Download - Lecture7w11
![Page 1: Lecture7w11](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062319/554f8690b4c905d25b8b4ce1/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Congress
![Page 2: Lecture7w11](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062319/554f8690b4c905d25b8b4ce1/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
Let’s Start with a Puzzle
• How does Congress get anything done?
• Or, how does Congress overcome its collective dilemmas?
![Page 3: Lecture7w11](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062319/554f8690b4c905d25b8b4ce1/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Earmarks
• Pork
• Pet projects
![Page 4: Lecture7w11](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062319/554f8690b4c905d25b8b4ce1/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Example
• The Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2010 (H.R. 3326) . – $8 million for the Center of Excellence for Research in
Ocean Science in Hawaii (Senator Inouye)– $7.8 million for an “extremely large, domestic
expendable and reusable structures manufacturing center” in Mississippi (Senator Cochran)
– $7 million for the Robert C. Byrd Institute of Advanced Flexible Manufacturing Systems in West Virginia
![Page 5: Lecture7w11](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062319/554f8690b4c905d25b8b4ce1/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
Collective Dilemmas
• Inserting pork, earmarks
• Claiming credit for public goods you didn’t help produce
• Voting against a party proposal that’s unpopular in your district
![Page 6: Lecture7w11](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062319/554f8690b4c905d25b8b4ce1/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
Other Collective Dilemmas
• Cycling coalitions
• Coordination between the Senate and House
![Page 7: Lecture7w11](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062319/554f8690b4c905d25b8b4ce1/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
Principal-Agent problems
• Congress and executive agencies
• Voters and representatives
![Page 8: Lecture7w11](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062319/554f8690b4c905d25b8b4ce1/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
Answer to Puzzle
• Congress has developed a set of institutions that enable its members to act collectively when necessary, but also satisfy their individual goals
![Page 9: Lecture7w11](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062319/554f8690b4c905d25b8b4ce1/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
An Unusual Legislative System
• Not a parliamentary democracy
• Strong committee system
• Parties aren’t the only actors (individual representatives matter)
• Political microcosm, widely studied
![Page 10: Lecture7w11](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062319/554f8690b4c905d25b8b4ce1/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
In Comparison
• Congress MUCH more important in the American system than a parliament is in a parliamentary system
• Great Britain---rubber stamps the PM’s and his/her government’s policies
![Page 11: Lecture7w11](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062319/554f8690b4c905d25b8b4ce1/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
In Comparison (cont’d)
• Individualism rampant in Congress (not so in other countries)
• Internal organization of Congress is a very big deal (not so in other countries)
• Single-party majorities form in Congress (not so in most other countries)
![Page 12: Lecture7w11](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062319/554f8690b4c905d25b8b4ce1/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
Representation and Policy-making
• Tension between these functions• Voices to be heard, but work to be done• Democracy is the worst form of government,
except for all the rest (Churchill)• People dislike Congress, but love their members
of Congress• Making sausages
![Page 13: Lecture7w11](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062319/554f8690b4c905d25b8b4ce1/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
Representation
• Delegate vs. trustee
• Descriptive vs. substantive
• Constituency vs. party vs. ideology vs…..
• Reelection motivation-- (credit-claiming, advertising, patronage)
![Page 14: Lecture7w11](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062319/554f8690b4c905d25b8b4ce1/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
Motivated by Reelection (Mayhew)
• Assuming true, what would Congress look like?• Make it easy to claim credit (easy to co-sponsor)• Make it easy to provide pork (semi-open rules)• Make it easy to move back and forth between
collective effort and individual grand-standing (parties are not all that disciplined)
![Page 15: Lecture7w11](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062319/554f8690b4c905d25b8b4ce1/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
Historical Changes in Representation
• Professionalized representatives, was not always the case
• More activist government, more pork• Greater incumbency advantage• Direct election of Senators• Ups and downs in partisan voting• Importance of gerrymandering (race an issue
lately)• Wesberry v Sanders (1964)
![Page 16: Lecture7w11](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062319/554f8690b4c905d25b8b4ce1/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
American Government, 11th EditionCopyright © 2010 W.W. Norton & Company
The Widening Ideological Gap between The Parties
![Page 17: Lecture7w11](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062319/554f8690b4c905d25b8b4ce1/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
The Median Voter
Liberal (left)
Conservative (right)
Voter 1 Voter 2 Voter 3
![Page 18: Lecture7w11](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062319/554f8690b4c905d25b8b4ce1/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
![Page 19: Lecture7w11](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062319/554f8690b4c905d25b8b4ce1/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
D D D D R D D D R R R D D R R R R
![Page 20: Lecture7w11](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062319/554f8690b4c905d25b8b4ce1/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
Why Does it Matter How Congress is Organized?
• Pork-producing machine?
• (Notion of logrolling)
• Median voter runs the place?
• Efficient and well-informed policy?
• Parties rule?
![Page 21: Lecture7w11](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062319/554f8690b4c905d25b8b4ce1/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
Committee System
• Is key!
• Jurisdiction
• Agenda control
• Amendment procedures
![Page 22: Lecture7w11](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062319/554f8690b4c905d25b8b4ce1/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
What Do Committees Do?
• Allow members to specialize. Of course, but why?
• To bring home pork?
• To become more knowledgeable?
• To be rewarded for party loyalty?
![Page 23: Lecture7w11](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062319/554f8690b4c905d25b8b4ce1/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
Four Models of How Congress Works
• Pork-barrel (or distributive) model
• Information model
• Partisan model
• Elitist