User:CSkibba07/sandbox

Background

Many political scientists, along with the general public argue which party, Democrat or Republican, gets more “done” during the legislative process. Understanding that not every Congress has a unified House and Senate, this project will examine Congresses with the House and Senate under the control of the same party and under different parties. Additionally, this project will disregard the party of the President of the United States, and will deem legislation that has passed the House and the Senate as the ultimate decider of the effectiveness of the Congress.

This project will answer the question of whether the Republican Party having control of either the House or the Senate will be more effective at passing legislation than any other party. The legislation that is to be studied impacts Title 42 of the US Code. Title 42 deals with the public health and welfare of the United States (US Code) . Title 42 is broken down into one-hundred-eighty-one Chapters dealing with everything from “The Public Health Service” to “Aeronautics and Space Activity”, proving it is an important part of law in the United States. Additionally legislation not passed by the President, but passed by Congress that affects Title 42 will also be counted in this project.

The House and Senate and the passage of Legislation

This website is a government run site published by the Government Printing Office which publishes information about all three branches of government. It provides a glossary of Congressional bills which can be cross referenced with which congress enacted them to provide a clear picture of which party passed the bill. Additionally it separates legislation from the House and the Senate into different categories so that indexation is easier. It lists complete documentation from the 103rd Congress; which met January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1995, to the 112th Congress, which will meet from January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2013. In addition to a basic listing of each bill, the website provides a brief summary of the bill, where it was introduced, and either a text, or PDF version to view. This site helped me understand which bills were proposed by which Congress, which helped me to learn which party was more effective in getting legislation passed.

This article is a comprehensive list of, and is run by the United States Senate. It contains roll call information for the 101st Congress, which met January 3, 1989 – January 3, 1991, to the 111th Congress which met January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2011. It lists the yays, nays, those not voting, the issue number, and brief description of the bill up for discussion. Using the information of which bills were proposed by which party and who controlled the legislature can help me determine which party is more effective in getting legislation passed through the Senate, and to the President’s desk to be signed.

In order to fully understand which party was in power when legislation was passed a complete historical list of speakers of the house is needed. Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution states: “The House of Representatives shall [choose] their Speaker and other Officers.” And when Congress first convened in 1789, the House chose Frederick A.C. Muhlenberg as its Speaker. The Speaker acts as leader of the House and combines several roles: the institutional role of presiding officer and administrative head of the House, the partisan role of leader of the majority party in the House, and the representative role of an elected Member of the House (Office). Understanding who the speaker of the house is by definition will explain which party was the majority party in the House of Representatives

In addition to understanding which party ran the House of Representatives it is also essential to understand which party lead the US Senate. Elected at the beginning of each Congress by members of their respective party conferences to represent them on the Senate floor, the majority and minority leaders serve as spokesmen for their parties' positions on the issues (Majority Leaders). As the Senate is the last stop before a bill becomes law the party that controls the Senate can consequently be the ultimate decider on what legislation passes and which is doomed to go back to committee.

Author Scott R. Meinke looked at voting and bill proposal behavior as a result of upcoming elections. He found that there was an “increase in constituency bill sponsorship immediately before reelection” (Meinke 445). According to the tables provided by the author, who studied bills passed before and after the 17th Amendment [1913], constituency bill sponsorships spiked immensely after the passage of the Amendment going from .187 during the 61st-63rd Congress to .239 during the 65th -67th Congress (Meinke 450). These findings need to be addressed when studying whether the Republican Party having control of either the House or the Senate will be more effective at passing legislation than any other party, because, levels of bill sponsorship and passage may spike considerably before reelection causing results to be slightly skewed.

US Code

This source is a comprehensive list of all US Codes, listed under fifty titles, or categories. It breaks down the codes which will help me match legislation that has been passed to laws that were signed, against legislation that has not been signed into law, but did pass the house and senate. It has complete listings from the 1st Congress which met in 1789 all the way to the most recent congress which ended on January 3, 2011. Many parts of the Code are taken from the Constitution, and other documents of official nature.

Works Cited

"Art & History Home People Party Leadership Majority and Minority Leaders and Party Whips." U.S. Senate. Web. 26 Feb. 2011. <http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Majority_Minority_Leaders.htm#4>. (Majority Leaders)

"Congressional Bills: Main Page." GPO Access Home Page. Web. 06 Feb. 2011. <http://www.gpoaccess.gov/bills/index.html>. (Bills)

"Legislation & Records Home Votes Roll Call Vote Summary - 111th Congress, 2nd Session." U.S. Senate. Web. 06 Feb. 2011. <http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/vote_menu_111_2.htm>. (Legislation)

Meinke, Scott R. "Institutional Change and the Electoral Connection in the Senate: Revisiting the Effects of Direct Election." Political Research Quarterly 61.3 (2008): 445-57. Print. (Meinke)

"Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives Speakers of the House." Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. Web. 26 Feb. 2011. <http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/house_history/speakers.html>. (Office)

"United States Code: Title 42,TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE | LII / Legal Information Institute." LII | Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School. Web. 21 Feb. 2011. <http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode42/usc_sup_01_42.html>. (US Code)