The United States Congress Chapter 2 PDF

Chapter 2: The Historical Development of Congress POLS 3314 – Legislative Process Dr. Bianca Easterly Explain the parties and issues that Analyze how Congress has expanded dominated each of the four party and restricted the powers of the systems exe...

Chapter 2: The Historical Development of Congress POLS 3314 – Legislative Process Dr. Bianca Easterly Explain the parties and issues that Analyze how Congress has expanded dominated each of the four party and restricted the powers of the systems executive branch over the course of history Objectives  Chapter 2 Timeline Second Party System (1830s- mid-1850s) The New Deal Antebellum Era Whigs and (1933 Through (1789-1861) Democrats the Present) Mid-1790s – Third Party First Party System (1961- System 1932) The Federalists The Civil War Through the Early and the 1930s Jeffersonian Republicans  Notable Features of the First Period A body built on norms and temporary structures The emergence of political parties to expedite governing Notable Battles Federal government’s role in the economy How active the federal government should be in developing the new nation The battle over slavery inevitable  COMMITTEES  Committees => Discussion a bill as a whole too time-consuming The Early  Standing committees didn’t come about until the 1810s Years – The  Repositories of information and expertise => important to policymaking Creation of Committees PARTIES  Hamilton => Stronger national and Parties government  Would not stick together on key votes so they developed an institutional machinery  Informal whip system  Share information  Caucus to communicate the importance of remaining unified on major issues  Floor leader positions to align member behavior during congressional proceedings  Jefferson and Madison => Stronger states’ rights  Mid-1790s: First party system   Hamilton’s Federalists vs. Jefferson and Madison’s Jeffersonian Republicans  Federalists => Majority party in Congress (1790-1800)  Based in the Northeast First Party  More elitist  Represented financial and commercial System interests  Jeffersonian Republicans => Majority party after Jefferson won Presidency in 1800  Based in the South  Party of the common people  Represented agrarian and worker interests  WHIGS  Clay, Adams, and Webster  Replaced the Federalists but philosophically similar  To help the national economy  High tariffs Second Party   Investment in building nation’s infrastructure (national roads and canals) National bank to provide financial stability System (1830s – mid- DEMOCRATS 1850s)  Leaders: Andrew Jackson then Van Buren  Low tariffs to expedite trade and the sale of agricultural products oversees  Internal projects within states  Decentralization of banks (local controlled)  The Second Party System  Parties now existed outside of Congress  Interregional (Free states in the North and slave-states in the south)  Slavery => Governed by the Missouri Compromise (1820)  Provided southern (slave) states with the ability to block proposals in the Senate that might attempt to restrict slavery  Divisions with both parties, but ultimate crippled the Wigs (northerners against and southerners for)  The Third Party System  The emergence of the Republican Party  Northern party  Antislavery principles  Won the House speakership election of 1855-56  The Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision legalizing slavery  1860 – Abraham Lincoln was elected President and 11 southern states seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America  Lincoln tried to unify the county. How? The Civil War Through the Early 1930s (1861- 1932)  During the Civil War  Congressional Republicans continued to pursue eliminating slavery  Passed two confiscation laws (freeing enslaved people via the seizure of Confederate “property” and partially paying slaveowners for releasing enslaved people  Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation issued September 1862  Thirteen Amendment passed and ratified 1865  Reconstruction Before the war ended, Lincoln was assassinated, and Andrew Johnson became president Wanted to accept states back into the union with a pledge of allegiance to U.S. and recognition of the 13th Amendment Congress established complete control over Reconstruction policy Returned the Presidency back to its relatively weak position of the prewar era Passed the Fourteenth Amendment Guaranteeing federal citizenship to formerly enslaved people along with due process and equal protection of the law Passed the Fifteenth Amendment Prohibiting the use of race, color, or previous condition of servitude as criterial for denying voting rights Separated the south into military zones and established martial law in order to force acceptance of freed slaves’ rights Proactive in registering African Americans to vote (expanding the Republican party’s membership)  Reconstruction 1874 1890 Northern support for Reconstruction Mississippi first state to enact Jim declined amid an economic Crow laws (poll tax, literacy tests, depression residency requirements) Democrats began winning state offices Outcome – African American disenfranchisement in the south. Barbara Jordan (TX) and Andrew Young Reconstruction ended (GA) were seated in the U.S. House 1877 1973   White “redemption in the south”  Industrialization and national economic development The Gilded  Political and economic corruption  Progressive Era => a period of changing societal Age and priorities and democratizing political processes  Republicans in Congress shifted focus to economic Progressive policy  Federal government should promote economic Era (1870- development  Focused on infrastructure – railroads, canals, and rivers and harbors 1920)  Interest group lobbying grew as a business to “grease the wheels”  Congressional career had become the norm  The Gilded Age and Progressive Era (1870- 1920)  1880 – State-sponsored (Australian) ballots replaced party-era ballots that were color-coded  Direct representation  Reduced the power of party leaders to screen candidates and influence the direction of the party  Helped reduce party conflict Left to right: a Prohibition ticket from Boston, 1873; a Union Republican ticket from California, 1868; a Union Ticket from California, 1867. American Antiquarian Society and California Historical Society   Parties gained more power in Congress  1890 – “Reed Rules” (in the House) and the “Senate Four) allowed the majority party to govern effectively, pushing the minority party aside (House and Senate rules no longer prevented the majority The Gilded party from pursuing its policy agenda Age and  Committee government – how power was structured in the House and seniority became the new way of Progressive attaining chairs and achieving influence  Address representational issues Era (1870-  16th Amendment (1913) – Provided for income tax – new 1920) revenue stream for Congress  17th Amendment (1913) – Democratized the Senate by replacing indirect elections (state legislators were elected senators). Senators were now elected by voters  19th Amendment (1920) – Voting rights for women  20th Amendment (1933) – Adjusted the Congressional calendar   Starting point of institutional (or modern The Gilded presidency) – empowering the office with substantial capacity and authority Age and  1921 – Congress passed the Budget and Accounting Act – Requires the president to Progressive submit a budget for the federal government to Congress Era (1870-  Created the Bureau of Budget (the Office of Management and Budget) to help the president assemble budgetary requests from executive 1920) agencies  1929 – Apportionment Act – Capping the size of the House at 435   Lame- duck session – A session of Congress – or part of a session in contemporary times – following the November elections, when members who have been reelected and members who have not serve and legislate together.  Created an agency problem – When a breakdown occurs between an elected representative and those they are meant to serve. Then and Now Lame-Duck Sessions of Congress  The New Deal Through Present (1933-present) First New Deal – Policies designed to respond to the Great Depression Second New Deal – Create social change to “level the playing field” Social Security Act National Labor Relations Act Revenue Act – Increased surtax, estate and progressive tax rates on high-earning Americans Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act Federal Fair Labor Standards Act Administrative Reorganization Act – President could hire additional senior staff and reorganize the executive branch for efficiency reasons   Congress sought to reign in the executive branch after the war and strengthen its own institution  Administrative Procedures Act – Created and codified standards for executive agency behaviors and operations and provided for judicial review of agency decisions World War II  Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 – streamlined the committee systems in the House and Senate and and its strengthen professional staff and information services  22nd Amendment – Limiting the number of presidential terms Aftermath  The Presidential Succession Act – Established the Speaker and the president pro tempore of the Senate as the next to individuals in line for presidency after Vice President  Taft-Hartley Act – Weakened the national position on organized labor by allowing states to pass laws preventing unions and requiring membership  Civil Rights and the Great Society  During the 1960s liberal movement  24th Amendment – Eliminated poll tax  Civil Rights Act of 1964 – Outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin and prohibited unequal application of voter registration requirements  The Voting Rights Act of 1965 – Eliminated any further deterrents to voting including literacy tests and voter qualifications  Civil Rights Act of 1968 – Eliminated discrimination in the sale, rental, or financing of housing   26th Amendment – Voting rights were lowered to 18 in all Watergate federal state and local elections  In response to Watergate, Congress passed and  War Powers Resolution – Required the president to consult Congress before committing troops in a military Congressio action  Budget and Impoundment Control Act – Created nal committees in both chambers to analyze the president’s budget, established the Congressional Budget Office, Reassertio and prevented the president from indefinitely rejecting congressionally approved spending  Expansion of the Freedom of Information Act – Increased n transparency of federal agencies and imposed deadlines for them to meet public information requests The Reagan  1980s – (Reagan Era) The beginning of Revolution and polarization in Congress Beyond  1990s – (Clinton Era) Divided government   Gold standard for broad roll call-based ideology  Allows scholars to compare legislators from the same Ideology in chamber (House or Senate) across time  Range from -1 (most liberal) to +1 (most conservative) Congress –  Predicts most individual-level votes in Congress across time NOMINATE  A second NOMINATE dimension is needed when issues do not fall neatly on the basic liberal-conservative spectrum (e.g., slavery, currency (gold vs. silver), civil SCORES rights)  Also used to examine more macro-level congressional phenomena  Ex: to access the relationship between ideology and partisanship over time