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3
The Senate
Objectives
Why It Matters
1. Compare the size of the Senate to the size
of the House of Representatives.
2. Describe how States have elected
senators in the past and present.
3. Explain how and why a senator’s term
differs from a representative’s term.
4. Identify the qualifications for serving in
the Senate.
Each State has two seats in the
Senate, the smaller and more prestigious house of Congress. Senators
are generally older and more experienced than representatives, and their
longer terms offer some protection
against political pressures.
ou should not be very much surprised by
these facts: Nearly a third of the present
members of the Senate once served in the House
of Representatives; none of the current members
of the House has ever served in the Senate.
Indeed, many of the men and women who now
serve in the House look forward to the day
when, they hope, they will sit in the Senate. As
you read this section, you will come to see why
the Senate is often called the “upper house.”
Y
Size, Election, and Terms
Why are there 100 members of the United States
Senate? Have the members of the Senate always
been elected by the voters of their States? Why
do senators serve six-year terms? The organization of the Senate has changed some over time,
but it remains a vital part of our government.
Size
★ continuous body
★ constituency
The Framers hoped that
the smaller Senate would be
a more enlightened and
responsible body than the
House. Many of them
thought that the House
would be too often swayed
by the immediate impact of
events and by the passions
of the moment. The Framers
reinforced that hope by giving senators a longer term Senator Blanche K. Bruce (R.,
and by setting the qualifica- Mississippi) was one of the first
tions for membership in the two African Americans to serve
Senate a cut above those in the Senate. He served one
term from 1875 to 1881.
they set for the House.
James Madison saw those
provisions as “a necessary fence”against the
“fickleness and passion” of the House of Representatives. Nearly a century later, Woodrow
Wilson agreed with Madison:
The Constitution says that the Senate “shall be
composed of two Senators from each State,” and
so the Senate is a much smaller body than the
House of Representatives.15 The Senate had only
22 members when it held its first session in
March of 1789, and 26 members by the end of
the First Congress in 1791. Like the House, the
size of the upper chamber has grown with the
country. Today 100 senators represent the 50 States.
15Article
Political
Dictionary
I, Section 3, Clause 1 and the 17th Amendment.
“
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, Congressional Government
Block Scheduling Strategies
Consider these for
suggestions to manage extended
Customize
class time:
More
Advanced
Students
■ Organize
the class
into several small groups
and students
have each
group research
create a to
fact
sheet on the
the
Have
conduct
investigate
Senate. Tell
to prepare
their
fact sheets
changing
role students
of the Speaker
of the
House.
(You as
if they
to a group
journalmay
wishare
to presenting
assign eachthem
student
specificofspeaker.)
ists
from
another
country
who
are
unfamiliar
Ask students to summarize their research in brief
with the
Fact sheetsonshould
include
reports
andU.S.
thenSenate.
lead a discussion
the changing
information about the Senate’s size, terms, and
role.
functions, as well as the election and character-
The Senate
Objectives You may wish to call
students’ attention to the objectives
in the Section Preview. The objectives
are reflected in the main headings of
the section.
Bellringer Ask students which of
these two colleges is probably more
prestigious: a large college that is
fairly easy to get into or a small college with higher entrance standards.
Explain that in this section, they will
learn why the Senate is considered the
more prestigious house of Congress.
Vocabulary Builder Tell students
that the prefix con- means “together”
or “jointly.” Have students use this
information to help them offer definitions of the terms in the Political
Dictionary. Students should check
their definitions as they read the
section.
Lesson Plan
Teaching the Main Ideas
L3
1. Focus Tell students that the
Framers intended the Senate to be a
more responsible and enlightened
body than the House. Ask students to
discuss what they know about how
the Senate differs from the House in
terms of size and entrance standards.
2. Instruct Ask students how the
terms of senators compare with the
terms of representatives. Have them
discuss how senators’ longer terms
make their jobs different from those
of representatives. Extend the discussion to include other differences
and their effects.
3. Close/Reteach Remind students
that the rules and procedures related
to the Senate help make that body the
“upper house.” Have students show
this by making a table comparing the
House and the Senate in terms of size,
elections, terms, and qualifications.
istics of members. Have students compare their
fact sheets with the want ads of representatives
they created in Section 2.
■ Discuss the differences between the terms of
representatives and senators with the class. Ask
students to list the factors that they think influence
the leadership and stability of each house. Once
students have finished writing, call on volunteers
to share their ideas with the class.
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10 • Section 3
How to Write to Your Lawmakers
Reading Strategy
Drawing Inferences
Have students consider the structure
and rules of the Senate. Why are senators rarely punished for “disorderly
behavior”?
Background Note
Roots of Democracy
The institution of the senate first
appeared in ancient Rome, where
Romulus established an advisory council
comprised of the heads of 100 prominent families. By 500 B.C. the senate
had come to represent the patrician—
or aristocratic—members of Roman
society. Its membership increased to
300 and later to 600 as the aristocracy
grew. The principal political institution
of the Roman Republic (509–31 B.C.),
the senate functioned as the municipal
government during the Roman Empire
but declined as did other Roman institutions in the 4th and 5th centuries A.D.
Point-of-Use Resources
Guided Reading and Review Unit 3
booklet, p. 6 provides students with
practice identifying the main ideas and
key terms of this section.
Lesson Planner For complete
lesson planning suggestions, see the
Lesson Planner booklet, section 3.
Political Cartoons See p. 38 of
the Political Cartoons booklet for a
cartoon relevant to this section.
Section Support Transparencies
Transparency 41, Visual Learning;
Transparency 140, Political Cartoon
Choose a method. You can write to your
representative’s local address or to their
Washington address. Check your telephone
directory’s blue pages to find local addresses.
Letters can be sent to representatives in
Washington at the following addresses:
Be specific. Identify the
issue that prompted you to
write, preferably in your
first paragraph. Give the
bill number or mention its
popular title - e.g. the
Minimum Wage Bill, the
Child Care Bill.
Representative
House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Senator
Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Be brief, but give the reasons
for your position. Avoid these don’ts:
Don’t make threats or promises.
Don’t berate your lawmaker.
Don’t pretend to wield vast political
power.
Don’t try to instruct your lawmaker
on every issue.
Write while your issue is
still current. Don’t wait
until a bill is out of the
committee or has passed
the House (or Senate).
SOURCE: Congressional Quarterly
Interpreting Diagrams These guidelines were
suggested by former Representative Morris Udall (D., Arizona).
Why is it important to write while a bill is still in committee?
Members of the Senate represent entire
States. So nearly all of them represent a larger,
more diverse population and a broader range
of interests than do the representatives from
their State. If you look at your own State—at
the size, diversity, and major characteristics of
its population and at its history, geography,
and economy—you will see the point.
Election
Originally, the Constitution provided that the
members of the Senate were to be chosen by
the State legislatures. Since the ratification of
the 17th Amendment in 1913, however, senators have been picked by the voters in each
State at the regular November elections. Only
one senator is elected from a State in any given
election, except when the other seat has been
vacated by death, resignation, or expulsion.16
Before the coming of popular election, the
State legislatures often picked popular and
qualified senators. On other occasions, however,
their choice was the result of maneuvering and
in-fighting among the leaders of various factions
in the State. These leaders all spent a great deal
of energy trying to gain (and sometimes buy)
enough legislators’ votes to win a seat in the
United States Senate. By the late 1800s, the
Senate was often called the “Millionaires’ Club,”
because so many wealthy party and business
leaders sat in that chamber.
The Senate twice defeated House-passed
amendments to provide for popular election. In
1912, it finally bowed to public opinion and
agreed to what became the 17th Amendment.
The Senate was also persuaded by the fact that
several States had already devised ways to
ensure that their legislatures would choose
senators who were supported by the people of
the State.
16The 17th Amendment gives each State a choice of methods
for filling a Senate vacancy. A State may (1) fill the seat at a special
election called by the governor, or (2) allow the governor to appoint
someone to serve until the voters fill the vacancy at such a special
election or at the next regular (November) election. Most States use
the appointment-special election method.
Organizing Information
Answer to . . .
Interpreting Diagrams A bill in committee can still be changed. Also,
most bills die in committee, so the
opportunity to make one’s voice
heard needs to be taken early in the
life of the bill.
276
To make sure students understand the main points
of this section, you may wish to use the web
graphic organizer to the right.
Tell students that a web provides an outline of a
main idea and its supporting details. Ask students
to use the web to list details about the Senate. The
word Senate should appear in the center circle.
Teaching Tip A template for this graphic organizer
can be found in the Section Support
Transparencies, Transparency 1.
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Chapter
Each senator is elected from the State at-large.
The 17th Amendment declares that all persons
whom the State allows to vote for members of
“the most numerous Branch” of its legislature
are qualified to vote for candidates for the
United States Senate.
Term
Senators serve for six-year terms, three times
the length of those for which members of the
House are chosen.17 Senators may be elected to
any number of terms. The late Strom
Thurmond (R., South Carolina) set the all-time
record. Senator Thurmond was elected to the
Senate nine times, and he served there for nearly
50 years. He was first elected to fill a vacancy in
1954 and won a full term in 1956. First elected
as a Democrat, he became a Republican in 1964
and finally retired in 2003 at the age of 100.
Senators’ terms are staggered. Only a third
of them—33 or 34 terms—expire every two
years. The Senate is, then, a continuous body.
That is, all of its seats are never up for election at
the same time.
The six-year term gives senators a somewhat
greater degree of job security than members of
the lower house have. Those six years give senators some insulation from the rough-and-tumble
of day-to-day politics. The six-year term also
tends to make senators less subject to the pressures of public opinion and less susceptible to the
pleas of special interests than are members of the
House.
The larger size and the geographic scope of
their constituencies—the people and interests the
senators represent—are designed to have much the
same effect. In other words, senators are supposed
to be less concerned with the interests of a specific
small locality and more focused on the “big picture” of the national interest. Indeed, senators are
in general more likely to be regarded as national
political leaders than most House members.
The large size of the House generally prevents
representatives from gaining as much notice
and public exposure as members of the Senate
attract. Senators, and especially those who
have presidential ambitions, are better able to
capture national media attention. Over the past
17Article
several elections, the Senate has emerged as a
prime source of contenders for the presidential
nomination in both parties. Senators also find
it easier to establish themselves as the champions of public policies that appeal to large segments of the American people—for example,
social security or national health care.
Senators are also more likely to be covered
by the media in their States. They tend to have
more clout in their State’s politics than that
enjoyed by members of the lower house.
Qualifications for Senators
A senator must meet a higher level of qualifications than those the Constitution sets for a member
of the House. A senator must be at least 30 years
of age, must have been a citizen of the United States
for at least nine years, and must be an inhabitant
of the State from which he or she is elected.18
18Article I, Section 3, Clause 3. Under the inhabitant qualification,
a senator need not have lived in the State for any particular period of
time. Most often, of course, senators have been longtime residents of
their States.
Government Online
The Senate Oral History Program
What was it like to be a
reporter covering the Senate? What happened when an African
American staff member challenged de facto segregation of the Senate
cafeteria in the early 1950s? What preparations were made in the
Senate for Richard Nixon’s impeachment?
You can find the answers to these questions and many others
through the Senate’s Oral History program. The Senate Historical Office
has been interviewing retired Senate staff members since 1976. These
personal recollections provide behind-the-scene views of the Senate.
They include the observations of former Senate pages, Capitol police
officers, Senate aides and assistants, and members of the press.
The Historical Office concentrates on staff members with more
than 20 years of service in the Senate. Their interviews are in-depth. (A
typical interview totals 10 to 12 hours, over 6 to 8 sessions.) They are
available in several national archives, including the manuscript division
of the Library of Congress. The Senate Historical Office has begun publishing the interviews online, as well.
PHSchool.com
10 • Section 3
L2
Have students refer to information
in the section to create a chart that
outlines the size, terms, and membership qualifications of the United
States Congress. Suggest to students
that they create their charts so that
comparisons can be made between
the Senate and the House of
Representatives. ELL
L3
On the chalkboard write the following phrase: The first priority of
members of Congress should be…
Have students write a position paper
in which they complete the sentence.
Students should give reasons to support their position from material presented in the book and in class.
Encourage them to consider the various duties of the position, the people
that are affected by the daily decision making, and the individual
politician. Ask for volunteers to share
their papers with the class.
Use Web Code mqd-3107 to find out more
about the Senate Oral History Program
and for help in answering the following
question: Christine S. McCreary was on the staff of two senators
(Symington and Glenn). Why might an historian be interested in her
recollections about helping to desegregate the Senate staff cafeterias?
I, Section 3, Clause 1.
Answers to . . .
Government Online Christine
McCreary would have witnessed
the evolution of this struggle over
the years that she worked for the
senators. Because she worked at
the Capitol long term, her recollections should reveal more about the
desegregation than those of someone who witnessed the struggle
only briefly.
277
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10 • Section 3
Point-of-Use Resources
Guide to the Essentials Chapter
10, Section 3, p. 57 provides
support for students who need additional review of section content.
Spanish support is available in the
Spanish edition of the Guide on p. 50.
Interpreting Political
Cartoons This 1890 cartoon depicts a candidate
for the Senate. Why does
the candidate deposit his
money in a box labeled
“State Legislature”?
Quiz Unit 3 booklet, p. 7
includes matching and multiplechoice questions to check students’
understanding of Section 3 content.
Presentation Pro CD-ROM Quizzes
and multiple-choice questions
check students’ understanding of
Section 3 content.
Answers to . . .
Section 3 Assessment
1. Because senators’ terms are staggered, all of its seats are never up
for election at the same time.
2. A senator’s constituency is generally
much larger than that of a representative, because a senator represents
an entire State while a representative
usually represents just a district
within a State.
3. Because there are far fewer senators
than representatives, each senator is
more visible and tends to get more
attention.
4. The 17th Amendment stipulated
that senators be elected by the voters
of each State; prior to the Amendment,
they were elected by State legislatures.
5. They believed a six-year term
would make senators less subject to
pressure by public opinion or special
interest groups.
6. Possible answer: If the required
majority were less than two thirds,
the vote could be dominated by a
single party, which would not be fair.
“THE WAY WE BECOME SENATORS NOWADAYS”
The Senate, like the House, judges the qualifications of its members, and it may exclude a
member by a majority vote.19 As has the House,
the Senate has at times refused to seat a memberelect. The Senate may also “punish its Members
for disorderly Behavior” by majority vote and
“with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a
Member.”20
Fifteen members of the Senate have been
expelled by that body, one in 1797 and 14 during
19Article
20Article
I, Section 5, Clause 1.
I, Section 5, Clause 2.
Progress Monitoring Online
Key Terms and Main Ideas
1. Why is the Senate called a continuous body?
2. How does a typical senator’s constituency differ from
that of a typical representative in the House?
3. Why do most senators receive more public attention than
their colleagues in the House of Representatives?
Critical Thinking
4. Determining Cause and Effect Why did the 17th
Amendment change the way that senators are chosen?
5. Making Comparisons Why did the Framers set each
senator’s term at six years instead of two years?
Progress Monitoring Online
For: Self-quiz with vocabulary practice
Web Code: mqa-3103
Answer to . . .
Interpreting Political Cartoons Possible
answer: The candidate increases his
chances of being elected by buying
the votes of State legislators.
278
the Civil War. Senator William Blount of
Tennessee was expelled in 1797 for conspiring to
lead two Native American tribes, supported by
British warships, in attacks on Spanish Florida
and Louisiana. The 14 senators ousted in 1861
and 1862 were all from States of the Confederacy
and were expelled for supporting secession.
Since the country was founded, a few senators
have resigned in the face of almost certain expulsion. Most recently, the Senate’s Ethics Committee had recommended that Senator Bob
Packwood (R., Oregon) be expelled from the
Senate because of several episodes of sexual
harassment and other personal misconduct.
Packwood, in his fifth term in the upper house,
had fought the charges for years. But the Ethics
Committee’s chairman, Senator Mitch
McConnell (R., Kentucky), noted that lengthy
committee investigations had shown “a habitual
pattern of aggressive, blatantly sexual advances.”
Such behavior, McConnell declared, “cannot be
tolerated in the United States Senate.” Senator
Packwood resigned effective October 1, 1995.
The punishing of a senator for “disorderly
Behavior” has also been rare. In the most
recent case, in 1990, the Senate formally
“denounced” Senator David Durenberger (R.,
Minnesota). The Ethics Committee had found
him guilty on several counts of financial misconduct. The Senate called Durenberger’s conduct “reprehensible” and declared that he had
“brought the Senate into dishonor and disrepute.” Senator Durenberger chose not to seek
reelection to a third term in 1994.
PHSchool.com
Typing in the Web Code when
prompted will bring students directly to detailed
instructions for this activity.
For: Self-quiz with vocabulary practice
Web Code: mqa-3103
6. Drawing Inferences In order to expel a senator from the
Senate, two thirds of the Senate must agree. Why do you
think the Constitution sets such a high requirement?
PHSchool.com
PHSchool.com
For: An activity on the
Senate
Web Code: mqd-3103