American Citizenship
Chapter 10 Notes
Congress
Section 1
•
The National Legislature
A Bicameral Congress
•
The U.S. is considered a “Representative
Democracy”
–
Representatives of the people are responsible for
the day-to-day work of government
Article 1 of the constitution sets down the guidelines
for the U.S. Representative Democracy
–
•
•
Known as Congress
Historical
–
Learned about bicameral congress from Britain
A Bicameral Congress (Con’t)
•
Practical
–
•
Framers created the bicameral also in
order to appease both the big states
(Virginia Plan) and the small States (New
Jersey Plan)
Theoretical
–
Bicameral also helped to help keep the
Legislative branch from becoming to
powerful
Terms and Sessions
•
Terms of Congress
–
Each term of Congress lasts for two years
and numbered consecutively
•
•
Changed with the 20th Amendment
Now Congress terms begin noon of the 3rd day
of January, and last for two years
Terms and Sessions (Con’t)
•
A session of Congress is when Congress
assembles and conducts business
–
Congress adjourns until the next session
•
•
•
However, in order for one house to adjourn, the other must
approve
President can prorogue, or adjourn Congress if they
cannot come to agreement on date to adjourn
Special Sessions
–
Only the President can call Congress into a special
session
•
•
Meeting to deal with some emergency
The President can also call each house separately into
special session
Section 2
•
The House of Representatives
Size and Terms
•
The Exact size of the House is not fixed by the
constitution
–
•
Currently it is 435 members
However each seat in the House must be
apportioned among the states on the basis of
their respective populations
–
Distributed
•
•
Representative must be chosen every second
year
–
•
Could change with the coming Census in 2010
Thus they serve for two-year terms
No term-limit for members of Congress
Reapportionment
•
Redistribute the seats in the House
after each decennial census
–
•
Originally there were 65 House Seats in
the 1790’s
A Growing Nation
–
The census of 1910 brought the number of
House members to 435
Reapportionment (Con’t)
•
The Reapportionment Act of 1929
–
Created the “permanent” size of the House
to 435
•
–
–
–
However they could still change it
After each census, the Census Bureau
determines the apportionment
Once the plan is ready, the President
sends it to Congress
If no action is taken on it within 60 days, it
becomes law
Congressional Elections
•
Constitution allows each state to determine it’s
date for congressional elections
Date
•
–
•
However, since 1872, Congress required that the
elections be held on the Tuesday following the first
Monday in November in even number years
Off-Year Elections
–
Those congressional elections that occur in the
nonpresidential years
Party-in-power tends to lose power in the off-year
elections
–
•
party that holds the presidency
Congressional Elections (Con’t)
•
Districts
–
The Constitution does not call for
congressional districts
Today all congressional districts are
single-member districts
–
•
–
only one person is voted for that district
Congress allowed each state to determine
their own size of their congressional district
•
however it needed to be appropriate in size and
population
Congressional Elections (Con’t)
•
Gerrymandering
–
Congressional districts that have been drawn to
the advantage of the political party that controls
the state’s legislature
•
–
Two major ways used
•
•
–
Very prevalent today
To concentrate opposing voters into a few districts
Spread the opposing voters thin throughout all districts
Could even use Gerrymandering on the urban
versus rural population of states
Congressional Elections (Con’t)
•
Wesberry v. Sanders, 1964
–
Supreme Court ruled that the population
differences among congressional districts
were so great as to violate the Constitution
•
Did not stop Gerrymandering, but forced a little
more representative of each individual
Qualifications of House Members
•
Formal Qualifications
–
–
Must be at least 25 years of age
Must have been a citizen of the U.S. for at least 7
years
Must be an inhabitant of the State from which they
are elected
–
•
–
Generally speaking, they must also live in the district for
which they are elected
The House is responsible for judging elections of
member-elects
•
The House can also punish members for “disorderly
behavior”
Qualifications of House Members (Con’t)
•
Informal Qualifications
–
Have to do with a candidates vote getting
abilities
•
party identification, name familiarity, gender,
ethnic characteristics, and political experience
Section 3
•
The Senate
Size, Election and Terms
•
•
The Senate is often called the “Upper House”
Size
–
–
•
The Constitution calls of their to be two senators
for every state
Today the U.S. has 100 senators
Election
–
–
Originally the Constitution provided that the
members of the Senate were to be chose by the
State legislatures
17th amendment changed it to be popular vote for
Senate positions
Size, Election and Terms (Con’t)
•
Term
–
Senators serve for six-year terms with no termlimits
The Senate is a continuous body
–
•
All the seats are never up for election at the same time
–
–
Only a third of senator seats are elected for every two years
With the six-year term, less likely to be persuaded
by public opinion and more likely to see the “big
picture”
•
In recent history, the Senate has provided a great deal of
president candidates
Qualifications for Senators
•
A senator must be at least 30 years of
age
Must have been a citizen of the U.S. for
at least 9 years
Must be an inhabitant of the state from
which they are elected
•
•
–
Like the House, the Senate can punish
individuals for “disorderly conduct”
Section 4
•
The Members of Congress
Personal and Political Backgrounds
•
There is a variety of different cultures
represented in the Congress
–
However they tend to be White males, over
the age of 50
The Job
•
They play five major roles
–
–
–
–
–
•
Legislators
Representatives of their constituents
Committee members
Servants of their constituents
Politicians
Representatives of the People
–
Trustees
•
believe that each question they face must be
decided on its merits
–
make decisions based on independent judgment, and
not on views held by their constituents
The Job (Con’t)
•
Representatives of the People (Con’t)
–
Delegates
•
see themselves as agents of those who elected
them
–
–
tend to vote on the views held by their constituents
Partisans
•
they feel duty-bound to vote in line with the party
platform and wishes of their party’s leaders
–
–
Most prevalent today
Politicos
•
attempt to combine the basic elements of the
previous three
The Job (Con’t)
•
Committee Members
–
Proposed laws (bills) are referred to committees in
each chamber
•
–
Also serve an oversight function
•
•
as committee members, they screen the proposals
check to see that various agencies in the executive
branch are working effectively and legally
Servants
–
Meet the needs of their constituents on a federal
level
Compensation
•
Salary
–
Senators and representatives are paid a
salary of $155,000 a year
•
•
Speaker of the House makes $193,500 a year
President Pro Tem and the majority and
minority floor leaders in both houses receive
$167,500 a year
Compensation (Con’t)
•
Nonsalary Compensation
–
–
–
–
–
Each member receives a special tax deduction
Generous travel allowances
Good life and health insurance
Retirement plan
Receive an office in either House or Senate office
building near the Capitol
Given funds to hire staff and operation costs
Franking privilege
–
–
•
–
allows them to mail letters and other materials postagefree by substituting their facsimile signature (frank) for the
postage
Also gymnasiums, pools, parking, advertisement,
etc.
Compensation (Con’t)
•
The Politics of Pay
–
Very difficult for Congress to increase their
pay
•
•
President veto, and unhappiness from
constituents
Membership Privileges
–
–
Cannot be arrested while their branch is in
session
Also maintain legislative immunity