Congress Institution worksheet revised fall 2023 (1)
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Congress: The Institution
Using the links provided please answer the questions in your own words. Please do not copy and paste sections of articles or google to try and find answers. Everything you need to answer the questions are contained in the links and in your textbook (if specifically referred to). Congress is the law-making branch of government. These laws encompass the rules that govern society as well as the policies that government pursues. Congress determines who wins and who loses, who gets the benefits and who pays the costs of government actions. Winners and losers in the United States are fundamentally influenced by the rules we live by and the policies that are enacted? Since representative theory sees the legislative branch as the representatives of “THE PEOPLE”, Congress is presumed to reflect the will of the public and the laws that are passed reflect the judgement of the best interests of the country. However, overtime, Congress has evolved. Today Congress does not pass many laws.
The United States Congress is a bicameral institution. The House of representatives has 435 voting members and these members are apportioned across the 50 states based on population, so each state has 1 representative elected out of single member districts reflecting about 750,000 people. The senate is made up of 100 members with each state getting two Senators. The House and senate are not just collections of individuals but are institutions that exert as much pressure on individuals to conform as individual members may exert on the institution. All institutions have a set of formal rules and informal norms by which members operate and those rules and norms evolve and change over time. Now, watch this clip of Ben Sasse during the Justice Kavanaugh confirmation hearing and answer the questions that follow. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJK2JveCAbI
Watch from the beginning until the 7:32 mark.
1.Why does Sen. Sasse say the framers of the constitution listed Congress first in Article I?
- they did this because legislature is supposed to be the center of our politics
2. Why is the legislative branch dedicated to political fights?
- dedicated to political fights because it is the body that makes laws and fights and are to be done there
3.Why is it essential for democratic accountability that Congress make policy?
- people can go and protest there or not reelect a candidate
4. What does Sen. Sasse say Congress has been doing with its power? - giving power to a fourth branch and cutting out people in the process
5. What does Sen. Sasse say are the types of laws that Congress passes?
- passes laws that hash out reality and laws that we don’t agree on
6. Why does Sen. Sasse say it is convenient for legislators?
- they avoid taking responsibility on controversial or unpopular decisions `
7. Why is it a problem for citizens?
- the people can not do anything about the laws, go protest them, fire people who make the laws, or even know about some laws 8. Since citizens have a difficult time lobbying the deputy administrator of plant quarantine, who does Fiorina say
they increasingly turned to in order to deal with the bureaucracy? What did Fiorina call this?
So, both Dr. Fiorina and Sen. Sasse describe a change that has happened to Congress as an institution that has fundamentally changed the nature of our government over the last 50 to 100 years. https://www.opensecrets.org/overview/reelect.php
9. What was the House Reelection rate in 2022 __94.5%________?
10. What was the senate reelection rate in 2022 ___100%_______?
These reelection rates are high and have been trending up since the turn of the century. The chart below shows reelection rates from the 2
nd
congress in 1791 to the 108
th
Congress in 2005. For reference the 53
rd
Congress was 1895. As we population increased, the total number of Representatives was increased. In the 2
nd
Congress, there were 15 states with 30 senators and 105 house members. By the 53
rd
Congress, the total number of Senators had increased to 88
(there were 44 states) and the total number of Representatives increased over time to 356. Due to the growth of the country, the Permanent Apportionment Act, signed into law on June 18, 1929, capped House membership at the level established after the 1910 Census and created a procedure for automatically reapportioning House seats after every decennial census. So today, there are 435 members in the house. Each congress in the chart below is made up of a dark bar and a light bar. The dark bar shows the number of representatives that were reelected while the light bar shows the number that were defeated. 11. According to the chart, in the 15
th
, 28
th
, and 38
th
Congresses _A____% of incumbents lost reelection.
A.
Less than 50% B. More than 50% 12. According to the chart, in the 91
st
, 100
th
, and 108
th
Congresses __A___% of incumbents lost reelection.
A.
Less than 20% B. More than 20%
It is clear in looking at the chart that the percentage of congresspeople being reelected has increased over time. In effect, this is exactly what Both Dr. Fiorina and Ben Sasse said Congresspeople wanted to happen. This “Incumbency Advantage” would be understandable if people felt congress was doing a good job. 33. Using the link https://news.gallup.com/poll/1600/congress-public.aspx
please tell me what the highest job approval congress had in the last decade?
31 %
A fundamental paradox emerges when the data is looked at. Americans think Congress does a terrible job (averaging in the low 20% job approval over the last decade) but Congresspeople get reelected at staggering rates, averaging 95% over
the last 10 years. How can this be? Well it is because incumbent members of congress have shaped to “rules of the game” to favor them staying in office. As we learned from both Dr. Fiorina and Sen. Sasse, congresspeople do not like to make laws because it makes some constituents mad. But they do like to carry out Pork barreling and constituency service. These are things only they can do and bring appreciation from their constituents. However, there are other “rules of the game” that have led to increased Incumbency rates. Here we see two charts of the personal staff of House and senate members. Today there are approximately 20 staff for each member of congress. They work in both district and Washington D.C. offices taking care of legislation, constituency needs, and interest group demands. The first chart provides some historical perspective to the growth of congress people’s personal staffs. Remember that the apportionment act was passed in 1930 and so we had the same 435 representatives in the House of Representatives. Therefor, the personal staff of representatives has grown 10-fold.
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44. According to the 2 charts above, in 1935 there were _1294____ total personal staff for members of the House of representatives and in 2014 there were __13,000____ personal staff?
Another advantage that congresspeople have is the ability to return home whenever they want to. Up until the 1960’s congress people, when elected, typically moved with their families to Washington D.C. That is no longer the case. Read the article in the link and then answer the question below. https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/08/13/how-lawmakers-can-stay-connected-to-constituents/congress-
would-get-more-done-with-a-better-schedule
Because of the Tuesday-Thursday club, the House of Representatives has averaged 138 legislative days a year since 2001, according to records kept by the Library of Congress. That's about one day of work every three days, or fewer than three days a week. Another advantage of Incumbency, as we see in the chart below, is taxpayer funded travel. Representatives went from having 3 taxpayer funded trips back to their district a year to unlimited trips. This means that Representatives return home to campaign and fundraise every weekend for their entire 2-year term. As we know from the previous question, a weekend is not just Saturday/Sunday. In addition, Congresspeople need to communicate with their constituents so they can send mail through the USPS paid for by taxpayers called “Franking”. This is perfectly reasonable since congresspeople need to respond to questions constituents may have. However, the way that congress uses the Franking Privilege is questionable. Below is a chart
showing the incoming mail to congresspeople and their outgoing mail. For more recent data here is a link. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL34458.pdf
15. According to the chart above in what years do the peaks in mailings occur? Even
Odd (underline one)
16. Why do you think Representatives send more mail in even numbered years?
- they send more mail in even years because representatives serve every two years. Thus by being in office, a Representative has a set of resources, necessary to do their job but used in a way that furthers their electoral interests. But the biggest benefit that Incumbents possess is the advantage of money. Congresspeople raise vast sums of money to run for election and the amount needed to run has increased exponentially. Using this link, please answer the questions below. https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/election-trends
17. In 1990 the average House winner spent $_407.56k_____ while by 2022 the average House winner spent $__2.06 m____.
18. In 1990 the average Senate winner spent $__3.87m____ while by 2022 the average Senate winner spent $__15.75m___.
19. In 2022 the most expensive House race was won by _____Katie Porter____ a D
R who spent $_28,483,083_____.
20. In 2022 the most expensive Senate race was won by _____Raphael Warnock ____ a D
R who spent $__180,666,083____.
As you can see, running for congress is expensive and it is really not a matter of party since both Republicans and Democrats spend huge sums to win their seats. As you might guess, money heavily favors incumbents. Using this link, https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/incumbent-advantage?cycle=2022&type=A
please answer the questions below.
21. In 2022, the average House incumbent raised $ __1,156,667,016_________ while the average House challenger raised $ ___376, 816,433_______
22. In 2022, the average Senate incumbent raised $ __830,582,041________ while the average Senate challenger raised
$ _389,766,610_________
23. In 2022, the average Senate open seat candidate raised $_433,548,776_________ while the average House open seat candidate raised $__386,884,027__
So, where does the money come from and why is it skewed so heavily towards incumbents of both parties? To answer that question we have to look a little deeper. Use the video in content, right below the Congress worksheet to answer 24-37. The link below will also take you there. https://vimeo.com/61488659
24. Why did David Heath decide to investigate earmarks?
- decided to investigate earmarks because the government is not supposed to be corrupt
25. What bill did he focus on?
- foused on congress 2007 defense spending bill
26. How much pork (earmarks) was in the bill?
- 400 billion dollars
27. Who is Winslow Wheeler?
- an expert I earmarks and a former capitol hill staffer
28. Where did Wheeler tell Heath to look for the pork (earmarks)?
- committee report is where all the pork is 29. Describe the process that Heath and his assistants went through to build their database. (Describe Completely)
- had to go through individual websites and spend all that time hunting through their websites for press releases.
30. How much did the companies that got earmarks spend on lobbying? - the spend almost about 160 million dollars in a year
31. What is MicroVision and what does it make?
- a corporation that makes a product called nomad, and this product is a helmet-mounted computer display that hangs in front of a soldier's eye, and it displays a battlefield map 32. The first MicroVision Earmarks were sponsored by ___slade gorton___ a D or R
?
33. What did Slade Gorton do when he lost his reelection to Patty Murray?
- joined the micro vision board 34. What did Retired Sgt. Major Thomas Adams talks about the Nomads and where they ended up.
- he said it was junk and they ended up in a warehouse
35. What did Heath uncover happened the day after Rockwell Collins won the Army Competition?
- that he got an earmark after the “nomad” from Miro Vision lost the army competition
36. Why do you think Patty Murray kept providing earmarks to Micro Vision?
- if they didn’t elect her she could go to work for them or because Gorton had invested 37. Tell me about the Boat. Who was it made for, who was it given to, and where did it end up? Why?
- made for the Coast Guard, and it ended up navigating the San Francisco Bay because it turned Please watch this clip and answer the questions below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHiicN0Kg10
38. Who is Jack Abramoff?
- a notorious and crooked lobbyist
39. What types of things did he provide to congresspeople and their staffs to gain influence
a. campaign contributors
b. freebies and gifts
c. lavish congressman and senators with private jets to golf destinations
d. free meals at his own restaurant
e. access to the best tickets to all the areas spotting events.
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40. What did he try to get inserted into a bill?
- tried to insert some language into a reform bill that would give a backdoor license to an Indian
41. Why did the chair of the Committee (Bob Ney) say he didn’t know what it was?
- he didn’t know what it was, and he didn’t care about it. 42. Why do you think he would go ahead and insert it into the bill?
- he would insert the bill because his friend asked him to, and he knows his friend has power and could help him if he helps him 43. What does Abramoff say bribery is?
- it’s a good way to get what you want 44. How common is it in Congress according to Abramoff?
- very common when someone needs something 45. How much influence does your average voter have when compared to a lobbyist like Jack Abramoff?
- the average voter has little to no influence when compared to a lobbyist like Abramoff
So, Incumbents have huge advantages that have made elections largely foregone conclusions. Incumbents (most of the time) will win. Lobbyists know it, people with money know it, and because as ordinary citizens our influence is one vote in one congressional race, we have limited power. Money and all the other benefits that Abramoff outlined, however, can be given to multiple congresspeople over a longer period. In the end, monied interests become close to elected representatives. They go golfing together, they go to fundraising dinners together, and they become friends. Voters simply cannot compete with that. The incumbency advantage helps congresspeople get reelected, but it does not help build democratic accountability. As Congress has abdicated its responsibility for making laws more focus has shifted to the executive branch. Senator Sasse said Congresspeople have delegated large swaths of their power to “alphabet soup agencies” that are in the executive branch and thus for whom the president is responsible. This will be the subject of our
next worksheet.
Please write a paragraph on how well Congress fulfills its role as the United States’ representative institution. Be sure to look at both descriptive and substantive representation.