Minority Opportunities in Congress

The minority party in the U.S. Congress, although seemingly useless, actually plays an important role in that of a democracy. The authors of our book, Hetherington and Keefe, point to a study by Charles O. Jones. In his study Jones identifies two types of forces that work alone and in combinations to shape the minority party. He classifies these forces as internal (inside the Congress) and external (those that originate outside of Congress). Examples of an external force include: the political strength of the minority party in the electorate, degree of unity within the parties outside of the Congress, and the power of the president and his willingness to use it. Internal forces are things such as: the majority’s margin over the minority party, effectiveness of both party’s leadership, and how long the party has been in a minority status.

The book points out that strategies for the minority party aren’t determined by party members or rank-and-file members, but rather are simply determined by, “opportunities that present themselves from time to time,” (Hetherington and Keefe 175). The situations that the party has little to no control over are the things that are going to influence the minority’s behavior.

I would imagine then, that the 214 Republican members who show up to work every day are waiting for the opportunity to present itself. Yes, they can’t do much to stop the Democratic coalition (a Democrat-controlled Congress and Democratic President Obama), but they can show up to work every day and wait for an opportunity to arise. There really isn’t much else they can do.