THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK 2.1 Introduction This chapter will cover the jurisprudential basis of the

The framers of the Constitution had a set image they wanted to put forth in America, and to get the document ratified they were forced to make compromises. Two of the most important compromises are the 3/5 clause and “Great Compromise”. During, the Constitutional Convention there was a deadlock about representation. Arguments from both sides seem valid, big states argue representation should be based on population while, small states argue it should be equal representation. In need for a solution, a few men proposed a bicameral legislature. Which, allows for both population based representation, and equal presentation by having a House of Representatives and a Senate. The Senate has equal representation that allows 2 senators from each state,

The first proposal, of changing the electoral system for the House of Representatives, would mean that each state is represented in proportion to its population. This entails that states with higher populations will receive more votes because they have more seats in the House. Less populous states may argue against this reform because they will have a disadvantage when it comes to voting on legislation. However, the reform also includes having each state serve as electoral districts. In this case, multi-member districts will be needed—proportional representation will require a larger district magnitude. Having these territorial subdivisions will help create an efficient legislative system because there would be less possibility of manipulating the votes—not as relevant to election results when seats are proportional. Having the votes distributed in this manner may help avoid a deadlock and therefore, allow for a faster process when passing legislation. In addition, minorities will have chance to be represented by possibly gaining a seat in a particular district—a highly populous

76) With this in mind the framers carefully and purposefully crafted a Constitution that divided federal powers between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. This division of power gave each branch the ability and authority to control the others through a specific system of checks and balances. One check on Congress was the design of a bicameral system where Congress was divided into the House of Representatives and the Senate. Members of the House of Representatives would be elected by majority popular vote making them the direct representative of their constituencies. Members of the Senate would be elected by state legislatures making them direct representatives of the states, and proponents of the state’s rights and sovereignty. Joseph Story (1833) suggests that one main reason for the mode of appointing the Senate was to introduce a powerful check upon rash legislation, and prevent the national governments encroachment on the powers of the states (p.183). However, in passing the 17th Amendment the mode of electing the Senate as a means of partitioning federal and state power collapsed leaving the states unprotected from abuses of the central government.

The limitations on and difficulties of passing laws are very, very important. The split legislature creates a more complicated maze through which laws must find their way before being passed. First, a law must be introduced in either the House of Representatives or the Senate, the former having sole power to introduce laws concerning revenue. After the law is introduced, it must be approved by the other house, who may agree with, amend, or discard the law. Once

According to Document E, “…there is no sense or reason in having the same thing done twice, especially if it is to be done by two bodies of men elected in the same way and having the same jurisdiction.” This means that the two chambers are the same thing. Senators and House members may be elected the same why, however, they do not share the same responsibilities as said in Document E. This is important because the document is inferring that having one chamber is the same thing as having two but it isn’t because each chamber has its own duties. They both play a role in passing legislation however, they do have some distinct jobs. For example, the Senate has the power to approve treaties. Meanwhile, the House has the power to initiate spending bills, and impeach officials. They also have different committees to handle different tasks. Saying that the two chambers have the same power isn’t completely correct. This is why a unicameral legislation wouldn’t work well with the

Federalist 51 mentions that “the legislative authority necessarily predominates. The remedy for the inconveniency is to divide the legislature into different branches.” Keeping this idea in mind, it is the reason why the legislative branch is divided into the House of Representatives and the Senate. By dividing the legislative branch, Congress assures that too many individuals do not control one large portion of the government and that the legislative branch works with more efficiency without too many conflicting opinions. Additionally, in the Judiciary branch, the author explains that “some deviations [from absolute democracy] must be admitted.” The exception is necessary because according the Hamilton or Madison, the branch needs specific qualifications in order to elect essential members and that the position must be permanent so that it combat all dependence on authority. This concept sets up the process by which Supreme Court justices are put into power today where the president appoints a judge to serve for life or until the judge chooses to retire. Moreover, the article proposes the design that the overall government itself should be split into two sections, the federal and state level. This so that the state government can adhere to the values of its individual populations while the federal government lays down the general guidelines so that the state government’s values does not exploit the citizen’s natural

Our Legislative Branch has two chambers or as some will call it bicameral. The chambers consist of the Senate and the House of Representatives just like the National Legislative Branch. In our Senate we currently have a total of 31

A bicameral legislature is simply a legislature with two houses. The historical reason that the united states has this type of congress is that the British had this type of congress and they seemed to work so well so we decided to use this type of legislature. The practical reason was to settle the dispute between the New Jersey plan and the Virginia plan. The theoretical reason was so that one could check on the other. In the house of representatives there are 435 people. They serve a 6 year term. To qualify for the house of representatives you must be at least twenty-five years old, you have to be a citizen for the last 7 years, and own a house in the state you wish to represent. There are 100 members in the senate. They serve for 6 years. To be a senator you have to be at least 35 years old, you have to be a citizen for the past 9

This two house system ensures that each state has fair representation in congress. Document D states that the House of Representatives is based off of the population, while the Senate has equal representation from each state. In the House of Representatives, larger states, such as virginia and Massachusetts have more representatives than a small state such as Rhode Island or Delaware. The Senate, however, is made up of 2 senators that are chosen by the people of each state. Although bigger states have more representatives in the house, smaller states don’t feel threatened because they have fair representation in the Senate. The bicameralism system keeps America protected from tyranny by keeping the representatives fair and not allowing different states to hold more

The congress is divided into two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives (Doc. D). In the Senate representation is equal; each state has two senators (Doc. D). In the other house, the House of Representatives, the number of representatives is based on population (Doc. D). The House gives the large states more representation because of the larger population giving them more congressmen. The Senate helps the small states gain representation by being giving all states the same amount of senators. This prevents large states from controlling all decisions or the large states being overpowered by the small states. This evidence further explains why a bicameral legislature against tyranny because no state holds most of the power and are all represented in a way that gives power to

A bicameral legislature is a legislature in which there are two houses where each house has a specific jobs to attend to. There are many reasons as to why a bicameral legislature exist, some of them include; historical, practical, and theoretical. The historical reasons are given to us by British Parliament who insisted on having a two house government dating back to the 1300s. The practical reasons came about through the framers. They embarked upon this decision when settling a conflict between two states. And finally, the theoretical reason possible, and the most important reason it was put to action was to prevent the federal

a.) A bicameral legislature is a legislature made up of two house or chambers which can provide compromise on issues. One reason why the framers chose a bicameral legislature is because it provides equal representation of large and small population states. This was done in The Great Compromise at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and is the idea of checks and balances. A second reason for a bicameral legislature is that it prevents tyranny in the majority. With a legislature only made up of one house it can lead to a loss of checks and balances and give to much power to a particular party or group.

Under the Constitution, legislation was bicameral, or divided into the House of Representatives and the Senate. Disadvantages of bicameral legislatures are the delay of the lawmaking process and the possibility to waste government resources. This was an effect of the Great Compromise of

Many political thinkers had proposed that the mixed constitution, where more than two of the pure form of the government is mixed, is the best form of the state due to its stability. However, some political thinks challenged the idea of the mixed constitution, suggesting that it never existed in the first place. In his book “On Sovereignty”, Jean Bodin refused any form of the government other than Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Democracy, using his theory of sovereignty. Contrary to many other philosophers’ idea of the mixed constitution, Bodin had rejected the existence of the mixed constitution. For example, he refused that Roman was a mixed constitution. Bodin defined sovereignty as “the absolute and perpetual power of a common wealth” (Bodin, On sovereignty, {345}) According to Jean Bodin, these three elements prevent from forming another form of government other than monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. For Bodin, having only one sovereign authority in a state is essential to have stability in the state. However, Because of his erroneous view and flaws in each of those three elements in his theory of sovereignty, he did not convincingly demonstrate, using his theory of sovereignty, that mixed or balanced constitution is impossible.

In “Political Representation,” Shapiro et al. (2009) say that “political representation lies at the core of modern politics.” Representation is usually linked to the concept of democracy (Shapiro et al. 2009). The concept of representation is explicitly mentioned in the U.S. Constitution (U.S. Const. art. I, § 1, 2). However, the meaning and appropriate form of “representation” have been debated by political theorists and philosophers for centuries. The definition of representation one chooses to use is influenced by the form of representation one finds most appropriate. Given the different forms of representation, legislators can be responsive in different ways. Representation also operates at two different levels – the national and local