--Congressional Behavior--

Your Learning Objective

CON-3.C: Explain how congressional behavior is influenced by election processes, partisanship, and divided government.

CON-3.C.1: Congressional behavior and governing effectiveness are influenced by:

Ideological divisions within Congress that can lead to gridlock or create the need for negotiation and compromise
Gerrymandering, redistricting, and unequal representation of constituencies have been partially addressed by such Court decisions as Baker v. Carr (1962), which opened the door to equal protection challenges to redistricting and stated the “one person, one vote” doctrine, and the no-racial- gerrymandering decision in Shaw v. Reno (1993)
Elections that have led to a divided government, including partisan votes against presidential initiatives and congressional refusal to confirm appointments of “lame-duck” presidents of the opposite party
Different role conceptions of “trustee,” “delegate,” and “politico” as related to constituent accountability in each chamber.

Essential Content

Congressional Behavior-

How Congress Votes- e.g. Senator Joe Manchin
Read argument on term limits here
Review: Gerrymandering, redistricting, and unequal representation of constituencies (slide 10-12 most importantly)

Extra Support

5 minutes on gridlock and partisanship

Congressional behavior: advanced (practice) | Khan AcademyPractice your skills in this exercise on how congressional behavior is influenced by election processes, partisanship, and divided government.

6 minutes on gerrymandering

9-minute crash course covering elections and the motivations of members of Congress to get elected

Extend Your Learning

Gerrymandering

Two different views of the SCOTUS decision in Rucho v. Common Cause (2019), which held that federal courts cannot interfere with gerrymandering decisions that are based on political considerations.

Gerrymandering symposium: Supreme Court confirms that it will not save our maps, only voters can - SCOTUSblogThomas P. Wolf (@tomtmwolf) is Counsel with the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, which filed an amicus brief in support of the challengers in Rucho v. Common Cause and Lamone v. Benisek. The Supreme Court’s ruling in this term’s partisan-gerrymandering cas

Gerrymandering symposium: Finally finality from the Supreme Court on partisan gerrymandering - SCOTUSblogJustin Riemer is Chief Counsel of the Republican National Committee, which filed an amicus brief in support of the state in Rucho v. Common Cause. The Supreme Court’s decision in Rucho v. Common Cause is a triumph of judicial prudence. The majority wisely declines to “inject [itself] into the mos

Trump signs order to prevent illegal immigrants from being counted in redrawing of voting districtsPresident Trump on Tuesday will sign an executive order to prevent illegal immigrants from being counted for the purposes of re-drawing congressional districts after the 2020 census.

Republicans Won Almost Every Election Where Redistricting Was At StakeJoe Biden may have won the White House, but down-ballot races were much better for Republicans. In fact, the GOP’s victories in state-level elections could pay …

Lame-Duck Judicial Appointments

What Happened With Merrick Garland In 2016 And Why It Matters Now Back then, Mitch McConnell boasted: "One of my proudest moments was when I looked Barack Obama in the eye and I said, 'Mr. President, you will not fill the Supreme Court vacancy.' "

Republicans Treated Merrick Garland Way Better Than Democrats Treated Brett KavanaughBrett Kavanaugh takes his seat amid debates about the Supreme Court’s ‘legitimacy,’ with substantial portions of the population thinking he’s a rapist.

Lame Duck Appointments_ We've Had a Few.pdf

One-third of all U.S. presidents appointed a Supreme Court justice in an election year __ Reader View.pdf

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