Congress: Partnership, Polarization, and Gridlock
In this chapter we examined our national legislative branch: the Congress. Accordingly, we saw the colonial influences as well as Enlightenment Era notions that led to the Founding Fathers’ invocation of legislative supremacy as the guiding framework for Article I in the Constitution. Commentary regarding the relative uniqueness of the U.S. Congress in a legislative world dominated by parliaments was provided. This was done by emphasizing the role that separation of powers tends to bring about an independent legislature, weaker party system, and divided responsibilities for the U.S. Congress relative to parliaments. Additional commentary provided an analysis of the debate between the ideal versus the actual type of legislative representation in the forms of the trustee and the delegate.
In-depth discussion of the party, committee, and rules/procedures as the main features of the legislative process followed. These discussions centered on pointing out the main continuities as well as differentiations between the House and Senate in organization, processes, traditions, deliberations relative to legislative production, and the unique and controversial use of the filibuster in the Senate. Within the context of a rule-bound House versus a loosely structured Senate, we covered the types of committees that deal with authorizing and appropriating legislation, including select, permanent, joint, and conference.
From this coverage, we moved on to the primary influencers, both within the chambers themselves (including leadership of parties) and committees, as well as staff and colleagues. Additionally, constituency, interest group, bureaucratic, and even presidential external influencers were examined. Finally, the legislative process was discussed from initiation to committee deliberation with hearings, mark-up, and reporting out to rule assignment, floor debate/amendment, and ultimately presidential signing/vetoing of bills into laws.
Quizzes
Critical Thinking Exercises
Representation
Our system of representation demands that each of our Congresspersons and Senators represent a large number of constituents from diverse districts or states. This confronts us with a fundamental question: Can individuals accurately represent the issues faced by members of their community who are very different from them in socio-economic qualities?
Visit the websites of the Senators and Congresspersons from your home district. Do a short biography of them. How are they similar and how are they different from you and from other people in your hometown? Do they have greater incomes, do they have attained less or greater education than the average person in your hometown, are they culturally or religiously similar or dissimilar?
Now that you’ve completed a profile of your Congressional representatives as well as the people in your hometown, visit CONGRESS.GOV (https://www.congress.gov) and find out more about your representatives through the Congressional Record.
How do they vote on issues important to people in your hometown? What kinds of bills have they sponsored and how do these relate to the issues facing your hometown? After completing this investigation, do you believe that your Congressperson and Senator accurately represent your community? Do their similarities or dissimilarities matter to you when evaluating their success or failure in representing your community? Why or why not?
Useful Links
Links to further content exploring the themes covered in this chapter
CONGRESS.GOV
This site is maintained by the Library of Congress and is dedicated to providing information on the legislative record of the Congress. It records all votes, legislative proposals, presidential nominations, treaty considerations, and committee reports by congressional session and term. This is an excellent research tool for those studying congressional institutional behavior.
House of Representatives
This site is the main website for the U.S. House of Representatives; it contains the major information on role, leadership, party breakdown, structure, history, and links to related governmental sites.
Senate
This site is the main website for the U.S. Senate; it contains the major information on role, leadership, party breakdown, structure, history, etc., as well as links to related governmental sites.
Contact Information for House Members
This site provides a concise list of House members by district, complete with contact information.
Contact Information for Senate Members
At this site, you will find contact information for individual senators.
Committees of the House of Representatives
On this site, you will find a list of committee assignments for House members.
Committees of the Senate
On this site, you will find a list of committee assignments for Senate members.
C-Span Congressional Coverage
This site provides web access to a plethora of House and Senate floor speeches dealing with the issues of the day. It is categorized on a day-to-day basis and serves as a web based alternative to C-SPAN’s televised version of the same coverage. The archive contains each member’s speeches in the House when it was in session since 1970 and in the Senate since 1986. There are literally hundreds of short speeches dealing with every major and minor issue which has captured Congress’s attention since the 1970s and 1980s. The site also contains lists of members, party caucuses/conferences, and is navigable by member, topic, or date in an interactive fashion.
Roll Call
This website is an excellent source for information on Congressional voting and legislation. A subscription is required. Usually, a university or college library has a subscription which will allow you to access the site. This is an electronic publication.
Project Vote Smart
Project Vote Smart is a non-partisan voting information system that provides viewers with updated evaluations of candidates voting records and summaries of their positions on the issues. Also, contains an introductory video clip that summarizes the purpose of the organization in a scenic narrative style.
Legislative Tracking
A private civic initiative to assist citizens in learning about and tracking the activities of the United States Congress.
Affordable Care Act of 2010 (Obamacare)
The essential facts about the Affordable Care Act passed and signed into law in 2010.
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
The essential facts about the Americans with Disabilities Act passed and signed into law in 1990.
Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973
The essential facts about the Federal Rehabilitation Act passed and signed into law in 1973.
Congressional Oversight Example
This is an interesting piece showcasing the Congress’s role as an oversight mechanism by looking at its conduct in investigating salmonella poisoning.
Congressional Legislating Example
This is a video covering senatorial voting over the military’s, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy over gay service. It is an excellent example of senatorial procedures regarding the importance of the cloture mechanism in holding off filibusters.
Senate Vote on Repeal of Obamacare
This clip from the Senate vote on repeal of Obamacare reveals the Senate’s reaction to Republican Sen. John McCain’s “no” vote on repealing Obamacare.