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

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

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