American government brief version 11th edition wilson solutions manual 1

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT BRIEF VERSION 11TH EDITION WILSON SOLUTIONS MANUAL

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CHAPTER 9 Congress

 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. What are the main differences between a congress and a parliament?

2. Does Congress prefer strong leadership, or does it allow its members a lot of freedom?

3. Are the members of Congress representative of the American people?

4. Why does it usually take a long time and many steps for a bill to become law?

 SUMMARY OVERVIEW

Through most of the twentieth century Congress was characterized by a spirit of bipartisan cooperation. Both major parties had liberal and conservative elements. In the 1990s Congress had become highly polarized reflecting the purging by both major parties of members whose personal ideology differed from the ideology of the respective parties. Congress and Parliament are sharply contrasted. Members of parliament depend on their party for nomination. They vote as a bloc in support of the government whose leadership is selected from among the ranks of members of parliament. Party leadership has the power to hold members of parliament together. In contrast member of Congress win nomination to their party’s seat in Congress by appealing directly to voters in primaries. Party leaders are thus subjected to the candidate’s control which creates a boy of independent members. Since voters independently elect the President, individual members are allowed to vote independently without fearing it will topple the government.

American members of Congress enjoy both higher salaries and greater prestige than their parliamentary counterpoints.

In developing the institution of Congress, the Framers had three main intentions. First, they divided Congress into two parts to avoid too much concentration of power within the legislative branch. Second, they balanced the power of large and small states by using bicameralism. Third, despite these checks and balances they expected Congress to be the dominant institution within the government. The institution of Congress has evolved. The primary variable measured by political scientists in studying the institution is how power is distributed within the body. For the first hundred years following the founding, power was centralized in the hands of Congressional leaders particularly in the hands of the Speaker. Eventually members of Congress revolted against this arrangement and opted for a dissemination of power to committee chairs. This arrangement lasted until the 1970’s when greater power was given to individual members. The trend of power distribution in Congress has moved from centralization to decentralization.

As parties have weakened, the political attitudes of individual members have transformed the policy direction of Congress. Legislation reflects the personal attitudes of these independent members of Congress. Membership in Congress reflects a growing trend of diversity where there are more women and members of ethnic minorities though membership is still predominantly white males. Membership in Congress has become a career. Incumbents enjoy campaign advantages over challengers. First, incumbents have greater name recognition. Second, they can do case work or constituent building support by handling constituent requests. Third, they have greater capacity to raise campaign funds as special inters seek to have access to members who are likely to be re-elected. Finally, members of Congress can use the franking privilege to contact constituents

Democrats have dominated Congress from the period 1933–2007. They controlled 26 Congresses and at least one house in 29 Congresses. In 1994 Republicans gained control of the House and held it until 2006. In 2010 they regained control of the House.

Party label is important for a successful run for a seat in Congress. Candidates run personalized campaigns in primaries. In recent years candidates run against the “mess in Washington” since Congressional approval rates have plunged to single digits. Congress is organized around party organizations, committees, staffs and specialized offices. In the Senate the President pro tem presides. This largely honorary office goes to the senior member of the majority party. The real party leadership is concentrated in the hands of the Senate majority leader and the minority leader who are both elected by the parties. They are assisted by party whips who handle the organization of floor votes. Each party has a steering committee that handles Senate business while prioritizing bills. Assignment to committees is done by a select group of Senators acting on behalf of their party. Individual Senate members enjoy greater power and independence compared to their counterparts in the House.

The Houser by necessity gives greater power to its leaders because of the relative size of the House (435 members). The Speaker of the House presides over the House and is elected by members of the majority party. Like the Senate there are a majority and a minority leader and party whips. Committee assignments and legislative schedules are set by each party. Both parties have congressional campaign committees that aid members in winning elections.

Voting in both houses is highly polarized which reflects deep ideological differences between the parties. Today the polarization is much deeper than in the period from 1933 to the 1980s. Members of Congress are also members of various caucuses. Caucuses reflect member interest in a particular political ideology, regional or economic interest or a particular policy area. Decentralization of power in Congress has contributed to the development of these caucuses.

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The work of Congress is done via committees. Legislative committees are the most important type and have three primary functions: consideration of legislative proposals, oversight of executive agencies, and investigation of the activities of these agencies to insure compliance with Congressional intent. There are four types of committees within Congress including standing legislative committees, select committees, joint committees and conference committees. Select committees are temporary committees designed to fulfill a specific purpose. Frequently these committees are formed to investigate a scandal or disaster and recommend further Congressional action. Joint committees are composed of members of both the House and Senate to coordinate both houses as they consider legislation or executive oversight. Conference committees are specialized joint committees that resolve differences between the two houses on a specific piece of legislation to assure the uniform wording of a bill.

The majority party has a majority of seats on a committee and elects the chair. Decentralization has made the House more inefficient and has created controversial practices to maintain committee control like proxy voting. In 1995 Republicans reforms enabled chairs to select committee staff, ban proxy voting and set term limits for chairs. Senate Republicans followed similar reforms and set term limits for chairs and permitted election of chairs by secret ballot. Member of Congress seek membership on committees based on the functions performed by the committee. Members of Congress rely heavily on staff to perform a variety of tasks. Constituency service is a critical function of staff. Staff functions also include: devising legislative proposals, negotiating agreements, organizing hearings, meeting with lobbyists and agency administrators. Staff is loyal to their Congressmen and many perform entrepreneurial services to assist their employers. The legislative responsibilities of members of Congress have grown so that there is greater reliance on staff to do their work which results in a more individualist Congress. Congress is less collegial and less deliberative since members interact with other members through their staffs. The legislative process functions based on staff negotiation.

The Congress is assisted in its work by three staff agencies: the Congressional Research Service, the General Accounting Office (GAO), and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The agencies provide Congress with a pool of policy experts to match the vast policy apparatus commanded by the Executive.

The ultimate work of Congress is the crafting and passing of legislation. Bills travel through Congress at differing speeds depending on complexity. The following is how a bill is passed:

 Introduction by a member of Congress

 Referral to a legislative committee for consideration by the Speaker in the House or the presiding officer in the Senate (All revenue bills begin in the House). (Most bills die in committee).

 Hearing sessions by experts

 Members of the committee markup bill and new ideas may be added

 Bill reported out to full House or Senate

 Placed on legislative calendar

 If in the House the Rules committee will set the rules for consideration. In the Senate majority leaders will discuss the terms for debate.

 In the House the Committee sponsor organizes the discussion.

Chapter 9: Congress 93

 House will pass the sponsoring committee’s version of a bill, however, if trapped in committee it can be brought to the floor if a discharge petition passes the House. If successful, the committee of the whole considers the legislation.

 In the Senate there are no rules limiting the amendments so riders to a bill are common. Committee process can be bypassed if a Senator offers a rider or if the bill has already passed the House. Debate can only be limited by a cloture vote (3/5 of the Senate votes to end a filibuster. These have become more common. Parties cannot control the Senate unless they have at least 60 members to insure cloture.)

 Voting on legislative proposal is done via two phases: vote for amendments and the actual bill itself). Procedures in the House include: voice vote, Division vote, Teller vote and Roll-call or electronic voting. Senate does not include teller or electronic voting.

 If there are minor differences between the House and Senate versions, it is sent to the last house to vote. If there are major differences, a conference committee must work out the differences.

 Bill is sent to the President to sign or veto. Both Houses can by a 2/3 vote override the veto.

 The bill becomes law.

Considerable research has been done to determine how members of Congress vote. Members may be devoted to their constituents (Representational view) or act on their personal beliefs (Attitudinal view) or be pressured by special interest or Congressional leaders (Organizational view) Analysts believe that the polarization is not shared by the general electorate since their political views are more centrist. There appears to be trend by the electorate (Blue/Red) that may signal an ideological shift within the electorate that is also polarized. The data to support this theory is inconclusive.

 CHAPTER OUTLINE

I. INTRODUCTION

 Throughout the twentieth century Congress functioned on a bipartisian basis

o Members crossed party lines to win support for legislation that benefitted their home districts

o As late as the 1970s both parties had liberal and conservative wings

 In the 1990s, Congress was becoming highly polarized

o Impeachment of Clinton along partisan lines

o Vote on the Patriot Protection and Affordable Care Act passed House without Republican vote in favor.

 Party polarization is now at highest levels since the end of Reconstruction.

II. CONGRESS VERSUS PARLIAMENT

 Comparison with British Parliament

o Parliamentary candidates are selected by their parties.

o Government leaders able to hold party together in Parliament

o Congressional candidates run in a primary election, with little party control over their nomination.

 Independent representatives vote as their constituents desire

94 Chapter 9: Congress



President is elected separately individual votes won’t topple government

 Powers and privileges of members of Congress

III. THE EVOLUTION OF CONGRESS

 Intent of the Framers

o To oppose the concentration of power in a single institution

o To balance large and small states: bicameralism

o Expected Congress to be the dominant institution

 The Powers of Congress

 General trend has been toward decentralization, especially since midtwentieth century.

IV. WHO IS IN CONGRESS?

 The Congress of the United States consists of two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Senate

o The House is fixed to have 435 members, measured by population per state though every state must have at least one representative

o The Senate has two Senators from each state

 Importance of age, sex and race varies with issues introduced in Congress.

 Most members are middle aged white males.

A. Years of Service

 Membership in Congress became a career: low turnover by 1950s.

o 1964–2010 House incumbents re-elected 93%

o Senate re-election rate 82%

 Elections of 1992 and 1994 brought many new members to the House.

 Incumbents still have great electoral advantage

 How We Compare: Number of Legislators

B. Party

 Democrats were beneficiaries of incumbency, 1933–2007: controlled both houses in twenty-six Congresses, at least one house in twentynine congresses.

 Gap between votes and seats: Republican vote is higher than number of seats won.

 Electoral convulsions do periodically alter membership, as in 1994.

 Conservative coalition of southern Democrats and Republicans now has less influence.

 “Mess in Washington” public approval of Congress is now measured in single digits.

V. GETTING ELECTED TO CONGRESS

 Major party label is important

 Primary system results in highly personalized campaigns

 Candidates cater to their constituents’ heightened distrust of Congress

VI. THE ORGANIZATION OF CONGRESS: PARTIES

A. Party Organizations

AND INTERESTS

Chapter 9: Congress 95

1. The Senate

 President pro tempore presides; this is the member with most seniority in majority party (a largely honorific office).

 Leaders are the majority leader and the minority leader, elected by their respective party members.

 Party whips keep leaders informed, round up votes, and count noses.

 Each party has a policy committee: schedules Senate business, sets priorities for bills

 Committee assignments are handled by a group of senators, each for their own party.

2. House of Representatives House rules give leadership more power.

 Speaker of the House is leader of majority party and presides over House.

 Majority leader and minority leader: leaders on the floor

 Party whip organizations

 Committee assignments and legislative schedule are set by each party.

 Democratic and Republican congressional campaign committees

 Key Facts About Congress

B. Party Voting

 Measure party polarization in voting by votes in which a majority of Democrats and Republicans oppose each other

 Party voting and cohesion more evident in 1990s than from 1960s through 1980s

 Today, splits often reflect deep ideological differences between parties or party leaders.

C. Caucuses

 Associations of members of Congress created to advocate a political ideology or a regional or economic interest

 Gained leadership role in the 1970s when congressional power became more decentralized

 Influence of caucuses is debatable.

VII. THE ORGANIZATION OF CONGRESS: COMMITTEES

 Legislative committees are most important organizational feature of Congress.

o Consider bills or legislative proposals

o Maintain oversight of executive agencies

o Conduct investigations

 Standing Committees of the Senate

 Standing Committees of the House

 Types of committees

o Standing committees: basically permanent bodies with specified legislative responsibilities

o Select committees: groups appointed for a limited purpose and limited duration

96 Chapter 9: Congress

o Joint committees: those on which both representatives and senators serve

o Conference committee: a joint committee appointed to resolve differences in Senate and House versions of the same piece of legislation before final passage

 Committee practices

o Majority party has majority of seats on the committees and names the chair.

o Assignments

o Chairs are elected.

o Decentralizing reforms made the House more inefficient, and committee chairs consequently utilized controversial practices to gain control (for example, proxy votes).

o In 1995, House Republicans implemented changes, such as giving chairmen the ability to select staff members, banning proxy voting, and imposing term limits on leadership positions.

o In 1995, Senate Republicans also imposed term limits on all committee chairmen and required committee members to select chairmen by secret ballot.

o Certain committees tend to attract particular types of legislators.

VIII. THE ORGANIZATION OF CONGRESS: STAFFS AND SPECIALIZED OFFICES

A. Tasks of Staff Members

 Constituency service is a major task of members’ staff.

 Legislative functions of staff include devising proposals, negotiating agreements, organizing hearings, meeting with lobbyists and administrators.

 Members’ staff consider themselves advocates of their employers entrepreneurial function (sometimes very independent)

 Members of Congress can no longer keep up with increased legislative work and so must rely on staff.

 Results of a larger member staff:

o More legislative work in the chamber

o More individualistic Congress less collegial, less deliberative because members interact through their staffs, who become their negotiators

B. Staff Agencies

 Work for Congress as a whole, providing specialized knowledge

equivalent to the president’s.

 Major staff agencies

o Congressional Research Service (CRS)

o General Accounting Office (GAO)

o Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

IX. HOW A BILL BECOMES LAW

A. Introducing a Bill

 Bill must be introduced by a member of Congress.

 Congress initiates most legislation.

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B. Study by Committees

 Bill is referred to a committee for consideration by either Speaker or presiding officer of the Senate.

 Revenue bills must originate in the House.

 Most bills die in committee.

 After hearings and mark-up sessions, the committee reports a bill out to the full House or Senate.

 Bill must be placed on a calendar to come for a vote before either house.

 House Rules Committee sets the rules for consideration.

 In the Senate, the majority leader must negotiate the interests of individual senators.

 House-Senate Differences: A Summary

C. Floor Debate

 The House

o Committee of the Whole: procedural device for expediting House consideration of bills; it cannot pass bills.

o Committee sponsor of bill organizes the discussion.

o No riders (nongermane amendments) allowed

o House usually passes the sponsoring committee’s version of the bill.

 The Senate

o No rule limiting germaneness of amendments, so riders are common

o Committee hearing process can be bypassed by a senator with a rider, or if bill already passed in House.

o Debate can be limited only by a cloture vote:

 Three-fifths of Senate must vote in favor of ending filibuster

 Both filibusters and successful cloture votes becoming more common.

o Effectively, neither party controls the Senate unless it has at least sixty votes; otherwise, the Senate must act as a bipartisan majority.

D. Methods of Voting



To investigate voting behavior, one must know how a legislator voted on key amendments as well as on the bill itself.

 Procedures for voting in the House:

o Voice vote

o Division (or standing) vote

o Teller vote

o Roll-call vote, now electronic

 Senate voting is the same except no teller vote and no electronic counters.

 Differences in Senate and House versions of a bill

o If minor, last house to act merely sends bill to the other house, which accepts the changes

o If major, a conference committee is appointed

 Resolutions

 Bill, in final form, goes to the president.

o President may sign it.

o If president vetoes it, it returns to house of origin.

o Both houses must support the bill, with a two-thirds vote, in order to override the president’s veto

X. HOW MEMBERS OF CONGRESS VOTE

A. Representational View

 Members vote to please their constituents in order to secure reelection.

B. Organizational view

 When constituency interests are not vitally at stake, members primarily respond to cues from colleagues.

C. Attitudinal view

 The member’s ideology determines his or her vote.

 How Congress Responds to the Misconduct of Members

XI. ETHICS AND CONGRESS

 From 1941 to 1981, nearly 50 members of Congress faced criminal charges; most were convicted

o EXAMPLE: the Abscam affair unfolded during the 96th Congress, when six representatives and one senator were indicted and eventually convicted for having accepted large bribes

 As of 1996, every member must fi le an annual financial disclosure report that is made public. No representative or senator may:

o accept a fee or honorarium for giving a speech

o accept any gift worth $50 or more from anyone except a relative or close personal friend

o accept gifts worth more than $250 from personal friends without getting approval from the ethics committee

o accept gifts including anything of monetary value, such as meals and tickets to sporting or theatrical events

o lobby Congress within one year after leaving Congress

XII. THE POWER OF CONGRESS

 Since 1930s, Congress has lost power to the President

 Congress is reluctant to challenge a popular president

 Congress Obeys the Law

 What Would You Do? The Size of the House of Representatives

 CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS

1. Many critics of our legislative system argue that we should move to a parliamentary approach to end legislative gridlock. Using the example of health care, do you share this view?

2. Is polarization dangerous to the long-term health of the American polity? Does this polarization prove the greatest fear of faction expressed by Madison in Federalist 10?

Chapter 9: Congress 99

3. Do special interests exercise undue influence over members of Congress with the promise of future jobs through the so called “revolving door”? If so, what suggestions would you make to end this practice?

4. Madison argued that a representative government should refine, not reflect public opinion. Is the polarization of Congress having such an effect on the electorate? Why or why not? Cite specific examples.

 LECTURE LAUNCHERS

1. Recently, Representative Maxine Watters was brought before the House Ethics Committee on charges that she used her office to influence the department to bail out a bank in which she and her husband held a financial interest. Discuss the powers of Congress to control the individual members. Elaborate on the power of members of Congress to gain personal benefits through their office.

2. The level of Congressional approval was much higher when political parties had greater control over individual members. Why? How has the independence of individual members of Congress improved their positions while simultaneously improving the position of the institution as a whole?

3. Special interests have great influence over Congress because they support individual members dependent on special interest Has this relationship caused Congress to become polarized as individual members stake out opposing positions reflecting the policy and positions of rival interest groups? Use the opposing camps regarding gun control, i.e., the NRA versus Brady organization to demonstrate how the rivalry of these interest groups results in polarization within Congress.

 IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES

1. Assign students to track a piece of pending legislation. Students will report on committee hearings, floor action, and the action of both houses.

2. Develop three student teams. Each team will download reports on similar issues from each of the three Congressional staff agencies. Student teams will compare and contrast the approach taken by each agency and will report their findings to the class.

3. Divide the class into a House and a Senate. Students will be assigned to the following roles:

a. Congressional leader

b. Committee member

c. General member of legislature

Students will run a mock Congress for 10 weeks introducing bills, assigning the bills to committees, voting them through each house, forming a conference committee and sending the bill to the President.

Students will maintain a log of the actions of the groups.

 KEY TERMS

Cengage Learning. All rights

2012

reserved.

bicameral legislature A lawmaking body made up of two chambers or parts. The U.S. Congress is a bicameral legislature composed of a Senate and a House of Representatives.

caucus (congressional) An association of members of Congress created to advocate a political ideology or a regional, ethnic, or economic interest.

closed rule An order from the House Rules Committee in the House of Representatives that sets a time limit on debate and forbids a particular bill from being amended on the legislative floor.

cloture resolution A rule used by the Senate to end or limit debate. Designed to prevent “talking a bill to death” by filibuster. To pass in the Senate, three-fifths of the entire Senate membership (or sixty senators) must vote for it.

concurrent resolution An expression of congressional opinion without the force of law that requires the approval of both the House and Senate but not of the president. Used to settle housekeeping and procedural matters that affect both houses.

conference committees See joint committees.

congress A national legislature composed of elected representatives who do not choose the chief executive (typically, a president).

discharge petition A device by which any member of the House, after a committee has had a bill for thirty days, may petition to have it brought to the floor. If a majority of the members agree, the bill is discharged from the committee. The discharge petition was designed to prevent a committee from killing a bill by holding it for too long.

division vote A congressional voting procedure in which members stand and are counted. double tracking Setting aside a bill against which one or more senators are filibustering so that other legislation can be voted on.

filibuster An attempt to defeat a bill in the Senate by talking indefinitely, thus preventing the Senate from taking action on it. From the Spanish filibustero, which means a “freebooter,” a military adventurer.

franking privilege The ability of members of Congress to mail letters to their constituents free of charge by substituting their facsimile signature (frank) for postage.

joint committees Committees on which both representatives and senators serve. An especially important kind of joint committee is the conference committee made up of representatives and senators appointed to resolve differences in the Senate and House versions of the same legislation before final passage.

joint resolution A formal expression of congressional opinion that must be approved by both houses of Congress and by the president. Joint resolutions proposing a constitutional amendment need not be signed by the president.

majority leader (floor leader) The legislative leader elected by party members holding the majority of seats in the House of Representatives or the Senate.

minority leader The legislative leader elected by party members holding a minority of seats in the House of Representatives or the Senate.

open rule An order from the House Rules Committee in the House of Representatives that permits a bill to be amended on the legislative floor.

parliament A national legislature composed of elected representatives who choose the chief executive (typically, the prime minister).

Chapter 9: Congress 101

party polarization A vote in which a majority of Democratic legislators oppose a majority of Republican legislators and vice versa

party vote There are two measures of such voting. By the stricter measure, a party vote occurs when 90 percent or more of the Democrats in either house of Congress vote together against 90 percent or more of the Republicans. A looser measure counts as a party vote any case where at least 50 percent of the Democrats vote together against at least 50 percent of the Republicans.

restrictive rule An order from the House Rules Committee in the House of Representatives that permits certain kinds of amendments but not others to be made to a bill on the legislative floor.

riders Amendments on matters unrelated to a bill that are added to an important bill so that they will “ride” to passage through the Congress. When a bill has many riders, it is called a Christmas-tree bill.

roll-call A congressional voting procedure that consists of members answering “yea” or “nay” to their names. When roll calls were handled orally, it was a time-consuming process in the House. Since 1973, an electronic voting system permits each House member to record his or her vote and learn the total automatically.

runoff primary A second primary election held in some states when no candidate receives a majority of the votes in the first primary; the runoff is between the two candidates with the most votes. Runoff primaries are common in the South.

select committees Congressional committees appointed for a limited time and purpose.

simple resolution An expression of opinion either in the House of Representatives or the Senate to settle housekeeping or procedural matters in either body. Such expressions are not signed by the president and do not have the force of law.

speaker The presiding officer of the House of Representatives and the leader of his or her party in the House.

standing committees Permanently established legislative committees that consider and are responsible for legislation within certain subject areas. Examples are the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee.

veto Literally, “I forbid ” It refers to the power of a president to disapprove a bill; it may be overridden by a two-thirds vote of each house of Congress.

voice vote A congressional voting procedure in which members shout “aye” in approval or “no” in disapproval; allows members to vote quickly or anonymously on bills.

whip A senator or representative who helps the party leader stay informed about what party members are thinking, rounds up members when important votes are to be taken, and attempts to keep a nose count on how the voting on controversial issues is likely to go.

 WEB LINKS

House of Representatives (www.house.gov/).

Senate (www.senate.gov/).

Library of Congress website on Congress: (http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.php).

102 Chapter 9: Congress

For news about Congress

Roll Call magazine (www.rollcall.com/).

C-SPAN programs about Congress (www.c-span.org)

How Congress works (http://congress.indiana.edu/).).

To learn more about the agencies supporting Congress: Congressional Research Service (Library of Congress) (www.loc.gov/crsinfo/).

Congressional Budget Office (www.cbo.gov).

Government Accountability Office (www.gao.gov).

Specific Congressional information

The Speaker of the House (www.speaker.gov).

To learn how a bill becomes law

VoteSmart (http://votesmart.org/education/how-a-bill-becomes-law#.UGES3K6Wfxw).

 INSTRUCTOR RESOURCES

Abromowitz, Alan I. The Disappearing Center: Engaged Citizens, Polarization, and American Democracy. New Haven and London: Yale UP. 2010. Print.

Argues that polarization in Congress reflects how politically attentive and active voters are polarized, while less informed but more moderate voters are disengaged.

Chapter 9: Congress 103

Arnold, R. Douglas. The Logic of Congressional Action. New Haven, Conn.: Yale UP 1990. Print.

Explains why Congress enacts the policies it does, especially those that serve general as opposed to special interests.

Dodd, Lawrence C., and Bruce I. Oppenheimer, eds. Congress Reconsidered, 8th ed. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press, 2005. Recent studies of congressional politics.

Fenno, Richard F., Jr. Congressmen in Committees. Boston: Little, Brown 1973. Print. Study of the styles of twelve standing committees.

Fiorina, Morris P. Disconnect: The Breakdown of Representation in American Politics. Oklahoma: Oklahoma UP. 2009. Print.

Argues that the increasingly partisan and ideological Congress does not represent the still-centrist and moderate American people.

Maass, Arthur. Congress and the Common Good. New York: Basic Books 1984. Print. Insightful account of congressional operations, especially those involving legislativeexecutive relations.

Mayhew, David R. Congress: The Electoral Connection. New Haven, Conn.: Yale UP. 1974. Print.

Argues that a member of Congress’s desire to win reelection shapes his or her legislative behavior.

Oleszek, Walter J. Congressional Procedures and the Policy Process, 7th ed. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press, 2007. Clear, factual summary of how Congress operates.

Poole, Keith T., and Howard Rosenthal, Congress: A Political-Economic History of Roll Call Voting. New York: Oxford UP. 1997. Print. For 200 years, ideology, more than any other factor, explains how members of Congress vote.

Smith, Steven S., et al. The American Congress, 6th ed. New York: Cambridge UP 2009. Print. Excellent summary of what we know about how our Congress operates.

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AMERICAN GOVERNMENT BRIEF VERSION 11TH EDITION WILSON SOLUTIONS MANUAL

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