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Factors that affect voting in Congress - Coggle Diagram
Factors that affect voting in Congress
Political Parties
Party Unity Votes
Where the majority of one party votes against the majority of the other party. There has been an increase of this since the 1970s and reached a peak in early 2010s.
Mitch McConnell as Senate minority leader between 2009 - 2015 said that for the Republicans their main aim was to make sure that Obama was a one-term President.
There are evidence of extreme partisanship. John McCain voting against Republican healthcare repeal was a big example of crossing the line, But this was an extreme example (McCaine was suffering from a brain tumour and healthcare had a particular resonance with his position.
Carrots and Sticks
Parties have few carrots or sticks in Congress.
Sticks: cannot deselect as primaries are voted by districts/states and not entirely open to party control.
Carrots: parties cannot offer executive positions due to separation of powers. Only positions for parties to offer members are chairs or seats on particular committees.
Therefore, parties have little to punish or offer members of Congress for party loyalty.
Ideology
Ideological unity – not guaranteed, but more polarised 1969-70 – D: -0.273 R: 0.234;
2011-12 – D: -0.394 R: 0.675) overlap of ideology within parties now largely disappeared as centrists disappear.
55% of debate time was governed by closed rules, meaning that only 159 amendments could be considered in 2017 (compared to 1,037 in 2007). Without debate, members more likely to stick to party line rather than seek bipartisan concession.
Further, ideology loyalty is heightened by constituents. If elected as a Republican or Democrat, there is an expectation or pressure that they will vote that way.
Constituents
Reflecting Views
Conventional wisdom was that own constituents was the biggest pressure on members of congress. This was driven by the constant need for re-election – seeking name recognition in local press/ Rep. Charles Diggs Jnr. Ran a local radio programme, Rep. Daniel Flood would turn up at wedding ceremonies in his constituencies.
The pressure of the ‘permanent campaign’ – re-election every two years. Reflecting and responsive to ‘folks back home’ – you have to be seen to satisfying your constituents.
E.g. Bernie Sanders is Pro 2nd Amendment – he represents Vermont where hunting is popular. Presenting particular interest in state
E.g. Marcy Kaptur – attends Anti-NAFTA meetings (opposition to free trade) to demonstrate loyalty to steelworkers in her state who object to cheap steel from countries like Mexico
Pork -barrelling
Pork-barrel politics – members of Congress sought to secure funds for their own constituency. They would do this by forming groups to add amendments to bills to secure funding on bills in exchange for votes for main piece of legislation. Also known as log-rolling or ear-marking.
E.g. raising minimum wage in 2011 was only achieved through ‘pork’ attached to the bill – finance to constituency. Republican Susan Collins only supported the Affordable Care Act in return for funds for Health Care Clinics in home state of Maine.
However, pork-barreling was put under pressure following controversial examples. Under Obama, reforms in House stopped pork-barrelling. Thus securing funds for constituents no longer such a powerful force in voting in Congress. Further, incumbency means that members of Congress do not have pressures of losing seats. 2016: 97% of House re-elected, and so not as great a fear of losing.
Gerrymandering
Further, districting boundary redrawing, gerrymandering, is redrawn every 10 years by state legislatures and the politicians themselves (compare with independent boundary commission in the UK) – this perpetuates safe seats and uncompetitive races and boundaries can be redrawn to favour incumbent and no need to satisfy every ‘folk back home’.
Pressure Groups
Actively support or oppose a candidates on the basis of certain policy views. E.g NRA’s Policitial Victory Fund – their political action committee and ranks candidates on voting records and public statements on gun crime. Republicans worry about primary challenges if they are not given a favourable rating by NRA and explains why so many Republicans resist efforts at gun control.
Another example is the liberal group Indivisible which ran campaigns against any candidate that wanted to repeal Obamacare. They visited moderate Republican Senators Susan Collins, John McCain, and Lisa Murkowski in their campaign offices across their states to persuade them to vote against repeal of Obamacare. Bu it is difficult to prove any firm connection.
However, candidates might already be favourable to these views, and so it is difficult to put this view down to the actions of pressure groups e.g. Marco Rubio always claimed that he was an opponent of increased gun control prior to NRA influence.
The Administration
Members of the executive, including the president. VP, as a member of the Senate, is key to persuading members of Congress. E.g. Joe Biden was active on Capitol Hill during Obama’s first few days in trying to pass a huge economic stimulus package following the financial crisis.
However, administration influence appears limited due to the separation of powers where there is no direct means to control different branches.
Also hyper-partisanship and divided government makes this more difficult. Even when there is united government, it is not always easy to influence Congress as President – Trump could not pass his repeal and replacement of Obamacare due to Republican opposition.
Further, supporting an unpopular president can be costly to members of Congress, for instance Mark Prior and Kay Hagan lost their seats for being identified as Obama Democrats in 2014 Mid-Terms (Obama had low approval ratings at this point). Thus administration pressure is week.
Political Ambition
Members of the executive, including the president. VP, as a member of the Senate, is key to persuading members of Congress. E.g. Joe Biden was active on Capitol Hill during Obama’s first few days in trying to pass a huge economic stimulus package following the financial crisis.
However, administration influence appears limited due to the separation of powers where there is no direct means to control different branches.
Also hyper-partisanship and divided government makes this more difficult. Even when there is united government, it is not always easy to influence Congress as President – Trump could not pass his repeal and replacement of Obamacare due to Republican opposition.
Further, supporting an unpopular president can be costly to members of Congress, for instance Mark Prior and Kay Hagan lost their seats for being identified as Obama Democrats in 2014 Mid-Terms (Obama had low approval ratings at this point). Thus administration pressure is weak.
Congressional Caucuses
Collection of members or association of members of Congress to advance a certain interest.
Based on ideological, regional, ethnic, or economic interests.
Seek to educate members, set agendas within Congress and generate support for proposals.
Examples include:
Blue Dog Coalition: fiscally conservative/moderate Democrats. 37 in 2003-4, now 18. opposed to Obamacare
Congressional Black Caucus: exclusively for African Americans. 47 members in 2017-18
House Freedom Caucus: limited gov. the Constitution, aligned with Tea Party. Forced John Boehner to resign and forced ACHA to be withdrawn because it did not go far enough to withdraw Obamacare