THE STRUCTURE OF CONGRESS| 271platform for raising campaign cash. Finally, most incumbents represent states or
districts whose partisan balance (the number of likely supporters of their party
versus the number likely to prefer the other party) is skewed in their favor—if it
wasn’t, they probably wouldn’t have won the seat in the fi rst place.
The Structure of Congress
Much of the structure of Congress is set up to meet the electoral needs of its mem-
bers. Several elements facilitate their re-election, including informal structures
(norms) and formal structures (staff , the committee system, parties, and the lead-
ership). However, the goal of being re-elected cannot explain everything about
members’ behavior and the congressional structure. Other explanations include
the policy motivations of members, the partisan basis for congressional institu-
tions, and the informational advantages of the committee system.
Informal Structures
Various norms provide an informal structure for the way that Congress works.
Un iversa lism is a nor m stati ng t hat when benefi ts are divided up, as many districts
and states as possible should benefi t. Thus, for example, when it comes to handing
out federal highway dollars or expenditures for the Pentagon’s weapons programs,
the benefi ts are broadly distributed across the entire country. (This means, how-
ever, that votes on such bills tend to be lopsided, as some areas of the country need
the federal funds more urgently than others.)
Another norm, reciprocity, reinforces universalism with the idea that “if you
scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.” This norm (also called logrolling) leads mem-
bers of Congress to support bills that they otherwise might oppose in exchange
for another member’s vote on a bill that is very important to them. For example,
a House member from a dairy state might vote for tobacco price supports even if
there are no tobacco farmers in his state, and in return he would expect a mem-
ber from the tobacco state to vote for the dairy price support bill. This norm can
produce wasteful pork-barrel spending. In 2011 a $1.1 trillion omnibus appro-
priations bill contained more than 6,488 earmarks wor th $8. 3 bi l lion, so nea rly
everyone gained something by passing it. The 2012 omnibus appropriations bill
did not include any traditional earmarks, following congressional eff orts to
limit the practice; however, there was still $3.5 billion in unauthorized spend-
ing on defense alone.^15 The “You Decide” box describes some of the fi erce debates
in Congress and among political commentators about the merit of this type of
spending.^16
The norm of specialization is also important, both for the effi cient operation of
Congress and for members’ re-election. By specializing and becoming expert on
a given issue, members provide valuable information to the institution as a whole
and also create a basis for credit claiming. This norm is stronger in the House,
where members often develop a few areas of expertise, whereas senators tend to
be policy generalists.
EXAMINE HOW PARTIES,
THE COMMITTEE SYSTEM,
AND STAFFERS ENABLE
CONGRESS TO FUNCTIONearmarks Federally funded local
projects attached to bills passed
through Congress.