Congress

Represents the American People

Members of congress must be responsive to their constituents.

  • Constituency: residents in the area from which an official is elected

The Constitution provides for a bicameral legislature that includes the House and the Senate.

Each chamber serves different constituencies.

  • Senators represent larger and more diverse constituencies

  • Representatives in the House serve distinct districts within each state.

House:

  • Two-year terms

  • Must be 25

  • 435 members

  • Elected by people of the district

Senate:

  • Six-year term

  • Must be 30

  • 100 members

  • Two per state

  • Originally elected by state legislature

  • Today elected by the people of the state (17th Amendment)


Because house memeber seek reelection every two years and senators seek reelection every six years:

House members are more attuned to the legislature needs of local interest groups.

  • The constituents they most effectively ad frequently serve are interests with specific legislative agendas

Senators serve more heterogeneous constituencies.

  • They better serve interest organized on a statewide or national basis.

  • They are more insulated from the pressures of individual, narrow, and immediate interests.


Representatives may follow a delegate or a trustee model of representation

Delegate: a representative who acts and votes according to the preferences of his or her constituency

Trustee: a representative who votes based on what he or she thinks is best for his or her constituency


Appointments and Redistricting

Apportionment and redistricting also affect who wins a seat in the House of Representatives.

Apportionment: the process, occurring after every decennial census, that allocates congressional seats among the 50 states.

  • Population shift to the south and west has increased the size of congressional delegation from those regions.

Redistricting: the process of redrawing election districts and redistributing legislative representatives every 10 years to reflect shifts in population or in response to legalchallenges To existing districts


The Supreme Court has heard several cases related to redistricting.

In 2019, the court found that partisan gerrymandering was a political question beyond the federal judiciary Rucho v. Common Cause.

The supreme court also struck down a portion of the Voting Rights Act for federal preclearance of voting laws in Shelby County v. Holder


Building blocks of congressional organization.

  • Political parties

  • Committee system

  • Congressional system

While political parties are not mentioned in the Constitution, a party system has developed in Congress.


Party leadership is determined by members of Congress through party elections.

Speaker of the House: leader of the majority party and chief presiding officer of the House.

  • Has the most influence over the legislative process.

Majority leader: elected by the majority party; second in the leadership after the Speaker

Minirity leader: leader of the minority party

Whips: coordinates the oartys legislative strategy, builds support for the leadership's agenda, and counts votes.


The senator with the greatest seniority in the majority party is designated as the president pro tempore.

  • The position is primarily ceremonial

The real power lies with majority leader and the minority leader.

  • They control the Senate's calendar and the agenda for legislation.