Welcome to Congress First of all – Congress is Bi-cameral (two houses) Senate is called the Upper House and equally represents the states House of Representatives is called the Lower House and is based on state population

Bi-cameral you say?? We have two houses because it is historically based on British Parliament (House of Lords and Commons) and it seems to have worked pretty well… Remember the Virginia Plans and New Jersey Plans? They had to make two houses to make the Great Compromise… Remember that a system of checks and balances requires two houses… so there…

Parliament vs. Congress Parliament candidates chosen by party, they choose the Prime Minister, must remain loyal to party, main job is debating national issues and members have very little actual power, pay or staff Congressional candidates are chosen by voters, members are independent of party, members main job is representation and action, and they have lots of power, money and staff resources

Evolution of power Framers didn’t want power concentrated in a single institution so… bi-cameralism (two houses) Centralization vs. decentralization trends: Centralization allows congress to act quickly, requires strong central leadership and little committee interference Decentralization allows protection of members, requires weak leadership, allows delay and MUCH committee activity So smart folks, which trend has congress been heading in recently???? Hmmm…

Changes over the years The six phases of House history: 1.Powerful house leadership from first presidents 2.The House divided especially over slavery 3.Around 1900 power in Speaker of the House 4.The House revolts against Speakers power 5.Members choose committee leaders and committee power enlarged 6.Speaker leadership returned by 1990s because congress was slowed by committees (Newt )

Evolution of the Senate Framers viewed Senate as an “enlightened body” not subject to the “fickleness and passion” of the House Has escaped many of the problems of the House Smaller group Before 1913 state legislatures picked Senators so they could only focus on jobs and state needs 17 th Amendment created direct election of Senators

More Senate stuff… Senate is a “continuous body” which means that all of its seats are never up for election at the same time Every two years only 1/3 of its seats are up for election Senators represent entire state, not just one area within the state like a congressman

Okay, back to Congress A congressional term last 2 years (Senate 6 years) Congress meets in January each year. It is in “session” however long it needs to complete work – used to be a few months, now almost all year!! The president can force congress to end its session using his power of “prorogue” – never been done! President can also call a “special session” for congress to meet about an important matter – not done since 1948!

Who are these people? The House has become less white and less male Senate changes have been slower Incumbents still have huge advantage and being in Congress is almost a career (term limits??) Capital Dome Who are these guys??

Congressional member behavior Members may be devoted to constituents, their own views, pressure groups, or party leaders… Representational view: members vote to please their constituents, often to win reelection Organizational view: if not voting for their constituents, vote along party lines, committees Attitudinal view: members ideology determines members vote. Members of House more along lines of average voter, Senators less so… Either way, member behavior is not usually obvious

Organization of Congress Whip – assists floor leaders, responsible for getting votes from members Floor leaders – party position, tries to carry out wishes and decisions of party President pro tempore – runs the Senate when the Vice President is away President of Senate is the Vice President of the United States

The states and their reps You must remember “reapportionment” and 435 seats in the House… Most states are divided into districts with ONE representative from each district – called single member districts A few states choose members “at large” – from entire state (like senators) Districting can lead to “gerrymandering”

Problems with that??? In 1964 Georgia violated the Constitution with how they chose representatives so… –Supreme court case of Wesberry v Sanders created the concept of “one person, one vote” Results of Wesberry: Urban areas were now more evenly represented (where, by the way, more people and more minorities live) and notice how after 1964 public policies suddenly started to change –(Prior to Wesberry- rural areas, with a lower population, had as much voting power as rural areas, but no more!!)

Qualifications one more time 25 years old – 30 for senate US citizen for 7 years – 9 for senate Live in state and district elected from – state only for senate Informal qualifications include party affiliation, name familiarity (Goldwater, Bush, Clinton), gender (men), ethnic characteristics (white, but changing) and political experience

Party Affiliation –Republicans sit on the right, Democrats on the left –The party with the larger number of members (majority party) selects the leader (speaker of the House/ president pro tempore) who controls the flow of legislative work and appoints committee chairs

CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES Divide work among smaller groups Allows for the approval and denial of bills to become law Special interests of committees help the public learn about issues facing the nation Committees are more important in House because membership is so large

Kinds of Committees. –Standing: continue from on Congress to the next The majority party in each house controls the standing committees and selection of chairpersons

Select Committees Temporary committees; they study a specific issue and report to their house Public concern, overlooked problems, interest groups Some select committees are renewed and can eventually become permanent

Joint Committees Temporary or permanent, but include members from both houses. In theory they are supposed to coordinate the work of the two houses. Their work is limited to handling routine matters like the Joint Committee of the Library of Congress.

Conference Committees A temporary committee is set up when both houses have passed different versions of the same bill. No bill can be sent to the president until the identical bill has passed through both houses. The conference committee resolves the differences between the two bills

Library of Congress Congress created the library in 1800 to “purchase such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress” Committee members are expected to be experts on the issues that they deal with. The materials available in the Library of Congress make it possible for them to research the bills that come before them and enable them to answer requests of information from voters. It also allows members of other committees to familiarize themselves with bills from other committees.

CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT

Cooperation and Conflict Separation of Powers and checks and balances is a system that can result in gridlock and frustration. Some of the President’s responsibilities require congressional cooperation. When Congress refuses to cooperate the President may be frustrated. The Bills Congress passes require a presidential signature before becoming law. Overriding a veto requires 2/3 majority The level of cooperation between Congress and president has varied through history. Recently conflict has resulted from the following reasons

Constituents and Conflict: The President is elected to serve the nation but individual states and districts elect members of Congress. –They represent a much smaller portion of the nation they have very different ideas from the President about good public policy.

Checks and balances: sets up a situation where president is acting for the nation and Congress is acting for its states or districts and they counteract each other

Party politics: when different parties control the White house and Congress gridlock can occur

Organization: Procedural rules can block legislation. Even when congressional leaders support the president it can be difficult to push legislation through. The committee system can undermine the entire legislative system when they try to delay, revise or defeat an otherwise popular bill

Political timetables: Reelection is an important factor in passing legislation. Presidents have a max of two four year terms. Senators serve an unlimited number of six year terms. House members are running for reelection every two years. Lawmakers have different agendas when deciding on laws that may or may not benefit their states or districts depending on the timing of the elections