Understanding Congress: A Bicameral System

1. Chapter 10 Nick Sullivan Rachael Geraets Krysta Veley Congress

2. A Bicameral Congress The constitution immediately establishes a bicameral legislature, that is made up of two houses. It does so for three reasons: • Historical • Practical • Theoretical

3. Congress Terms & Sessions • Congress began it’s first term on March 4, 1789. • The start of the new term is: Noon on the 3rd day of January, every odd-numbered year. • There are two sessions to each term of congress. (One session each year.) • The second session of each two-year term frequently begins a few days or even two/three weeks after the third of January.

4. The house of Representatives Size & Terms • 435 members (not fixed by the constitution, set by congress.) • # of seats determined by states by their population. • Each state is guaranteed at least one seat in the house. • New members are chosen every second year. • No limit on the number of terms any member of Congress may serve.

5. Reapportionment Redistributing of the seats in the house after each decennial census. • The Reapportionment act of 1929: -The permanent size of the house is 435 members. -Each census determines the number of seats each state is to have. -When the Census Bureau’s plan is ready, the President must send it to congress. -If, within 60 days of receiving it, neither house rejects it, it becomes effective.

6. Congressional Elections • Held on the same day in every state. • Held on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November of each even-numbered year. • Off year elections: Congressional elections that occur between presidential elections. • Typically, the party in presidency loses seats in the off-year elections.

7. Districts • 435 members chosen by voters in 435 congressional districts across the country. • Single-member district arrangement: electoral district from which one person is chosen by the voters for each elected office. • At-Large Election: election of an officeholder by the voters of an entire governmental unit (state/country) rather than by the voters of a district or subdivision

8. Gerrymanding • The drawing of electoral district lines fo the advantage of a party or group. • Some are S shaped, Y shaped, bear a resemblance to a dumbbell or a squiggly piece of spaghetti. The lines are drawn to either: 1. Concentrate the oppostion’s voters in one or a few districts, thus leaving the other districts comfortably safe for the dominant party 2. Spread the opposition as thinly as possible among several districts, limiting the opposition’s ability to win anywhere in the region.

9. Qualifications for house members. • 1. 25 years of age. • 2. Must have been a citizen of the United States for at least seven years. • 3. Must be an inhabitant of the State from which he or she is elected.

10. Informal qualifications • Party identification • Name familiarity • Gender • Ethnic characteristics • Political experience • The “right” combination of these factors will help a candidate win nomination and then election to the House.

11. The SENATE. • 100 members in the Senate. • Two from each sate. (The senate had only 22 members when it held its first session in March of 1789.) *Framers hoped that the senate would be a a more enlightened and responsible body than the House. --They reinforced this by giving senators a longer term and setting the qualifications just a cut above those in they set for the house.

12. Election of the Senate • Senators are are chosen by voters in each state at the regular November elections. • Only one senator is elected from a State in any given election unless the other seat has been vacated by death, resignation or expulsion.

13. Terms of the Senate • Senators serve for six-year terms. -The six year term is intended to make senators less subject to the pressures of public opinion and less susceptible to the pleas of special interests than are members of the House. • Senators may be elected to any number of terms.

14. Continuous body *Only 1/3 of senators (33 or 34 terms) expire every two years making the senate a continuous body: a governing unit whose seats are never all up for election at the same time.

15. Constituencies = The people and interests that an elected official represents. [Senators are supposed to be less concerned with the interests of a specific small locality and more focused on the “Big picture” of a national interest.]

16. Qualifications of the Senate • 30 years of age • Citizen of the United States for atleast 9 years • Must be an inhabitant of the State from which he or she is elected.

17. Leaving the senate • The senate can punish its members for disorderly behavior by majority vote • The senate4 can expel a member with 2/3 vote. • Fifteen members of the senate have been expelled.

18. The Members of Congress • Personal and Political Backrounds • Religion • 60% Protestant, 25% Roman Catholic, 8% Jewish, 7% other • Gender • House: 472 Males, 63 Females; Senate: 86 Males 14 Females • Ethnicity • 39 African Americans, 23 Hispanics, 5 Asian Americans, 2 Native Americans

19. Cont. • Over 1/3 of the House and over ½ of the Senate are lawyers. • Near all have college degrees • Many House members come from state legislatures • Many Senators are former House representatives • Not an accurate cross section of the population; Congress is mainly made up of upper-middle class society.

20. The Job • 5 Major Roles • 1. Legislators • 2. Representatives of their constituents • 3. Committee members • 4. Servants of their constituents • 5. Politicians • Committee Members • Committee’s are formed to research bills and screen there proposals • Servants • House and Senate members are both politcians and servants of their constituents. • All these elements make up a politician

21. Membership Privileges • If anything is said on the floor, it cannot be held against them in a court of law. • Protects from suits of slander and libel • They cannot deframe a member in a public speech, an article , conversation or otherwise.

22. Compensation • It is stated in the Constitution that all members of Congress shall receive a Compensation. • Today, the salaries of Senate and House members are 158,000 dollars each year. • The Speaker make 196,300 a year and the floor leaders make, 172,900 a year

23. Non-salary Compensation • Special tax deductions • Travel allowances • Excellent pension plan, up to 150,000 retirement pay. • Funds for staff and operating cost. • The Franking Privilege, gives Congressmen to mail letters and packages, postage free. • Free parking • They set their own salary

24. All material from U.S. Gov Book