Chapter 10 Congress Section 1: National Legislature Bicameral congress 1. Historical Great Britain had one, most colonies as well 2. Practical compromise between big state and small state issue 3. Theoretical checks and balances over each other Terms of Congress is 2 years 1 st term March 1789, ended 1791 TODAY: term starts on 3 rd of January of odd numbered years 113 th Congress started with the winners of the 2012 election. 114 th Congress started with winners of the 2014 election. Each term has 2 sessions (114 th Congress, 1 st session to 2015, 2 nd session to 2016) President can call into Special Session (doesn t happen often) Section 2: House of Representatives Size: 435 members, fixed by Congress 1 st Congress had 65 Representatives Terms: 2 years (same as term of Congress) Apportionment: determined by population, minimum is 1 Census demanded by Constitution every 10 years Reapportionment Act of 1929 set number of representatives at 435 100% of House is up for re-election every two years Districts: drawn by individual states legislatures after census Gerrymandering: drawing districts to the advantage of one party over another Constitutional qualifications for House of Representatives 1. AGE - 25 years old 2. CITIZENSHIP - citizen of US for at least 7 years 3. RESIDENCY - must live in STATE from which they are elected Informal qualifications Party identification, ethnic characteristics, gender, political experience, etc Section 3: The Senate Size: 100 members, fixed as 2 per state Terms: 6 years (3 Congressional terms) Election 1787-1913: selected by States legislatures 17 th Amendment passed in 1913 changed to popular election PAGE 1
Senate is called a continuous body, only 1/3 is up for re-election every two years Constitutional qualifications for Senate 1. AGE - 30 years old 2. CITIZENSHIP - citizen of US for at least 9 years 3. RESIDENCY - must live in STATE from which they are elected Section 4: Members of Congress Jobs of Members of Congress 1. legislators 2. representatives of their constituents 3. committee members 4. servants of their constituents 5. politicians Compensation $165,200 Benefits: healthcare, travel/office allowances, retirement/pension plan, free postage Chapter 11 Powers of Congress Section 1: Scope of Powers Congressional power Express written down Implied come from express Strict Constructionists Led by Thomas Jefferson Congress should only exercise those express powers and few implied powers Liberal Constructionists Led by Alexander Hamilton Wanted broad interpretation of Constitution and of implied powers Section 2: Express Powers of Money and Commerce Section 3: Other Express Powers Section 4: Implied Powers Necessary and Proper Clause McCullough v Maryland 1819, 2 nd Bank of the United States states opposed the charter of the national bank Maryland issued a tax on any bills issued by a bank not chartered in Maryland Second Bank s cashier (McCulloch) refused to pay the tax to the State, the bank was sued by the state. Supreme Court said that the government had the right to create the bank under the necessary and proper clause because the government had the express power to tax, borrow, create currency and the commerce clause. PAGE 2
Section 5: Nonlegislative Powers Constitutional amendments Electoral duties o if no President, the House decides o if no VP, the Senate decides Impeachment o House has sole power to impeach, to accuse the President or other civil officer of impeachable offenses o Senate tries the case (guilty or innocent) Johnson 1868 impeached by House, found not guilty Clinton 1998 impeached by House, found not guilty Executive Powers o Appointments Senate approves cabinet positions, judges, US attorneys, federal marshals o Treaties must be approved by the Senate Investigatory power o Investigate to gather information, oversee various branches, focus attention on a particular subject, expose questionable activities of public officials, promote particular interests of members of Congress Chapter 12 Congress in Action Section 1: Congress Organizes January 3, odd numbered years State of the Union required by the Constitution Presiding officers Speaker of the House (elected presiding officer of majority party, 3 rd in line) o Preside over House and keep order President of the Senate o Vice president of US President pro tempore o In charge when President of the Senate is gone. (elected of majority party, 4 th in line) Other presiding officers o Senate Majority Leader Minority Leader Whip o House Majority Leader Minority Leader Whip Seniority rule, unwritten custom, the most important positions will be held by the person who s been in Congress the longest. PAGE 3
Section 2: Committees in Congress Standing Committees permanent committees to deal with policy matters (agriculture, veterans affairs, appropriations) Select Committees called for a special purpose and limited time Joint Committees committee of both the house and senate, some are select, some are permanent Conference Committee sole purpose is to work out differences in a bill (made up of members from House and Senate House Rules Committee traffic cop for bills in the House, decides when House bills are discussed. Section 3 and Section 4 How a Bill becomes a Law Chapter 5: Political Parties Political party is a group of people who hope to win elections and run the government. What do they do? Nominate candidates Inform and activate supporters Bonding agent ensure the good performance of candidates Govern Act as watchdog if not in power (majority) Why a 2-party system in US? Historical began with Federalists/Anti-Federalists, even though Framers didn t want any political parties Force of Tradition can always change Electoral system winner takes all generally is best when only 2 candidates Ideological consensus our differences aren t as great as other countries Multi-party system Coalition governments no one has clear majority, so smaller groups band together to form a majority One Party system NO PARTY SYSTEM US History of parties 2 party system officially started with 1800 presidential election PAGE 4
Adams Federalist Jefferson Democrat Republican Democratic Party Oldest existing major party in US 1 st Democratic president in 1828 o Andrew Jackson Era of the Democrats o 1800 1860 and 1932 1968 Republican Party 1 st Republican President in 1860 o Abraham Lincoln Broke off from Democrat Republicans o Issue was slavery Era of the Republicans o 1860 1932 Donkey and Elephant political cartoons by Thomas Nast 1874 Since 1968 3 Democrats (Carter, Clinton, Obama) 5 Republicans (Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush I, Bush II) 2008 and 2012 Presidential Election 231 million Americans of voting age, 200 million registered 2008: 133 million Americans voted (56.8%) 2012: 129 million Americans voted (53%) in non-presidential year, 30% is considered good turnout Minority Parties 4 types ideological party members hold a particular set of beliefs (Communist Party, Green Party) PAGE 5
economic protest party generally in times of economic turmoil (Populist Party) single issue party one public policy issue (legalization of marijuana) splinter party split from one of major parties, usually centered around one person (Bull Moose Teddy Roosevelt, Reform Party Ross Perot, Tea Party) Act as spoilers of elections 1992 (Ross Perot split Republican party, election went to Bill Clinton) 2000 (Ralph Nader split Democratic vote, election went to George Bush, II) Chapter 9 Interest Groups A private organization that tries to persuade public officials to respond to interests and to make public policy changes Public policy includes all the goals a government sets and how it achieves those goals James Madison called interest groups factions in 1787 The Federalist #10. Positive functions of interest groups Get people interested in public issues People are represented by issues, not geography Provide additional information to the government that would help policy Provide political participation for citizens, even BEFORE they can vote! Negative functions of interest groups Overly influential Names are often misleading as to size and influence super groups often are run by a small group who dominate the rest Often go to extremes to get influence in government 4 Types of interest groups Economic Interests Business groups o US Brewers Association oldest interest group when Congress taxed beer in 1862 (sin tax) o National Association of Manufacturers and US Chamber of Commerce Labor Unions Agricultural Groups o American Farm Bureau o National Grange Professional Groups o American Medical Association o American Bar Association PAGE 6
o National Education Association Causes promoting an idea or cause o American Civil Liberties Union o Sierra Club o National Right-to-Life Committee and Planned Parenthood Welfare of Certain Groups o AARP o NAACP Religious Organizations o All major religions have interest groups Groups at work o Influencing public opinion o Propaganda o Influence parties and elections o Lobbying o Regulation of lobbyists o Regulation of funding for elections PAGE 7