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