I. Introduction

A.   Despite the fact that the President of the United States is currently the biggest “superstar” in the American political system, it wasn’t always that way.

B.   In fact, the FFs set up a system that placed Congress at the center of the political system, NOT the president

C.   FFs crafted a Constitution that gave Congress the power to: levy taxes, borrow $$, raise armies, declare war, determine the nature of the federal judiciary, regulate commerce, coin $$, etc

         D.   Presidents were NOT granted nearly so many specific or important powers

E.   More concretely, thru much of the 19th century, Congress was the major player in shaping America’s policies.

1.     Congress was such a dominant branch that Woodrow Wilson—proclaimed that ”Congress is the dominant, nay, the irresistible power of the federal system”

F.    However, since the great depression and WWII the Executive Branch increased its influence and power compared to Congress—1930s-early 1990s period of executive ascendancy

G.  Congress remains a vital player in the American political game—perhaps NOT powerful enough anymore to shape the nation’s policies on its own as the founders intended—but still worthy of our examination

II. Makeup of the Senate and House

A.   Basics

1.     The Congress of the United States is Bicameral (2 branches)—made up of Senate and House of Representatives

2.     Senate: consists of 2 senators from each state regardless of size

3.     House: House members are distributed according to population—the larger the state’s population, the more reps it gets

4.     Constitution requires that each state, regardless of size have AT LEAST 1 REP—represents pol compromise b/n small and large states during the writing of the Constitution

5.     As the country has grown so too has Congress—1st Congress had 26 Senators and 65 Reps. We currently have a Senate with 100 members and a House with 435

B.   The Job

1.     Believe it or not, HARD WORK is probably the most prominent characteristic of a Congressperson’s job: typical schedule

2.     Typical Representatives are members of about 6 committees and subcommittees; Senators about 10

3.     Typical schedule is long, often tedious, and grueling, especially during a campaign: According to Turetzky et al (2004: 205) members of Congress usually work about 11 hour days, 7 days a week when in session, which "adds up to approximately 300 working days a year"

4. Dye and Sparrow (2009: 344) basically agree with Turetzky that Congressional hours (esp. for staff) are long and grueling, esp. for those who take their work seriously (so called "work horses"): "members of congress claim to work 12 to 15 hour days: 2 to 3 hours in committee and subcommitee meetings; 2 to 3 hours on the floor of the chamber; 3 to 4 hours meeting with constituents, interest groups, other members, and the staff in their offices; and 2 to 3 hours attending conferences, events and meetings in Washington."

a. They (Dye and Sparrow 2009: 344) add that "members of Congress may introduce anywhere from ten  to fifty bills in a single session of Congress."

5.     While grueling, some of the Perks are nice:

a.      Salary = $169,300 (Dye and Sparrow 2009: 344) —about 4x the income of the typical American BUT well BELOW that of hundreds of corporate presidents

b.     Generous retirement benefits

c.     Office space in Wash DC and in district

d.     Substantial Congressional staff--Overall, Congressional staff and support personnel total approx. 25,000 people at a total cost to tax payers of $2B per year (Dye and Sparrow 2009: 342): Typically, House members have staffs (to draft legislation, answer mail and telephones, poll, research, constituency outreach, etc) of 20-25. House members receive approx. $500,000 a year for office expenses, travel and staff; Senators have larger staffs (40 to 50) and larger travel/expense/staff budgets ($2M a year on average)

e.     Handsome travel allowances to see constituents each year, plus opportunities to travel at low fares or even free to foreign nations on Congressional inquiries (“JUNCKETS”)

f.       Franking Privilege = free use of mail system to “communicate” with their constituents

g.     Other perks: free flowers from Ntl Botanical Gradens, research services from Library of Congress, and exercise rooms and pools

C.   Role of the Legislator

1.     There are many questions about what the role of a legislator should be, questions as old as the idea of representative assemblies

2.     Questions: (1) should a Rep follow his/her own judgment about what is best or do only what his/her constituents wish? (2) What should a representative do if the interests of his or her district or state conflict with the needs of the nation as a whole? (3) Should a legislator recognize the “greater good” beyond the boundaries of the district?

3.      The reality: the above questions are difficult to answer largely b/c members of Congress are both NATIONAL and LOCAL Representatives

a.      They are NTL reps who make up one branch of the federal govt, are paid by that Federal govt, and are required to support and defend the interests of the entire country

b.     However, they are also elected by local districts or states and so must satisfy local constituencies as well—so Congressmen have to satisfy both local, state, and ntl constituencies simultaneously and that isn’t easy nor always pretty

c.     For example, in controversial areas such as cutting the defense budget by closing military bases, the ntl interest may be very different from local popular opinion

d.     Another example: in the impeachment vote of December 1998, many Republican Reps said they were ignoring NTL polls favoring acquittal to vote their consciences

4.     Classic Warning heard often in Congress: “You have to save your seat before you can save the world”

5.     Another classic: “all politics is local”

6.     Another classic—Political Hippocratic Oath: “Do no harm unto thine own career”

7.     All 3 point to the reality that perhaps local politics trumps ntl politics b/c getting elected and then re-elected is primary. That makes everything else possible

8.     In terms of Q1-should a rep follow own judgment or do only what his/her constituents wish, the reality is that most Reps do both

a.     Sometimes, perhaps the impeachment vote is a good example or a vote to give the Prez the authority to send Americans into combat, they use their own judgment

b.     Other times, they have to take into consideration the desires of their constituents—farm subsidies in the midwest, defense contracts in the west, protecting military bases everywhere

c.     But, according to Fiorino, Parker, Polsby and many other Congressional scholars, most times Reps take into consideration both the NTL and the LOCAL interests as well as balance their own judgment with what their constituents are telling them

9.     Careerism now the norm as well. Until 1840s average length of service in House was about 2 years and in Senate about 4. In other words Congress was a backwater and Reps were leaving for better opportunities. NOW: avg length of service now about 20 years—10 House terms and more than 3 Senate terms). Not such a backwater anymore.

a. Question: why the change?

III. Who Are the Legislators?

A.   Basic Requirements

1.     535 members: 2 Senators p/state = 100 and 435 members of the House = by population. Bigger the state, more Reps (CA has 53, Vermont 1)

2.     House members MUST be: at least 25, American citizen for 7 years

3.     Senate members MUST be: at least 30, American citizen for 9 years

4.     All members of Congress MUST be: residents of the states from which they are elected

B.   Demographics

1.     Congress is comprised overwhelmingly of White males

a.      Senate: 86 men, 14 women; 97 whites, 2 Asians, 0 Native American, 1 black, 0 Hispanics

b.     House: 374 men 61 women; 378 Whites, 2 Asians, 37 African Americans, 18 Hispanics

2.     Congress is also comprised overwhelming of the upper-middle class

a.      Almost ½ the members are lawyers—other common professions are business, banking, higher education, farming and journalism

b.     House: 162 Lawyers, 160 businessmen, 86 professors or teachers, 22 farmers, 9 journalists, 20 real estate developers etc

c.     Senate: 55 lawyers, 24 businessmen, 13 profs/teachers, 6 farmers, 8 journalists

3. Question: how important are personal characteristics of members of Congress? That is, can a group of predominantly white, upper-middle men represent a much more diverse country? Would a group of more typical citizens be more effective making major public policy decisions?