Representing the American People

1
Representing the American People

• The United States Congress is a bicameral
  legislature in which power is divided between two
  chambers the House and the Senate.
• There are important differences between the
  House and the Senate in terms of functions and
  representation.

2
House and Senate Functions

• The House
• More representative
• More organized and with centralized authority
• Greater degree of policy specialization
• Generally quicker to act

• The Senate
• Filtered from the people
• Less organized and more individualistic
• Senators tend to be generalists
• More deliberative

3
House and Senate Representation

• Because of the great compromise, the House was
  meant to represent the people whereas the Senate
  was designed to represent the states.
• As a result, the House and the Senate are of
  different size and House members and Senators
  represent their constituencies differently.

4
Congress

• The constituency of a House member is determined
  by their congressional district whereas Senators
  represent entire states.

• constituency
• defined The district comprising the area from
  which an official is elected.

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Congress

• The Senate
• 100 Senators
• 6 year term
• States represented equally (2 Senators)
• Have broader, more diverse constituencies

• The House
• 435 members
• 2 year term
• Membership per state varies by population
• Tend to have localized, narrow constituencies

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Congress

• Senate representation has changed dramatically
  as well.
• In 1789, Senators were selected by state
  legislatures rather than the people the 17th
  Amendment provided for the direct election of
  Senators in 1913.

• The size of the average House district has
  changed dramatically throughout American history.
• In 1789, the average representative had a
  constituency of 30,000 now it is 550,000.

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Congress

• sociological representation
• defined A type of representation in which
  representatives share the racial, ethnic,
  religious, or educational backgrounds of their
  constituents.

• agency representation
• defined A type of representation in which
  representatives are accountable to constituents
  through elections.

8
Congress

• As agents, Members of Congress and Senators seek
  to represent the wishes and best interests of
  their constituents in the hopes of securing
  re-election.
• As agents, Members of Congress engage in
• casework
• staying in touch with district concerns
• legislating for the district

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Congress

• Incumbent Members of Congress enjoy considerable
  advantages in their efforts to secure
  re-election
• fundraising advantages
• name recognition
• office advantages
• pork barrel legislation and patronage

10
Organization of Congress

• The House and the Senate are both organized by
  political parties, though party organizations and
  partisanship tend to be stronger in the House
  than the Senate.
• The basic congressional party organizations are
  the gatherings of all Republicans and Democrats.
  Republicans call such meetings the conference.
  Democrats call their organization a caucus.

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Leadership in the House

• The House
• The Speaker of the House is its presiding officer
  and the top political leader of the House
  majority party.
• Both parties also have floor leaders these are
  called the Majority Leader and Minority Leader.
• Both the majority and minority parties also have
  elaborate whip systems that provide party
  leadership.

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Leadership in the Senate

• The Senate
• The Vice President of the United States is the
  Senates presiding officer, but its top political
  leader analogous to the Speaker of the House is
  the Senate Majority Leader.
• The top leader of the minority party is known as
  the Senate Minority Leader.
• In the Senate, both parties have extensive party
  organizations though they are not as extensive or
  influential as their counterparts in the House.

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Committees

• Congress is also organized by a system of
  standing committees that propose, research and
  write legislation.
• Committees enjoy influence due to
• legislative expertise
• jurisdiction over policy areas
• procedural advantages over the committees
  legislation

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Stages I of the Legislative Process

• I. Bill Introduction and Committee Referral
• When Members introduce legislation, it is
  referred to a Congressional Committee that has
  jurisdiction over that policy area.
• That Committee (and possibly a relevant
  subcommittee) will study the bill, bring in
  witnesses, debate it, and vote whether or not to
  report it out.

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Stage II

• II. Access to the Floor
• Once reported out of committee, legislation then
  must be scheduled on the floor.
• In the House, the Committee on Rules issues a
  rule for consideration of the bill that governs
  the time allotted for debate and the potential
  for floor amendments.
• In the Senate, consultation between the Senates
  majority and minority leaders generally
  determines the Senates floor schedule.

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Stage III

• III. Legislative Passage
• Legislation generally must pass with a majority
  vote on the floor and, in the Senate, sometimes
  it requires a three-fifths vote to pass
  legislation.
• Once passed the House and Senate, the two
  chambers different versions of the legislation
  must be reconciled. Often this happens in
  Conference Committee.
• Still, after Conference, both Chambers must
  approve any changes made in Conference.

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Stage IV

• IV. On to the White House
• If both chambers approve, the bill is then sent
  to the President for a signature or veto.
• If the President vetoes the legislation, it can
  be overridden by a two-thirds vote of each
  chamber.

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How Congress Decides

• Congressional decision-making is affected by a
  number of factors both outside Congress and
  inside Congress.
• Outside influences include constituents and
  interest groups.
• Inside influences include parties, committees,
  and member-to-member bargaining and logrolling.

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Other Congressional Powers

• In addition to legislating, Congress plays
  important roles in the separation of powers
• oversight
• advice and consent
• impeachment