A Quick Overview
A Quick Overview
National Legislature
• Bicameralism--made up of two houses
• Congress made up of the House of Representatives & Senate
• Historically from the British Parliament
Bicameral2 houses--Why
• Practical — makes sense b/c of the conflict b/n the Virginia And N.J. plans
• Theoretical — 2 houses to “check” each other
Terms and Sessions
• Term--length of time between elections
• 2 sessions for each term– almost all year
• (one house cannot dismiss w/o the consent of the other)
• Special Session--called by the President to deal with a pressing issue
House of Representatives
• 435 members for 435 Districts• Apportioned by population (distributed)• State guaranteed at least one• Single Member Districts – each district elects it’s own rep.• Michigan has 15• Gerrymandering--drawn to the benefit of the Political Party
Gerrymandering• District lines drawn to the
political advantage of the party that controls the Legislature
• Concentrates certain groups of society that will be an advantage to a political party
• Spreads thinly the population of the opposing party voters so they lose their voting power
Reapportionment Act
• Sets House of Reps size to 435 members
• Census bureau decides # of seats each state has based on population (done every 10 years)
• President sends plan to Congress
• 60 days after receiving it…it is made effective
Senate
• 2 from each state• At large - (voted by all
voters in the state)• 6 year Terms• Continuous body--all
seats never up at the same time (every 2 years 1/3 of Senate is up for reelection)
• More focused on big picture
Qualifications
• House of Reps.House of Reps.• At least 25• citizen for 7 years• live in the state district
they represent• 2 years• Young
• SenateSenate• at least 30 • citizen for 9 years• live in state• 6 years• Older
Who are these people? (2010)• Average--White male in their mid 50s
• Women and minorities numbers are growing
• Married, 2 kids, religious, lawyers, lots of political experience
• While about 1% of Americans are considered millionaires, 44% members of Congress are.
• Average net worth of a Representative is $645,503.
• Average net worth of a Senator is $1.79 million
Duties of a Congressperson• Legislators--law makers• committee members—more than one• representatives To their constituents-voting• servants to their constituents-extras (speaking
engagements)• Politicians—elected officials• Oversight function--check the executive branch
Salary• $174,000— over 200,000 (through other fringe
benefits) • Retirement—150,000 a year
4 C’s to voting• Conscience/Trustee—their personal belief• Constituents/Delegates -- “How would my
constituents want me to vote?”• Caucus/Partisans -- vote based on party platform• Common Good – What is best for overall country• Politicos--combine all