Political Science 1100, Introduction to American Politics, March 20, 2013

 

Congress: From the Institution's Point of View

3. Committees And Subcommittees

 

    a) Most of Congress's work is divided up and given to
        Committees And Subcommittees

 

    b) Committees And Subcommittees therefore
       are Central to The Law-Making Process

 

   c) Standing Committees

 

   

   d) Other Committees

 

 

   e) Committees And Subcommittees Decentralize Congress

      often make cooperation very difficult because they resist control  
 
 

4. Rules

    a) Rules Make It Easy To Obstruct The Law-Making Process

        Examples: Senate Filibusters

    b) Rules That Overcome Congressional Obstacles Are Hard To Use

        Examples: Cloture
 
 

5. Conclusions About Congress

    A. Keystone Of A "Washington Establishment" ?

    B. Policy-Making Biases
 

        1) Parochialism
 

        2) Incrementalism
 

        3) Driven by Crisis
 

     C. Bad People, or Normal People In A Peculiar Institution?
 

We Distrust Congress, But We Tend To Like Our Individual Representatives
 

    D. These biases can be overcome  -- with Leadership And Public Support

 

3. The Reality of Presidential Powers: Using the Presidency is Difficult

 

A). Emergency Powers / Military Leadership

Opportunity:
- Can accomplish goals directly and quickly

 

Constraint:
- must use these powers briefly and successfully, or risk
substantial loss of support
 
 

 

B). Appointment

Opportunity:
Can appoint 2500 top administrators
when the President takes office

 

Constraints:
- the Senate must approve these appointments
- the President appoints only 1% of federal employees
- 2500 loyal and competent appointees are hard to find in three months
 
 

C). Reorganizing Government

Opportunity:
- Can try to improve bureaus' performance

 

Constraint:
- Congress must approve major reorganizations
- Reorganization may not change bureaus at all
 
 

D). The Power to Set The Legislative Agenda

Opportunity:
- To determine some of Congress's priorities

 

Constraint:
- Congress can change or ignore Presidential proposals
 

 
 

E). Party Leadership:

Opportunity:
- To rally the "party-in-government" and end gridlock

 

Constraint:
- American government was designed to make this difficult
- Legislators who now can "go it alone"
 
 

F). The Veto

Opportunity:
- To stop Congressional actions
- To change laws by threatening a veto
- Only 4% of Presidential vetoes are overridden

 

Constraint:
- The veto can only stop something from happening -
it is only a negative power

   
 

G). Publicity

 

Opportunity:
- To build personal popularity

 

Constraint:
-Popularity can swing widely
 

4. The Presidency as An Invitation To Tragedy

 

- We expect Presidents to Use the Presidency Actively, but

   the Presidency is hard to Use
- there are lots of constraints on Presidential Power

 

Presidents will use the tools that are easiest to use.

 

 

  Presidents can most easily control National Security and Publicity, so ... 
 

We tend to get

1). The Covert Presidency:

- Presidents are tempted to abuse "national security"
to achieve their goals
 

 

2). The Permanent Campaign:

- Presidents are tempted to manage their image
instead of improving public policy