The Congress

1

• The Congress

2
Why was Congress created?

• Power should be in the legislative branch
• Bicameral nature of congress resolved the large
  and small state balance
• The difference between the two houses was further
  emphasized by the two and six year terms of the
  house and the senate, respectively.

3
The Powers of Congress

• Enumerated powers
• come from Article I, section 8 of the
  Constitution
• control of money
• regulation of trade beyond state borders
• regulation of military
• defining the court structure

4
The Powers of Congress (cont.)

• Implied powers
• come from the necessary and proper clause
• come from the Supreme Courts ruling in
  McCulloch v. Maryland
• allows Congress to enact laws that may assist the
  Congress in accomplishing goals directly related
  to the enumerated power

5
The Functions of Congress

• lawmaking
• constituent service (casework)
• representing
• as a trustee
• as an instructed delegate
• as a politico
• oversight
• public education
• conflict resolution

6
Differences Between the House and the Senate
7
(No Transcript)
8
Congressional Elections

• Decentralized elections
• Census determines the number of seats in the
  house
• Each state has two Senators as stated in the 17th
  Amendment

9
Candidates for Congressional Elections

• Once in office, candidates campaign and raise
  funds while serving.
• The candidates must win the direct primary and
  campaign strongly to gain party identifiers to
  vote.
• In the general election, candidates may become
  moderate to expand their support base.

• Some candidates are self starters and have ties
  to local districts
• Senate campaigns run about 5 million
• House campaigns run about 770,000.
• Funds to run are directed from soft money, PACs
  or personal contributions

10

• Two major issues influence congressional
  elections.

• A presidential year and the coattails effect
• Coattails have been limited occurring during
  landslide elections
• Freshman Congressman and representatives from
  contested districts usually experience the
  midterm election losses

• Incumbency
• Advertising
• Claim credit
• Position taking on popular issues

11
Congressional Reapportionment

• reapportionment the allocations of seats in the
  House of Representatives to each state after each
  census
• vs.
• redistricting the redrawing of the boundaries
  of the districts within each state
• gerrymandering
• minority-majority districts

12
Congressional Reapportionment
13
Gerrymandering and Minority/Majority Districts

• The issue of gerrymandering has not been resolved
• When a states district shape has been altered
  by the majority party to maximize its power.

• Minority/Majority districts have been approved by
  the US Supreme Court under a mandate by the
  Voting Rights Act of 1965.

14
Pay,Perks, and Privileges
15
Reapportionment of House Seats following the 1990
Census
16
The First Gerrymander
17
The Committee Structure of Congress

• standing committees
• select committees
• joint committees
• conference committees

18
(No Transcript)
19
Leadership in the U.S. Congress

• House of Representatives
• Speaker of the House
• House Majority Leader
• House Minority Leader
• House Majority Whip
• House Minority Whip

20
Leadership in the U.S. Congress (cont)

• U.S. Senate
• President of Senate (Vice President of U.S.)
  (essentially ceremonial)
• President pro tem of the Senate
• Majority Floor Leader
• Minority Floor Leader
• Senate Majority Whip
• Senate Minority Whip

21
How a Bill Becomes a Law
22
The Budget Cycle
23
(No Transcript)