The Legislative Branch
Chapter 10, 11, 12
“Though the President is Commander in Chief, Congress is his commander…. This is not a
Government of kings…, but a Government of the people, and … Congress is the people.” U.S.
Representative Thaddeus Stevens (1867)
Congress
Chapter 10
Chapter 10- Explores the function of Congress as the national legislature, the structure of
each house, and congressional membership.
Section 1- structure and function of Congress
Section 2- structure and function of the House of
Representatives
Section 3- structure and function of the Senate
Section 4- the background and roles of the members of
Congress
Section 10.1: To understand the place, the role, and the structure of Congress.
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Explain why the Constitution provides for a bicameral Congress.
Describe a term of Congress.
Summarize how sessions of Congress have changed over time.
Flashcards
Vocabulary
• Term
• Session
• Adjourn
• Prorogue
• Special Session
• Congress
• House of Representatives
• Senate
Concept
• What makes up Congress?
• How does a special session differ
from a regular session of Congress?
• Who has the power to prorogue a
session of Congress?
I. The National Legislature
A. Representative Democracy Through Congress
1. __________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
2. Congress is charged with the most basic governmental function in a
democratic society
______________________________________________________________
a. James Madison called Congress “the first branch” of the National
Government
b. The first and longest of the articles of the Constitution is devoted to the
legislative branch
(1) “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a
Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and
House of Representatives.” (Article I, Section1, Clause 1)
B. Bicameralism Congress
1. Congress consists of two houses
a.
b.
2. Historical
a. British Parliament had a bicameral legislature since the 1300’s
b. Framers were comfortable with this system
(1) All but two assemblies and State legislatures were bicameral
3. Practical
a. Connecticut Compromise
(1)
b. Reflection of Federalism
(1) Each State is equally represented in the Senate
(a)
(2) Representation proportional to its population in the House
(a)
4. Theoretical
a. The two houses of Congress act ______________________________
(1) Both have to pass bills
(2) Both have to approve the others’ sine die adjourn
(a)
Sine die adjournment- ________________________
b.
C. Terms and Sessions of Congress
1. Term of Congress
a. A term is the length of time between elections in Congress
b. Congress began its first term March 4, 1789 and ended March 4, 1791
c. 20th Amendment (1933)
(1) Communications and travel were no longer an issue
2. Session
a.
3. Special Session
a.
(1) Last time used was by President Harry Truman in 1948 to
consider anti-inflation and welfare measures in the aftermath of
World War II
(2) Congress has been in session almost all years since then
4. Show video
10.2 Section Objective: To understand the structure, qualifications, and terms of members of
the House of Representatives.
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Describe the size and the elective terms of the members oft eh House.
Explain how House seats are reapportioned among the States after each census.
Describe a typical congressional election and congressional district.
Analyze the formal and informal qualifications for election to the House.
Flashcards
Vocabulary
•
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II.
Apportion
Reapportion
Off-year Election
Single-Member
District
At-Large
Gerrymander
Concepts
• How are the seats in the House of Representatives
apportioned?
• When will the next two off-year elections occur?
• Explain the difference between a single-member
district seat and an at-large seat.
• Why do politicians gerrymander districts?
• How did Wesberry v. Sanders change the makeup of
Congress?
The House of Representatives
A. Size and Terms
1. Today there are
a.
2. The total number of seats in the House shall be apportioned among the
States on the basis of their respective populations (Article I, Section 2, Clause 3)
a. Apportioned3. Each state is guaranteed at least one seat in the House
4. Representatives hold office _______________________
5. No limit exists on the number of terms representatives may serve
B. Reapportionment
1. The Constitution directs Congress to reapportion the seats in the House every
ten years as a result of the census
a. Reapportion -
2. The Reapportionment Act of 1929
a. The number of seats in the House was fixed at 435, to be redistributed
every ten years according to the census Congressional Elections
(1)
3. Date
a.
(1) The time was set so the election would not interfere with the
harvest
(2) It was on a Tuesday so the people in the country would not
have to travel on Sunday to get to the polling places
(3) It was on the Tuesday after the first Monday because if
November 1st fell on a Monday, businesses did their end of the
month finances on the first Monday and therefore would not come
out and vote on it
4. Off-Year Elections
a.
(1) 2008- Presidential
(2) 2006- Off-year election
(3) 2004- Presidential
(4) 2002- Off-year election
(5) 2000- Presidential
5. Districts
a. Members of the House are chosen by the voters in _______________
__________________________________________________________________
(1) __________________________- the voters in each district
elect one of the State’s representatives from among a field of
candidates running for a seat in the House from that district
b. Districts are drawn by ________________________________
6. Gerrymandering
a.
(1)
(2)
7. Wesberry v. Sanders, 1964
a. For many years, rural congressional districts with few people were over
represented in the House, at the expense of urban and suburban districts
b. The Supreme Court in the 1964 case, Wesberry v. Sanders, held that
sections of states may not be over or under represented in Congress,
upholding the principle that one person’s vote should be worth as much as
another’s
C. Qualifications for House Members
1. Article I, Section 2, Clause 2 of US Constitution
a. Members of the House must be at ______________________
b. Have been a citizen for at _____________________
c. Must be _____________________________________________
2. The House judges the acceptability of individual members and may vote to
censure or remove members
3. In Powell vs. McCormack (1969), the Supreme Court ruled that the House
may not exclude any member-elect who meets the Constitution’s requirements
4. Informal Amendment
a. A member must live in the single-member district they represent
10.3 Section Objective: To understand the structure, qualifications, and terms of members of
the Senate.
• Compare the size of the Senate to the size of the House of Representatives.
• Describe how States have elected senators in the past and present.
• Explain how and why a senator’s term differs from a representative's term.
• Identify the qualifications for serving in the Senate.
Concepts
•
Vocabulary
•
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Continuous Body
Constituency
Colleague
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How did the 17th Amendment change the way that
senators are chosen?
How does a typical senator’s constituency differ from
that of a typical representative in the House?
Why did the Framers set each senator’s term at six
years instead of two years?
Compare the size of the Senate to the size of the
House of Representatives.
Describe how States have elected senators in the past
and present.
Explain how and why a senator’s term differs from a
representative's term.
Identify the qualifications for serving in the Senate.
III.
The Senate
A. James Madison saw the Senate as “a necessary fence” against the “fickleness and
passion” of the House of Representatives
B. “It is indispensable that besides the House of Representatives which runs on all
fours with popular sentiment, we should have a body like the Senate which may refuse
to run with it at all when it seems to be wrong- a body which has time and security
enough to keep its head, if only now and then and but for a little while, till other people
have had time to think.” (Woodrow Wilson)
C. Size, Election, and Terms
1. Size
a. The Senate consists of _____________________________________
b. Since the adoption of the 17th Amendment in 1913, members of the
Senate have been chosen by the people at regular November elections
2. Term
a. Senators
b. Senators are ____________________________
(1) Elected from the State as a whole, rather than from a particular
district
3. Because Senators serve longer terms than house members and they
represent the views of the entire state, Senators are expected to focus less on
the interests of small locations, and more on the interests of their entire state and
the nation
4. ConstituenciesD. Qualifications for Senators
1. Article I, Section 3, Clause 2 of the US Constitution
a. Senators must be at ____________________________
b. Must have been a _________________________________
c. Must be an inhabitant
2. The Senate judges the qualifications of its members and may exclude a
member-elect by a majority vote
3. The Senate may punish members with a majority vote or expel them with a
two-thirds vote
10.4 Section Objective: To understand the personal and political backgrounds, the duties, and
benefits of members of Congress.
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•
•
Identify the personal and political backgrounds of the current members of Congress.
Compare and contrast the duties oft eh job of serving in Congress.
Describe the compensation and privileges given to members of Congress.
Vocabulary
• Trustee
• Partisan
• Politico
• Oversight Function
• Franking Privilege
IV.
Concepts
• How does the franking privilege help members of
Congress?
• Why are members of Congress reluctant to pass laws
that give them new benefits or higher pay?
• How does the oversight function demonstrate checks
and balances?
The Members of Congress
A. Personal and Political Background
1. Congress is not a representative cross section of the American people
a. The average member of __________________________________
b. Most members are lawyers, though many have backgrounds in
business, education, agriculture, journalism, or professional politics
c.
B. Duties of the Job
1. Members of Congress must act as:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
2. Representatives of the People/ 4 Voting Options
a. __________________—many members see themselves as holders of
the public trust who must decide issues based on merit alone, and not
based on the opinions of constituents or any other groups
b. ____________________—many members see themselves as agents
of those who elected them and believe they should suppress their own
views in favor of those of the electorate
c. _________________—many members see themselves as bound to
vote on issues according to the party platform and the wishes of party
leaders
d. ________________—many members attempt to balance the roles of
trustee, delegate, and partisan
e. _______________________—all members of congress also must act
as servants of their constituents, providing the people back home with a
wide range of services, from making appointments to military academies,
to helping companies in their districts obtain government contracts
3. Committee Members
a. _________________- the process by which Congress, through its
committees, checks to see that the various agencies in the executive
branch are working effectively and acting in line with the policies that
Congress has set by law
(1) 9/11 Committee
C. Compensation
1. The Constitution says that members of Congress “shall receive a
Compensation for their Services, to ascertained by Law…” (Article I, Section 6,
Clause 1)
a. Congress sets its own pay
b. 27th Amendment modifies this by making the increase effective after
the next congressional election
c. The President’s veto and voter backlash act to limit salaries
2. Salary
a. Senators and Representatives receive salaries of $150,000 per year
(1) Speaker of the House makes $187,500 which is the same as
the Vice President
(2) The Senate’s president pro tempora and the majority and
minority floor leaders in both houses receive $162,000 a year
3. Non-Salary Compensation
a. Members of Congress receive a wide range of fringe benefits, from
low-cost medical care, to free printing and distribution of speeches,
newsletters, and other materials
4. Membership Privileges
a. Members may not be arrested for misdemeanors while Congress is in
session
b. Members are immune from court action because of any speech they
may make
____ +____ + ____ = ____
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Chapter 10
Section 1
1. Explain the historical reason for Americans choosing a bicameral system.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. Explain the practical reason for Americans choosing a bicameral system.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. Explain the theoretical reason for Americans choosing a bicameral system.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. What is a term of Congress?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
5. What is a session of Congress?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
6. How many sessions are in a term of Congress?
________________________________________________________________________
7. Define the following:
a. Adjourn
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
b. Special Session
_____
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___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Sections 2 and 3
Compare the House and the Senate by their characteristics
Characteristics
House
Senate
Size
1.
2.
Term Length
3.
4.
Date of Elections
5.
6.
Age
7.
8.
Length of Citizenship
9.
10.
Residence
11.
12.
Originally
13.
14.
Today
15.
16.
Qualifications
How Chosen
Section 2: Define the following:
17. Gerrymandering________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
18. Reapportionment________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
19. Off- year election _______________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Section 3: Fill in the blank
20. The Senate is a __________________________, that is, all of its seats are never up
for election at the same time.
21. ___________________________ are the people and interests the senators represent.
_____
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Section 4
1. Roles Played by a Member of Congress
a.
b.
d.
e.
c.
2. What does a legislator do?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. What do members do as a part of a congressional committee?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. How does a member of Congress act as a trustee?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
5. How does a member of Congress act as a delegate?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
6. How does a member of Congress act as a partisan?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
7. How does a member of Congress act as a politico?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
8. Compensation and Privileges ______________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
9. What is the current salary of a member of Congress?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
10. What are some fringe benefits for members of Congress?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
11. To what does the phrase “cloak of legislative immunity” refer?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
12. Define the following:
a. Constituency ____________________________________________________
b. Oversight function ________________________________________________
_____
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