The Seventeenth Amendment in 1913 provided for the direct election of senators. Article I creates the legislative subdivision of authorities. Congress is a bicameral establishment. The upper house is called the Senate in which each province receives two representatives. and the lower house is called the House of Representatives that is apportioned by population. The Senate has a six-year term with 1/3 of the seats up for reelection every two old ages. and the House has a biennial term. Originally. senators were chosen by province legislative assemblies.

Allotment and Redistricting

The first House was set at 65 members or one representative for every 37. 000 individuals. The Constitution requires that all Americans be counted every ten old ages by a nose count. The nose count would so find the representation in the House of Representatives. Since the Constitution requires the House to be based on population. a fixed figure of seats demands that after each nose count the House seats be redistributed as populations shift-this is called redistricting or reallotment. As the population grew. the House became larger. In 1910. the House reached 435 members and in 1929 the size was fixed by legislative act.

Constitutional Powers of Congress

The House has 435 members and all money measures must arise. and the impeachment of executive and judicial functionaries must happen. in the House. It tries impeachment instances and can take functionaries with a 2/3rds ballot. The Senate besides provides advice and consent on presidential assignments and pacts with a 2/3rds ballot. The House. being a much larger organic structure. tends to be more formal. centralized. and has stronger leading. The Rules Committee exists merely in the House and exercises significant control over clip and regulations of argument in concurrence with the Speaker. The House is impersonal. more partizan. and its members are extremely specialized. The Senate is less centralised. less formal. and has weaker leading. The Senate has the possibility of filibustering-talking a measure to death-that can merely be limited through a closure ballot

The Speaker of the House

The Speaker is the lone House officer mentioned in the Constitution. The Speaker is elected at the beginning of each new session of Congress by the full House. The Speaker and all commission chairs are members of the bulk party in Congress ( this is non a regulation. but a political fact ) . By and large a Speaker serves until he/she leaves the House. chooses to step down. or if his/her party loses the bulk. The Speaker presides over the House. oversees House concern. is the official interpreter for the House. and is 2nd in line of presidential sequence ( if the president and frailty president both died. the Speaker would go president ) . The Speaker is expected to be a affair with the president and promote his/her parties’ statute law through the Congress. .

Majority leader-second most of import individual in the House

Majority whip ( s ) -maintain contacts and rally support on the floor among the bulk party Minority leader-leader of the minority party. In 2004. the first adult female was elected as minority leader. Nancy Pelosi ( D-CA ) . Minority whip ( s ) -maintain contacts and rally support among minority party members. In 2002. the first adult female was elected minority whip. Nancy Pelosi ( D-CA ) .

The Senate

The presiding officer of the Senate. harmonizing to the Constitution. is the frailty president of the United States. He is non a member of the Senate and can merely vote in instance of a tie. The official chair of the Senate is the president pro tempore who is selected by the bulk party and presides in stead of the frailty president. It is chiefly an honorific office with few responsibilities and no power. The president pro tempore is normally the senior senator of the bulk party. Normally junior senators really preside over the Senate. The true power in the Senate is the bulk leader who is elected by the bulk party. The Senate besides has a minority leader and whips for both parties.

The Role of Political Parties in Organizing Congress

Parties are non mentioned in the Constitution but parties quickly developed along the cleavages left over from the confirmation debates. At the beginning of each new Congress. each party gathers in its caucus or conference to put up and elect officers. reexamine commission assignments. discuss policy and more.

The Committee System

Most of the work of Congress takes topographic point in commissions. Committees are controlled by the bulk party and frequently set the congressional docket. They are extremely specialized and have staffs of their ain. Most commissions besides have subcommittees that are even more specialised. Most measures die in commission. Fewer than 10 per centum of the over 8. 000 measures considered in any Congress proceed beyond the commission phase. Committees can hold a batch of power in the legislative procedure. Committee chairs can decline consideration of a measure and garbage to allow it travel to the floor if they so take. Bills can be forced out of commission through a discharge request signed by a bulk ( 218 ) of the House-but this is seldom done.

Types of Committees

Standing-permanent commissions. Proposed measures are referred to commissions. fewer than 10 per centum of measures are reported out to the floor. Joint-includes members from both houses

Conference-special sort of joint commission that reconciles the House and Senate versions of a measure. A measure must go through both houses in indistinguishable signifier to go a jurisprudence. Ad hoc. particular. or select-temporary commissions for specific intents. Representatives and senators are placed on commissions by their party’s choice commission. They get a opportunity to show a penchant. but non all petitions are granted. And person must function on the “bad” committees-like Ethical motives or the District of Columbia administration commission. Committee rank by and large reflects the balance of parties in the chamber. On “critical” commissions. the bulk party frequently gets a disproportional portion of seats. In the 109th Congress. the House has 19 standing commissions and 86 subcommittees approximately parallel to the sections in the bureaucratism. The Senate has 16 standing commissions and 68 subcommittees. In general. the rank of commissions in the Senate more accurately reflects the partizan split in the chamber than commission rank in the House. The House has a alone commission. the Rules Committee. in which bulk party members are appointed straight by the Speaker.

This commission reviews all measures before they go to the full chamber and determines the regulation under which each measure will be considered and the day of the month on which it will be heard. It can besides stipulate whether and what sort of amendments might be allowed. Bills considered under a “closed rule” can non be amended. Senators hold more commission assignments than House members. Senators. hence. be given to be Renaissance mans whereas House members develop more in-depth fortes. The House tends. as a organic structure. to postpone to its commissions and their determinations. The Senate is a more individualistic organic structure and Senators tend to look at commission determinations as recommendations to be discussed at great length and changed.

The Members of Congress

Members of Congress have two constituencies:
-party leaders. co-workers. and lobbyists in Washington. D. C. -constituents at place in their province or territory

Keeping in touch with one’s components is a cardinal to success and reelection. Time in territory is of import. But so is casework. Congressional staff normally handle casework-solving constituent’s jobs covering with the bureaucratism. Veterans who need help acquiring benefits. late Social Security cheques. passport jobs. pupil loan concerns. and many other jobs keep congressional staff really busy. Runing for Office and Staying in Office. Most members of Congress belong to one of the two major parties. and the ability to raise money is cardinal to winning and keeping office. Incumbency is a important advantage in elections. Incumbents enjoy name acknowledgment. entree to media. and fundraising advantages. every bit good as the franking privilege in Congress ( free mailings to components ) . Many have provided touchable benefits to their districts-pork barreling. Casework wins trueness for incumbent members. Experience at running a run and doing addresss is really helpful. Over 95 per centum of officeholders win reelection.

Congressional Demographics

Congress is older. better educated. whiter. and richer than most of us. However. great paces have been made. Both California and both Maine senators are adult females. In the 109th Congress. there are 82 adult females ( 68 in the House and 14 in the Senate ) . 42 African Americans in the House and 1 in the Senate. 26 Latinos in the House and 2 in the Senate. and 5 Asiatic Americans in Congress ( 2 senators and 3 House members ) . There is 1 American Indian in the House.

Theories of Representation

There are a figure of ways in which an elected functionary can stand for his/her components. The book presents three theories of representation: Trustee-representatives use their ain best judgement Delegate-representatives ballot the manner their components want them to Politico-representatives act as legal guardian or delegate depending on the issue The inquiry of representation is really complex. Can a adult male represent a adult female? Can a white individual adequately represent the positions of a black individual? There are many such inquiries and no easy replies. Obviously. people bring to D. C. their beliefs. civilization. and experiences so diverseness in Congress should take to differences over clip in statute law. But it is ill-defined precisely what the effects are.

Colleagues and Caucuss

When members must vote on measures beyond their expertness. co-workers who are knowing about such affairs frequently have a batch of influence. On issues that do non concern one’s territory or on which there is no clear penchant in one’s territory. ballot trading or logrolling with co-workers frequently occurs. Someties. personal supplications from respected co-workers or the president can besides alter ballots.

There are a figure of particular involvement caucuses that besides help members make up their heads such as the Black Caucus and the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues. Interest Groups. Lobbyists. and Political Action Committees Interest groups provide information to members of Congress. They besides instigate. fund. or back up grassroots runs. Interest groups can win over open members but seldom change the heads of the committed. Lobbyists provide an of import information function every bit good. Campaign parts from PACs may besides play a function peculiarly if a member is open.

Staff and Support Agencies

Staff members prepare sum-ups of measures and brief the senator or representative on their research. If the measure is nonideological or if the member has no place on it. the staff can be rather influential. Support bureaus like the Congressional Research Service. the General Accounting Office. and the Congressional Budget Office besides offer information and analysis to members of Congress.

The Law-making Function of Congress

A measure must last three phases to go a jurisprudence: commissions. the floor. and the conference commission. A measure can decease at any phase. How a Bill Becomes a Law

1 ) Bill is introduced by a member and frequently sponsored by a list of members. 2 ) Clerk of the chamber Numberss it ( HR 1 or S 1 ) 3 ) Bill is printed. distributed. and sent to the appropriate commission or commissions ( in the House. measures are referred to commission by the Speaker ) 4 ) COMMITTEE-sends it to subcommittee or chair can kill it

5 ) SUBCOMMITTEE HEARINGS-or measure can decease here. Bill is discussed and revised and the subcommittee votes 6 ) COMMITTEE-once subcommittee approves. measure goes back to full commission which votes. If passed. referred to floor 7 ) FLOOR-in the House a measure must travel through Rules Committee and it is put on the calendar with floor argument bounds. House can take to move as a Committee of the Whole and deliberate or merely vote. If measure survives. it goes to the other house of Congress and goes through the same procedure of commissions and floor consideration. In the Senate. several differences occur. Bills can be stopped by filibuster or clasp. A filibuster is speaking a measure to decease ( limitless argument ) and a clasp is a tactic designed to maintain the measure off the floor. A senator tells the leading he/she has an expostulation to the measure. Since they could filibuster. a clasp normally keeps a measure from being considered in the Senate. A filibuster may be stopped by a closure vote-16 senators must subscribe a gesture for closure so 60 senators must vote to stop the argument. 8 ) OTHER CHAMBER

9 ) CONFERENCE COMMITTEE-a joint commission reconciles the two versions if possible 10 ) BACK TO BOTH HOUSES-for an up or down ballot. No amendments or alterations. 11 ) PRESIDENT-has 10 yearss to see the measure

a. Sign it and the measure becomes a jurisprudence. B. Veto it. Congress may overrule with 2/3rds of both houses. c. Wait 10 yearss and if Congress remains in session. measure becomes a jurisprudence without his signature d. Wait 10 yearss and if Congress adjourns-a pocket veto. The measure is vetoed without a signature

Congress and the President

Particularly since the 1930s. the president has frequently seemed to be more powerful than Congress. In some instances. Congress has handed power to the president. But Congress retains several cardinal powers vis-?-vis the president: support powers. inadvertence. and impeachment/removal.

The Shifting Balance of Power

In the early old ages of the democracy. Congress seemed the most powerful subdivision. During the Civil War. the executive took many powers and became larger and wielded powers antecedently unheard of. Following the Civil War. Congress took back some of the president’s authorization. These displacements have continued throughout our history. In recent old ages. the presidential term has been rather powerful peculiarly since FDR. Congress by and large responds to executive subdivision legislative proposals. The president actively courts members of Congress to vote his manner.

Congressional Oversight of the Executive Branch

Congress has the power to reexamine the actions of the executive subdivision. and they seem to be making it more frequently recently. We have had oversight commissions on Whitewater. run finance. FBI behavior in Waco. and IRS maltreatments among others. There are frequently ailments. particularly during times of divided authorities. that many of these reappraisals are politically motivated-however inadvertence is critical to see if the bureaucratism is implementing and construing Torahs the manner Congress intended.

Foreign Affairs Oversight

The Constitution divides foreign policy powers between the president and Congress. The president can pay war and negotiate pacts whereas Congress declares war and the Senate ratifies pacts. During the 20th century. the president has become leading in foreign personal businesss. This is due. in portion. to the coming of atomic arms and the nature of the crises we have experienced as a state. Quick determination devising and secretiveness are indispensable. and 535 members of Congress are hapless at both undertakings. Congress attempted to confirm itself in foreign policy through the War Powers Act in 1973. Presidents had been engaging war without congressional blessing and without formal declarations for decennaries. Congress passed a jurisprudence to halt that pattern. The Act required the president get congressional blessing before directing military personnels abroad and to advise Congress within 48 hours of any foreign troop deployment. The president must retreat military personnels within 60 yearss unless Congress declares war. The Act has non been really effectual.

Congress and the Judiciary

Judicial reappraisal is a powerful cheque on the legislative powers of Congress. However. sometimes they do. An illustration is a 2004 measure passed merely prior to the election sing partial birth abortion. The jurisprudence was a political statement in progress of the election. and everyone vote for it knew the Court would annul it.