Congress
Congress general info Founders believed Congress served their local constituents, but more importantly, the nation Article I-structure, powers, and operation Bicameral- House & Senate (reflected biases of Founders) House-the common people Senate-the upper class 17 th Amendment (1913) people elect Senators directly
Powers of Congress First 17 clauses of Article I, Section 8 are the ENUMERATED powers borrow money impose taxes and import tariffs regulate interstate commerce & international trade * coin & print money declare war
more things Congress can do Article II, Section 2 Senate advise & consent to ratify treaties accept/reject presidential nomination of ambassdors, Supreme Court Justices, and all other officers of the US certify the election of a president and vice president establish rules for its own members, regulate the electoral college, override a presidential veto
Necessary & Proper Clause aka the elastic clause the power to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the powers of Article I and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the US, or any department or officer thereof sets the stage for a greatly expanded role for the national govt relative to the states constitutes, in theory, a check on the expansion of presidential powers
Functions of Congress Law-making Service to Constituents-act as brokers between private citizens & fed. govt. mostly done through casework Representation Function Trustee View-legislators act as trustees of the broad interest of their entire society and vote against narrow interests Instructed Delegate View-legislators should behave as instructed delegates they should mirror the views of the majority
more functions Oversight Function-process by which Congress follows up on the laws it has enacted to ensure that they are being enforced and administered in the way Congress intended Public-Education Function-educating the public through hearings, debates, and AGENDA SETTING Conflict-Resolution Function-resolving differences among competing points of view by passing laws to accommodate as many interested parties as possible
last of the powers Debate and Filibustering-in the Senate is unlimited debate to halt action on a particular bill can be ended under Rule 22 by invoking cloture Prestige HoR not as much individual recognition as members of the Senate (too many of them) Senate gain media exposure easier
Differences between House and Senate
Perks pay 174,000 per year special benefits-capitol Hill gym, low cost haircuts, free close-in parking at DC airports, free medical care, generous pension plan franking free postage* doesn t sound like a big deal BUT they can mail newsletters, surveys, and other letters for free 29 million people in Texas x.49 postage a senator mailing something to every person in Texas saves $14,210,000
more perks permanent professional staffs-average 30 for a senator
Congressional Elections elections operated by individual state govts * 1/3 of seats in both houses elected every 2 years Power of Incumbency-overwhelming majority of those running for re-election are successful by advertising-using mass media by credit claiming -focusing on things the legislator claims to have done that benefitted constituents by position taking -explains his/her voting record on key issues
Congressional Reapportionment reapportionment allocation of House seats after census redistricting redrawing of boundaries within the state gerrymandering when the shape of a district is altered substantially by a dominate party to maximize its electoral strength at the expense of the minority party https://youtu.be/mky11ujb9ay
Congress & Amending the Constitution