1 / 10

Main Idea

Part 3 – The Legislative Branch. Main Idea. Essential Question. What powers do the Congress possess in Government?. Organization of Congress. Congress consists of a Bicameral Legislature (two houses): House of Representatives and Senate

bernie
Download Presentation

Main Idea

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Part 3 – The Legislative Branch • Main Idea • Essential Question What powers do the Congress possess in Government?

  2. Organization of Congress • Congress consists of a Bicameral Legislature (two houses): House of Representatives and Senate • For legislative work, each house requires a presence of a majority of its members, which is called a quorum • The original design came from the Great Compromise during the Constitutional Convention, which balanced the interests of large and small states entering the Union • State representation in the House of Representatives is determined by population. Current House has fixed number of 435 members • State representation in the Senate is equal for each state: 2 Senators. Current Senate has 100 members

  3. House of Representatives Requirements – 25 years old, citizen for at least 7 years, inhabitant of the state from which he/she seeks election House term of office – Speaker of the House – Strict rules of debate are maintained to allow House members to discuss bills and reach decisions without endless debate

  4. Senate • Requirements – 30 years old, a citizen of the US for 9 years, and an inhabitant of the state from which he/she seeks election • Senate term of office – • According to the Constitution, the VP serves as the tie-breaking vote if a bill has a 50-50 vote. This happens very rarely. • Filibuster – • Critics of the filibuster call it a mechanism for wasting time or preventing government from working effectively • Cloture –

  5. Congressional Committees • Bills are 1st introduced into committees. House and Senate each have around 20 committees • Examples - Agriculture, armed services, banking and finances, education, foreign affairs, judiciary, science and technology, taxation • Congressional Committee - • 90% of all bills are “killed” in committee • Committee members are chosen from both political parties. Whichever party is in the majority in the House or Senate will then have more members on each committee and the chairman seat • Chairmen are chosen on basis of length of service • Committee members are expected to have an expertise in their area of jurisdiction

  6. Lobbying • Lobbying – • Drafting bills, testifying at hearings, supplying data • Personal contact with law makers leads to favors or campaign contributions • Urging the public to take action and speak out

  7. Congressional Practices • Logrolling – when a Congressman votes for a bill despite its shortcomings in return for a vote for another bill • “If you vote for my bill, I’ll vote for yours.” • Pork-Barrel Legislation – • Since House members are elected by district, the boundaries of each district are important because of voter demographics • Gerrymandering – • Rider – unrelated provision to a bill that may be objectionable to President, but is not removable

More Related