision making. The path legislation must follow is really a
maze, yet bills do get passed. Congress
has changed as much as any other political institution. Congress is becoming
the place where the action is.
Yet at the same time, to a large
number of critics, Congress is the place where the inaction is. In the 1990s
and into the new century, as criticism of the national government has grown
pandemic, Congress is the body that gets the greatest number of
complaints. Perhaps the nature of the
complaints can tell us something about the nature of Congress: it is both too
responsive to public opinion and interest groups and out of touch with the
average person; it caters to special interests but ignores the common person;
it spends millions of dollars and hundreds of hours on constituent services but
ignores major policy questions. Obviously not all of these criticisms can be
valid simultaneously; many are contradictory. But students--as well as
journalists and the general public—will have to sort through many of these
contradictory opinions.
I. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Assess
the factors that go into redistricting, reapportionment, and gerrymandering,
and their impact on House elections.
2. Describe
the professional qualifications and profile the typical member of Congress.
3. Explain the importance of bicameralism.
4. List differences between the House of
Representatives and the Senate.
5. Identify and define the basic functions
of Congress.
6. Identify the major leadership positions
in the House and Senate.
7. Examine
the political environment in the Senate.
Explain why some consider the job of
8. Indicate the role of unlimited debate
and the filibuster in Senate proceedings.
9. Explain the role of and procedures used
in the Senate confirmation powers.
10. Distinguish
between Congress as a law‑making institution and as a representative
assembly.
11. Distinguish between the delegate and
trustee roles of legislators.
12. Analyze
the types of pressures and influences a member of Congress is subject to in the
decision‑making or law‑making role.
13. Evaluate the impact and power of
congressional staff.
14. Trace the pathway of a bill through both
houses of Congress.
15. Analyze
the importance of committee and subcommittee chairs and the process by which
they are chosen, especially the impact of seniority.
16.
Explain
why so many congressional incumbents win.
17.
Explain
how the congressional impeachment process works by referring to
18.
List and
define four types of representation.
19.
Suggest
ways that Congress could become more efficient and effective.