Congressional Fundraising

This week's reading (particularly chapter 4) brought up a lot of harsh truths about congressional fundraising. A few years ago, John Oliver did a great overview of the issue. Even if you're not a big John Oliver fan, his interview with former Rep. Steve Israel (14:30) is eye-opening. Curious to hear what anyone thinks about it!

-Anna

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ylomy1Aw9Hk

Davidson Ch. 3

I found the section on gerrymandering especially interesting. Apportionment and districting seem to shape Congress more than most people realize, making me wonder about the role of state legislatures and state elections. Generally, fewer people vote in state legislature races, but these races are extremely important, especially when it comes to partisan gerrymandering. Because state legislatures choose how to draw district maps, these elections can influence who can/will run for office, and win, for the next decade. Until the Supreme Court lays out more consistent guidelines as to what is and is not allowable gerrymandering, state elections, and the small percentage of people who vote in such, may have a disproportionate amount of influence on the makeup of Congress.
-Nicole

Two Congresses, Two Chambers, Two Parties, and Four Strategic Postures

• Demographics (more data here)
• Article I of the Constitution
• Congressional staff titles
• Congressional staff salaries (find individuals here)

Two Congresses:  Hill Style and Home Style

"What you have to understand about my people is that they are a noble people. Humility is their form of pride. It is their strength; it is their weakness. And if you can humble yourself before them they will do anything you ask."  -- Frank Underwood

In Home Style, members try to convey

Qualification
Identification
Empathy

See a 1993 clip of McCain talking to little old ladies in Arizona.

Four Strategic Postures Since 2000 (House, by election year)

                                                Majority                      Minority

            Pres Party                    Dems 08                     GOP 06

                                                GOP 00, 02, 04, 16    Dem 10,12,14

           

            Out Party                    GOP 10,12,14             GOP 08

                                                Dem 06                       Dem 00, 02, 04, 16

A second look at 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.

From the Census

The average size of a congressional  district based on the 2010 Census  apportionment population will be  710,767, more than triple the average  district size of 210,328 based on the  1910 Census apportionment, and 63,815  more than the average size based on  Census 2000 (646,952). Based on the  2010 Census apportionment, the state  with the largest average district size will  be Montana (994,416), and the state with  the smallest average district size will be  Rhode Island (527,624).

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

• Lamar Alexander (R-TN) 1996, 2000
• Ted Cruz (R-TX) 2016
• Lindsey Graham (R-SC) 2016
• Orrin Hatch (R-UT) 2000
• John McCain (R-AZ) 2000, 2008
• Rand Paul (R-KY) 2016
• Marco Rubio (R-FL) 2016
• Bernard Sanders (I-VT) 2016

Several other members may run in 2020:  Kamala Harris (D-CA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ)

Connelly Jr., Ch 7.

Some thoughts about the essay, any feedback or discussion would be great.

I like the essay, but I think the "Administrative Presidency" section is superfluous. A lot of the history in this section could have been condensed or removed because it is tangential to the central thesis that, "the first branch of government has slipped in relative importance to the executive branch."

The "From Constitutional to Popular Leader" section flows logically and is convincing. I would appreciate some quantitative metrics, such as number of executive orders per year, number of appointments that the President makes, and definitely some analysis related to budgetary growth- both proportionally and in absolute terms. It is prudent to add some numbers to illustrate the "expansive federal bureaucracy handling the enlarged scope of the federal government's activities."

I would find this essay more convincing if it included a section about how Congress's powers have increased or changed. It is narrowly focused on the actions of the Executive, but this argument could be bolstered by some explicit discussion of Congress's action, responses to increasing Presidential power, or inaction.

Just some thoughts- they may be ill-informed or I may have overlooked some points,

Reid

Congress as an Institution

Trump address to joint session (technically not a State of the Union):
\



The president is both head of state and head of government. In the UK, the monarch is the head of state.



The British PM takes questions from MPs.

 

• Congressional pay and benefits
• Richest members
• Congressional staff titles
• Congressional staff salaries (find individuals here)
• Article I of the Constitution
• Burke's speech to the electors of Bristol (Davidson, p. 8)
• Demographics (more data here)

First Assignment, Spring 2018

Pick one:

• Compare and contrast the “Hill style” and “home style” of any current member of Congress. That is, how the "presentation of self" at home either resemble or differ from the member's Washington persona? 
• Pick any House race that appears as a "tossup" in this chart:  http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/2018-house/  After reading course materials and doing research on the district, predict the likely outcome.  Explain your prediction with reference to local and national conditions.

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://www1.cmc.edu/pages/faculty/JPitney/congress.html

The specifications:

• Essays should be typed (12-point), double-spaced, and no more than three pages long. I will not read past the third page. 
• Please submit all papers in this course as Word documents, not pdfs.
• 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, Friday, February 2. Papers will drop one gradepoint for one day’s lateness, a full letter grade after that.

Beginning, January 2018

Our class anthem:



 And the backstory

And the true story of the Compromise of 1790



Factions: David Hawkings' Whiteboard: Congressional Factions