CMC Congress Course: January 2015

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

First Assignment, Spring 2015

Pick one:

Compare and contrast the “Hill styles” and “home styles” of two senators from any state. Explain the key similarities and differences.
Pick one of the following party leaders: Reid, McConnell, or Pelosi. Evaluate that leader’s performance in 2014. That is, what were the leader’s main political and policy goals for the year, and how well did the leader achieve them in light of the relevant resources and constraints?
Pick any House seat that changed party hands in 2014. Explain the outcome, with reference to candidates, the district’s characteristics, and the larger political climate. Is the same party likely to hold the seat in 2016?

Essays should reflect an understanding of class readings and discussions. Many resources, including CQ Weekly and Politics in America are at Honnold Library/Databases/CQ Library. see The Almanac of American Politics either in hardcopy at Honnold or via the library website. Consult other sources as well. See: http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/pages/faculty/JPitney/congress.html

The specifications:

Essays should be typed (12-point), double-spaced, and no more than four pages long. I will not read past the fourth page.
Cite your sources. Please use endnotes in the format of Chicago Manual of Style. Endnotes do not count against the page limit. Please do not use footnotes, which take up too much page space.
Watch your spelling, grammar, diction, and punctuation. Errors will count against you. Return essays to the Sakai dropbox for this class by 11:59 PM, Thursday, February 12. Papers will drop one gradepoint for one day’s lateness, a full letter grade after that.

Two Political Branches, Two Chambers

Two Political Branches:

Express power: Article I of the Constitution
Implied powers: Is a health insurance mandate constitutional?
Inherent powers

Two Chambers:

Bicameralism and Federalist 51:

But it is not possible to give to each department an equal power of self-defense. In republican government, the legislative authority necessarily predominates. The remedy for this inconveniency is to divide the legislature into different branches; and to render them, by different modes of election and different principles of action, as little connected with each other as the nature of their common functions and their common dependence on the society will admit. It may even be necessary to guard against dangerous encroachments by still further precautions.

House-Senate Differences

Size:

A Senate session.

A House session:

One major difference between the chambers is that few House members run for president, and seldom get far when they do (see Duncan Hunter and Dennis Kucinich). But a fairly large fraction of senators have gone for the White House or are thinking of doing so.