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SAGE Journal Articles

SJ-userguide.pdf

Article 1: Rocca, M. S. (October 2007). The Effect of Race and Ethnicity on Bill Sponsorship and Co-sponsorship in Congress.  American Politics Research 36(1). 130-152.

This article discusses Black and Latino legislator’s use of bill sponsor and co-sponsorship in Congress. The authors hypothesize that minority legislators’ lack of influence in Congress, they sponsor and cosponsor fewer bills than do non-minorities. The authors find that Black and Latino legislators do in fact sponsor and cosponsor significantly fewer bills than White and non-Latino legislators.

Questions to Consider:

1. What are the goals of members of Congress and how do bill sponsorships and co-sponsorships affect those goals?

2.  What do the authors find in regards to their two hypothesis?

3. Do you believe that minority representation in Congress will ever reach a level where they can support greater legislative effectiveness?

Learning Objective: 6.5 Relate the institutional structures in the House and Senate that help members overcome barriers to collective action

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Article 2: Lee, J. (March 2013). Contingent Party Pressure and Legislative Gridlock. American Politics Research 41(2). 175-202.

This article examines the contingent party pressures and their effect on gridlock. The authors suggest an alternative contingent party pressure model and find that legislative gridlock is affected by the interactions of issue salience and government types. High issue salience increases legislative gridlock under unified government and decreases under divided government.

Questions to Consider:

1. What is pivotal politics model and how does it apply to legislative gridlock?

2. What differences do the authors find in terms of gridlock under their model? Does issue salience make a difference?

Learning Objective: 6.6 Describe what influences public opinion about Congress and its performance

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Article 3: Smith, S. S. and Park, H. M. (September 2013). Americans’ Attitudes About the Senate Filibuster.  American Politics Research 41(5). 735-760.

This article examines the public’s attitude towards the Senate’s practice of filibuster and cloture. The authors measure those attitude and find that the attitudes change in ways predicted by respondent’s partisan and policy preferences.

Questions to Consider:

1. What is the balance between majority and minority rights? Is this a common Elite argument?

2. What is the conventional wisdom in regards to the public opinion about congressional procedures?

3. What are the author’s suggestions for future research on the public opinion and congressional procedures?

Learning Objective: 6.4 Explain six basic problems of legislative organization

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Logic7eCh6-gridlock.pdf

Clemmitt, M. (April 2010). Gridlock in Washington. CQ Researcher. 20(17). 385-408.

This article discusses historic health-care legislation that was enacted the spring of 2010 and the state of gridlock in Washington. Political scientists blame the increasingly fierce competition for power between the ideologically rigid Democratic and Republican parties, which has risen to levels not seen since the Civil War. Analysts blame the Senate's cloture rule, which requires a 60-vote supermajority to end a filibuster and proceed to voting.

Questions to Consider:

1. Do you believe Congress needs a makeover?

2. What is the cloture rule?

3. What is the reconciliation procedure?

Learning Objective: 6.2 Identify factors that create advantages and disadvantages in congressional electoral politics