House and Senate: Institutional Differences and Legislative Behavior
Size Matters: Consequences for Legislative Process
--House
*larger size makes it difficult for debate and being in contact with other members
*centralized and hierarchical system with lower concentration of power in individual members;
leaders have authority in making key decisions
*members of lesser time are there to follow directions
*impersonal from inability to connect with other members on a closer level; people from
different parties tend to be disconnected from one another
*specialists from having to disperse several issues among large number of people; four people
can do the workload of about one senator; takes considerable amount of time to receive position
*exclusive from set of rules that are designed to exclude members from participating in key
decisions; legislation process limits participation that can influence substance of legislation; real
say comes in the final vote
*adversarial democracy where figuring out how to win the game and then not worrying about
anything after that
--Senate
*smaller size makes it easier for debate and communication
*fragmented system provides for lesser ability of leaders to control process; leaders can be
recognized before other members, but individual members have significant ability to obstruct
legislation in opposition to them
*every individual has same institutional leverage with exception of majority leader
*collegial from greater opportunities to connect with one another; level of trust is greater even
among extreme partisans
*generalists from having to disperse several issues among smaller number of people; have to
handle the workload of about four representatives; freshmen senator can receive high position
from the start
*inclusive from being nearly impossible to exclude or limit a senator from participation; right to
participate in every bill to any extent unless limited by special rules
*consensual democracy where as many people as possible can agree with the outcome or result;
results in slow and mysterious process
, Legislative Process: How the Sausage Gets Made
Multiple Legislative Activities
--authorization; when writing a law, the executive and judicial branches are being allowed to do
something; receiving legal authority from Congress to take action; consists of when program is
initially authorized and reconsidered for continuation; must be reauthorized or program ceases
--budget and appropriation; once program is authorized, spending must be approved so that
responsibilities can be carried out; spreads out authority and provides opportunity to check in on
actions; process follows the fiscal year and budget priorities from State of the Union address;
legally establishes limit for spending; spending levels are reconciled with revenue expectations
and checks are the issued for operations
--oversight and investigation; watchdog of federal government by committees that have
jurisdiction over departments; looking at what the problems are and setting out to solve them;
may be used for partisan reasons or nonpartisan removal of obsolete measures
--nomination; Senate is primarily responsible for confirming presidential nominations for office
and treaties; potential nominees meet with House committee that has jurisdiction over
department for where position will be
Legislative Stages: All Members
--introduction; any number of bills can be introduced with no restrictions to stop a person from
introducing a bill
--reported; number of bills that are reported to committee significantly declines and mostly
reflects the power of committees and subcommittees
Legislative Stages: Committee
--for passed bills, nearly eighty percent of them had the sponsorship of a member who sat on the
committee that the bill was referred to
Legislative Stages: Majority Party
--majority of bills that are successful are the ones sponsored by the majority party; introduction
is more even in percentage because of low bar for proposing a bill
Ruling the House: Debate and Amendment Procedures in the House
--at the start of every session, House members vote on new rules; rules do not change much from
one session to another
Introduction
--take any idea for policy change and drop the idea into a box known as the hopper; idea then
goes from being something on a piece of paper to being an actual bill
Size Matters: Consequences for Legislative Process
--House
*larger size makes it difficult for debate and being in contact with other members
*centralized and hierarchical system with lower concentration of power in individual members;
leaders have authority in making key decisions
*members of lesser time are there to follow directions
*impersonal from inability to connect with other members on a closer level; people from
different parties tend to be disconnected from one another
*specialists from having to disperse several issues among large number of people; four people
can do the workload of about one senator; takes considerable amount of time to receive position
*exclusive from set of rules that are designed to exclude members from participating in key
decisions; legislation process limits participation that can influence substance of legislation; real
say comes in the final vote
*adversarial democracy where figuring out how to win the game and then not worrying about
anything after that
--Senate
*smaller size makes it easier for debate and communication
*fragmented system provides for lesser ability of leaders to control process; leaders can be
recognized before other members, but individual members have significant ability to obstruct
legislation in opposition to them
*every individual has same institutional leverage with exception of majority leader
*collegial from greater opportunities to connect with one another; level of trust is greater even
among extreme partisans
*generalists from having to disperse several issues among smaller number of people; have to
handle the workload of about four representatives; freshmen senator can receive high position
from the start
*inclusive from being nearly impossible to exclude or limit a senator from participation; right to
participate in every bill to any extent unless limited by special rules
*consensual democracy where as many people as possible can agree with the outcome or result;
results in slow and mysterious process
, Legislative Process: How the Sausage Gets Made
Multiple Legislative Activities
--authorization; when writing a law, the executive and judicial branches are being allowed to do
something; receiving legal authority from Congress to take action; consists of when program is
initially authorized and reconsidered for continuation; must be reauthorized or program ceases
--budget and appropriation; once program is authorized, spending must be approved so that
responsibilities can be carried out; spreads out authority and provides opportunity to check in on
actions; process follows the fiscal year and budget priorities from State of the Union address;
legally establishes limit for spending; spending levels are reconciled with revenue expectations
and checks are the issued for operations
--oversight and investigation; watchdog of federal government by committees that have
jurisdiction over departments; looking at what the problems are and setting out to solve them;
may be used for partisan reasons or nonpartisan removal of obsolete measures
--nomination; Senate is primarily responsible for confirming presidential nominations for office
and treaties; potential nominees meet with House committee that has jurisdiction over
department for where position will be
Legislative Stages: All Members
--introduction; any number of bills can be introduced with no restrictions to stop a person from
introducing a bill
--reported; number of bills that are reported to committee significantly declines and mostly
reflects the power of committees and subcommittees
Legislative Stages: Committee
--for passed bills, nearly eighty percent of them had the sponsorship of a member who sat on the
committee that the bill was referred to
Legislative Stages: Majority Party
--majority of bills that are successful are the ones sponsored by the majority party; introduction
is more even in percentage because of low bar for proposing a bill
Ruling the House: Debate and Amendment Procedures in the House
--at the start of every session, House members vote on new rules; rules do not change much from
one session to another
Introduction
--take any idea for policy change and drop the idea into a box known as the hopper; idea then
goes from being something on a piece of paper to being an actual bill
