3/7/2012 9:48:00 AM Congress = Bicameral (2 chambers or houses) The House of Representatives Senate Structure of the House of Reps 435

435 Members (# never changes) 32 from TX 3 new districts added b/c of population growth therefore 35 reps will be from TX B/c of size, there is more internal organization than in the senate Hierarchal structure More formal than senate Speaker of the House = John Boehner of Ohio Partisan Breakdown of Congress: more democrats than republicans Texas delegation: almost 75% are republicans Majority Party Leader = Eric Cantor of VA Minority Leader = Nancy Pelosi of CA (was Speaker of the House, but dems lost majority) Republican and Democratic party Whips communicate between leaders and members D Steny Hoyer MD R Kevin McCarthy of CA Senate

100 members Democrats have about , Republicans almost half + 1 independent Independent: Bernie Sanders of VT Majority and Minority Party Leaders

Majority Leader Harry Reid from NV Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of KY Senators to know for the test TX Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison - R John Cornyn - R OK Senators Tom Coburn- R

 Jim Inhofe R TN Senators Lamar Alexander R Bob Corker R AK Senators John Boozman R Mark Pryor D MS Senators Thad Cochran R Roger Wicker R B/c senate is less the the size of the House, more informal Less energy is placed into providing internal organization Filibuster delaying tactic by which 1+ senators refuse to allow a bill or resolution to be considered, either by speaking indefinitely or by offering dilatory motions/amendments Overcome by vote of cloture Longest filibuster: August 1957 Strom Thurmond fmr. Senator and Governor of SC Spoke for 24 hr, 18 min. 1964 Southern Senators Opposed Civil Rights Act Took turns speaking for 75 days Congress and the Committee System So many proposals introduced: have developed committee system to better address them 85-90% of proposals die in committee Fan Protection Act 1995 Cleveland Browns Baltimore Ravens Declares it shall not be unlawful by reason of any provision of the antitrust laws for a professional sports league to enforce rules authorizing the membership of the league to decide that a member club of such league shall not be relocated Criteria for relocation decision: Fan loyalty

Public support Adequacy of stadium and reluctance of arena authority/local govt to remedy deficiencies in the facility Whether team has incurred net operating losses sufficient to suffer viability of the team

Criticisms of Congress Lengthy and inefficient process At end, no one is satisfied Congressional process slows advancement Supports status quo Members of congress are too focused on districts rather than nation as a whole 435 fair shares of federal pies

Americans Views of Congress Mark Twain Other Explanations of Congress GET SLIDE FROM ONLINE Why does this difference exist? (btwn love for congressman and hate for congress) Members of Congress pay close attention to their districts Make frequent multiple trips to their districts during congressional sessions There are 534 other people to blame when Congress fails members run for Congress by running against it Ill fix it Richard Fennos Home Style Fenno studies relationship btwn members of congress and their districts Districts are the ones that elect them Place offices and staff in their districts Newer members of congress have larger staffs in their home districts

Members must me successful in congress while maintaining close ties to home

The Contradictions of being a successful member of Congress The better a person does in district more will be elected More elected, more power and influence can gain in congress, More power and influence gained in congress, less time has to pay attention to district. Comment from a four-term congress person getting into pretty heady things in Washington and make input into the govt its making me a poorer representative than I was

3/7/2012 9:48:00 AM How each branch influences each other for test The Presidency Presidents influence over Congress Cannot dictate what he wants done directly Separation of powers highly evident President has power to persuade the public o State of the union 1913- Woodrow Wilson began tradition of addressing both chambers of Congress Bully Pulpit o Like a preacher, the president should move his congregation to action o FDR- fireside chats- weekly radio addresses Power of the Veto More concrete to the power to form b/c it give the president power to prevent bills passed by Congress from becoming law Does not initiate policy but allows president to better negotiate with Congress Formal and informal institutions (written in constitution?) Pocket Veto Presidential veto after a congressional adjournment executed by merely not signing a bill into law Passive-aggressive Line-item veto Presidential authority to negate particular provisions of the law Granted by congress in 1996 Struck down by Supreme Court in 1998 Only way to give the president this power is to change the constitution Bureaucracy Constitution, Article II, Section 3 o President shall take care that laws be faithfully executed o How is he or she going to be able to accomplish this? Bureaucracy

Hierarchical organization designed to perform a particular set of tasks Implement laws Patronage and the spoils system Patronage- jobs, contracts, or favors given to political allies o Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daly Spoils system- system of govt employment in which workers are hired on the basis of party loyalty o to the winner go the spoils o winner of the election can hire and fire as they please Problems o Less skilled people get involved Pendleton Act o 1883 legislation act to create Civil Service Commission govt employees chosen according to their qualifications, performance, and work experience Patronage lives on through high level appointments o White house staff o Heads of departments o Members of boards and commissions o {BB}- institutional constraints Hugh Heclo and Neutral Competence D-----------B-----------R Not hired or fired by the parties Committed but not overly committed Try to remain in the middle but lean towards the party in power at different times

Rewards and punishments changed b/c of Pendleton act and civil service (institutional constraints) Not overly committed to the party when things changed Drawback of Neutral Competence agencies recognize potential of partisan shift in control, so they d not strongly commit to the party in control

wishes of president may not be carried out to the fullest because of fear of power shift

3/7/2012 9:48:00 AM Neutral Competence- connection to institutional constraints Definition- bureaucracy remains neutral in order to avoid getting booted when party shirts; competent to complete the job in the best general way Product of the Pendleton Act o Jobs given based on competency to do the job o Patronage decreased Drawbacks o Agencies dont strongly commit themselves to the wishes of the party in control for fear of power shift o Wishes of president may not be fully carried out b/c of this fear of power shift Texas Governors Last 3 governors in the state of Texas o Ann Richards o George W. Bush o Rick Perry Minimum requirements o 30 years of age o US citizen o Must have been Texas resident for the 5 years preceding the election Length of Terms o 1876 established 2-year terms o Amended and 1974 election first 4-year term NH and Vermont only states w/ out 4 year terms {BB} Governor Jim Ferguson o 1917 governor angered legislators and UT alumni by vetoing UT appropriations o In response, legislators resurrected allegations that he misused public money Impeached and convicted Barred from holding office again o 1924- wife elected governor First woman governor in Texas

Two governors for the price of one Mah and Pah Ferguson Similar situation with Lurleen Wallace in Alabama (couldnt run for consecutive terms) Power of the Texas Governor o Joseph Schlesinger developed scale measuring power of governors o 1960-61 - Tied for weakest o 68-69 50th o 1990 49th o 1999 28th Texas governor as a Policymaker o Fred Gantt Instead of Chief Executive of Texas, under existing laws he might more accurately be labeled Chief Persuader of Texas. Public Opinion Leader News conferences and state tours Relationship with Legislators Governor uses several outside groups to appeal to legislators Texas Governor and the Veto Power o Power to veto bills passed by legislature Governor of NC is only governor w/ out veto power o Veto can be overridden by a 2/3 vote in both chambers of the Texas legislature o Texas governor also given line-item veto

o Rick Perry and the fathers day massacre Vetoed 78 bills in 1 day Set session record with 82 Plural Executive Power of the executive branch divided among several independently elected, appointed officials, and more than 100 executive boards and commissions

24 states attempt to make sure governor and lieutenant governor are of same party (not in Texas) o Texas has had a governor and lieutenant governor from different parties 3 times

3/7/2012 9:48:00 AM KNOW ALL 9 MEMBERS OF THE SUPREME COURT Chief justice (John Roberts), etc. other roles Original intent theory Meaning based on those who wrote it Living constitution theory In light of history of the US, evolves over time Plain meaning of text What does it say? NOTES ON BB Political Parties Groups of like-minded people who band together for a common goal Diverse coalitions o Broad and encompassing organization o Umbrella like Common goal to try to run govt Responsible party o Make policy commitments to electorate o Willing to carry them out when in office o Develop alternatives to govt policies when out of office o Differ sufficiently between themselves to provide the electorate with a proper range of choices Washingtons dislike of political parties {BB} Contribution to democratic policies Organizing and operating the government o Coordinate activities of thousands of public officials Focusing responsibility for govt action o we must all hang together, or most assuredly we will all hang separately o 1994- republican Contract with America o 2010- Pledge to America Develop issues and educating the public Synthesizing interests Recruiting and developing govt talent parties detract?

How do

Capturing govt and dictating what they do o Party machines in urban cities Confusing responsibility o Issues related to divided govt o Undercutting govt attempts to solve problems Dividing society o Creating issues that are divisive to the larger community Oversimplifying the electoral system With only two parties choices are simple but not necessarily satisfactory o Lesser of two evils Parties and American History Party alignment o Social and economic groups that consistently support each party Critical and realigning elections o Elections that mark the emergence of a new lasting alignment of partisan support within the electorate Realignment o Pattern of group support for political parties shifts in a significant and lasting way o White south moving from democrat to republican supporters

3/7/2012 9:48:00 AM Political Party PowerPoint Issue Evolution {BB} Party Machines {BB}

How strong are Parties today? National party committees are active and well financed, they have helped rejuvenate party organizations at lower levels Are they more powerful or just more busy? o Parties have no power over members o Parties are advisors, not directors Texas and Political Parties Democratic party has held a strong position of power for much of Texas history o Slavery, States rights, and Reconstruction Republican party would formally organize in 1867 o Held power during reconstruction o Would not win another statewide election until John Tower was elected to the Senate in 1961 Democrats in Texas o Held a monopoly in Texas politics for close to a century Great deal of infighting o Liberal Democrats vs. Conservative Democrats Farmers vs. Corporations Battle for control of democratic party in Texas o After reconstruction, conservative democrats took control of the democratic party in Texas o 1890 James Stephen Hogg would become the first Liberal

Democrat to serve as governor of Texas committed to anti-monopoly and anti-railroad policies Fergusonism and the New Deal {BB} Increased Faxtionalism with the 1950s and 1960s o In the state conventions of 1952 and 1956 the liberal faction suffered two bitter defeats 1952 convention endorsed republican candidate Dwight Eisenhower

Eisenhower won Texas in that election o Liberals formed Democrats of Texas Refuge for liberal democrats in Texas Lasted until 1960 when Lyndon Johnson was placed on Kennedys ticket 1976 liberals take over state party many conservatives would join the republican party Rick Perry Republicans in Texas o Republican dominance in Texas is a fairly new phenomenon 1927-1951 there was no Republican presence in the state legislature o The gains have come through the factionalism within the democratic party Legacy of Edmund J. Davis o Davis was the first republican elected as Governor of Texas o Epitomized reconstruction era o Integral role in Democratic partys monopoly of Texas politics o Caused drought of republican governors for a long time after he left office