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Gov. - Notes #5 Review 

Congressional Structure

  • Founders gave Congress more power than any other branch

  • Congress is bicameral

    • bicameral - two chambers

  • Congressional term is two years - each one year long


Membership of the House

  • House

    • 25 years old

    • citizen for at least 7 years

    • legal resident of state electing them

    • 2 year terms

  • Representation based of off population

    • Reapportionment after every census

      • reapportionment - reapportioning the number of representative per state

      • census - official count of national population

    • Redistricting after reapportionment

      • redistricting - done by state; re-drawing of districts based off of population

    • Gerrymandering is fueled by competitive struggle of the two party system

      • gerrymandering - the drawing of district lines to favor one party over the other


Membership of the Senate

  • Senate

    • two per state

    • 30 years old

    • citizen for 9 years

    • legal resident of state they represent

    • 6 year terms


Members of Congress

  • 535 total members of congress

    • 100 senators

    • 435 representatives

  • Membership changes slowly because of incumbents

    • incumbents - person holding a seat in congress that get re-elected


Rules in the House

  • Rules help congress move quickly when bills reach the floor

  • Party distinction and political parties are very important

  • Committees perform most of legislative activity

    • committees - group of people working on a specific topic or function


House Leadership

  • Speaker of the House

    • most powerful position in the House

    • chosen by majority party

    • presiding officer

    • assistants include, majority leader and the majority whip, as well as deputy whip

      • whip - assistant to the party floor leader

Majority

Minority

Speaker of the House

Minority Leader

Majority Leader

Minority Whip

Majority Whip

Minority

  • Gets minority leader and minority whip


Lawmaking in the House

  • After a bill is passed → Committee

  • The Rules Committee

    • oldest committee in the House

    • controls major decisions, path, and progress of a bill

  • Quorum needed for official legislative action

    • quorum - minimum number of people needed to vote on a bill; simple majority

      • 51 in Senate

      • 218 in House


Leadership in Senate

  • Senate rules are more flexible

  • Senate has no Speaker

  • Vice President serves as the President of the Senate and breaks a tie

  • When Vice President is gone President Pro Tempore presides

    • president pro tempore - from majority party; presided while VP is gone

Vice President

Vice President

Majority

Minority

Majority Leader

Minority Leader

President Pro Tempore

Minority Whip

Majority Whip


Lawmaking in Senate

  • Less formal in Senate

  • Brings bill by unanimous consent

    • unanimous consent - emotion by all members to consider a bill

  • Filibuster can kill a bill, but can be stopped by cloture resolution

    • filibuster - a method to kill a bill to prevent a vote

    • cloture resolution - a vote to end a filibuster


Purpose of Committees

  • Crafting of bills takes place in committees

  • Committees divide the work of Congress into smaller groups

  • Committees select a few bills for further consideration and inform the public about the bills


Kinds of Committees

  • Standing - stand from one legislative session to the next; nearly all have subcommittees

  • Select - study one specific committee; not permanent

  • Joint - have members from the House and the Senate

  • Conference - set up when the House and Senate have passed different versions of a bill


Choosing Committee Members

  • Chairpersons are the most powerful people in committees

  • Chairpersons are elected by a secret vote; usually based of off seniority

    • Chairs are always held by the majority party


Congressional Staff

  • Staff help draw bills, stay informed on issues, and represent their constituents

  • Until 1946 congress had no staff, however as lawmaking became more complex they became needed

  • There are two types of staff; personal and congressional


Personal Staff

Administrative Assistant

serves as chief of staff

Legislative Director

establishes agenda and briefs lawmakers on matters

Legislative Assistants

keep the lawmaker informed on bills

Press Secretaries

keep the lawmakers public image

Caseworkers

handle requests from constituents

Gov. - Notes #5 Review 

Congressional Structure

  • Founders gave Congress more power than any other branch

  • Congress is bicameral

    • bicameral - two chambers

  • Congressional term is two years - each one year long


Membership of the House

  • House

    • 25 years old

    • citizen for at least 7 years

    • legal resident of state electing them

    • 2 year terms

  • Representation based of off population

    • Reapportionment after every census

      • reapportionment - reapportioning the number of representative per state

      • census - official count of national population

    • Redistricting after reapportionment

      • redistricting - done by state; re-drawing of districts based off of population

    • Gerrymandering is fueled by competitive struggle of the two party system

      • gerrymandering - the drawing of district lines to favor one party over the other


Membership of the Senate

  • Senate

    • two per state

    • 30 years old

    • citizen for 9 years

    • legal resident of state they represent

    • 6 year terms


Members of Congress

  • 535 total members of congress

    • 100 senators

    • 435 representatives

  • Membership changes slowly because of incumbents

    • incumbents - person holding a seat in congress that get re-elected


Rules in the House

  • Rules help congress move quickly when bills reach the floor

  • Party distinction and political parties are very important

  • Committees perform most of legislative activity

    • committees - group of people working on a specific topic or function


House Leadership

  • Speaker of the House

    • most powerful position in the House

    • chosen by majority party

    • presiding officer

    • assistants include, majority leader and the majority whip, as well as deputy whip

      • whip - assistant to the party floor leader

Majority

Minority

Speaker of the House

Minority Leader

Majority Leader

Minority Whip

Majority Whip

Minority

  • Gets minority leader and minority whip


Lawmaking in the House

  • After a bill is passed → Committee

  • The Rules Committee

    • oldest committee in the House

    • controls major decisions, path, and progress of a bill

  • Quorum needed for official legislative action

    • quorum - minimum number of people needed to vote on a bill; simple majority

      • 51 in Senate

      • 218 in House


Leadership in Senate

  • Senate rules are more flexible

  • Senate has no Speaker

  • Vice President serves as the President of the Senate and breaks a tie

  • When Vice President is gone President Pro Tempore presides

    • president pro tempore - from majority party; presided while VP is gone

Vice President

Vice President

Majority

Minority

Majority Leader

Minority Leader

President Pro Tempore

Minority Whip

Majority Whip


Lawmaking in Senate

  • Less formal in Senate

  • Brings bill by unanimous consent

    • unanimous consent - emotion by all members to consider a bill

  • Filibuster can kill a bill, but can be stopped by cloture resolution

    • filibuster - a method to kill a bill to prevent a vote

    • cloture resolution - a vote to end a filibuster


Purpose of Committees

  • Crafting of bills takes place in committees

  • Committees divide the work of Congress into smaller groups

  • Committees select a few bills for further consideration and inform the public about the bills


Kinds of Committees

  • Standing - stand from one legislative session to the next; nearly all have subcommittees

  • Select - study one specific committee; not permanent

  • Joint - have members from the House and the Senate

  • Conference - set up when the House and Senate have passed different versions of a bill


Choosing Committee Members

  • Chairpersons are the most powerful people in committees

  • Chairpersons are elected by a secret vote; usually based of off seniority

    • Chairs are always held by the majority party


Congressional Staff

  • Staff help draw bills, stay informed on issues, and represent their constituents

  • Until 1946 congress had no staff, however as lawmaking became more complex they became needed

  • There are two types of staff; personal and congressional


Personal Staff

Administrative Assistant

serves as chief of staff

Legislative Director

establishes agenda and briefs lawmakers on matters

Legislative Assistants

keep the lawmaker informed on bills

Press Secretaries

keep the lawmakers public image

Caseworkers

handle requests from constituents