The Bicameral Congress: A Very Complex System

The legislative bodies were both referred to as Congress. The Articles operated under a unicameral system. The Constitution changed this system to bicameral, meaning two chambers. These chambers are the House of Representatives and the Senate. Both systems had to have members. The Articles determined that each state would have between two and seven members.

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.

Most individuals with a general background knowledge of the United States Federal Government system are aware that in order for a bill to become a law, it must first pass a majority vote in Congress. There is, however, a very important step in the legislative process that sometimes goes unnoticed. The committee system of the legislation process ensures that the appropriate attention is given to each bill introduced to Congress. Each member of both chambers are assigned to committees and subcommittees, and are expected to become subject matter experts in their respective roles as committee members.

Oliver Ellsworth, an important American lawyer and politician that lived during the first American Independence day, states his opinion on a new American Congress, “The powers of congress must be defined, but their means must be adequate to the purposes of their constitution. It is possible there may be abuses and misapplications; still, it is better to hazard something than to hazard at all”. In the original United States Constitution, the Framers wanted to make three different and equal branches of government, but today that is not the case. In present day government, Congress is more powerful than the President. The Legislative Branch, or Congress, is the second branch of the United States Federal Government. Congress is made up of two houses called the Senate and the House of Representatives. The main purpose of

As a result of the two plans, the Great Compromise was created for the new Constitution and is still used today. The three branches were created with checks and balances to ensure no branch has too much power and two houses of legislature. The number of members of the House of Representatives is based on the population of each state and elected by the people while there are two members of the Senate for each state, elected by the state legislature.

When the Framers of the Constitution met in Philadelphia, they came together with one common purpose in mind. They needed to form a fair and solid system of government that would stand the test of time; one that was both fair for the people and would not involve a monarchy. Each of these men had their own ideas on what would constitute this system, however, so many compromises had to be made. Together, the men gathered in Philadelphia created a federal system of government and drafted a constitution outlining this government. They took care in developing three branches of federal government with a system of checks and balances so that no one branch would gain too much power, thus avoiding any

The inter workings of Congress have been studied extensively by Richard Fenno and David R. Mayhew. Mayhew’s study of Congress took place in Washington, while Richard Fenno conducted his research by following politicians within their congressional district. Mayhew attributes three primary goals to congressmen- getting reelected, achieving influence within Congress and making “good Policy”. Fenno also attributes three basic goals, having influence inside the House than other congressmen. Second, helping their constituents and thereby insuring their reelection, and lastly helping make good policy. The purpose of this paper is to research a member of Congress and to make a direct connection between his activity in Washington and his home district. The paper will answer whether the congressmen is a delegate or trustee. Are the actions a pursuit for reelection? Are the committee assignments a path for movement within the House or outside? What legislation has he/she sponsored or co-sponsored and does it directly reflect his/her districts political view. And finally, do major industries and interest groups within his/she district affect the way he/she votes.

The US should stick with a bicameral legislature as opposed to moving to a unicameral legislature. The advantages of a bicameral legislature surpasses those of a unicameral legislature. A bicameral legislature allows for one chamber to be closer to its constituents. In addition, a bicameral legislature allows house and senate members to have distinct jobs which distributes the workload instead of putting it all in the hands of a single chamber. It also makes it so that it is less likely for a flawed bill to be passed. For those reasons, the US should keep a bicameral legislature.

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

The first issue that they were given was the interests of small and large states. James Madison created the Virginia Plan, which allowed “congress virtually unrestricted powers to legislate, levy taxes, veto state laws, and authorize military force against the states” (Boyer). The plan also wanted a bicameral legislative branch and representation based off of population. Many delegates opposed this plan because they did not think that representation based

The Framers of the Constitution created the Virginia Plan, made by James Madison, to state the concerns of the large states. This plan created a legislature that was based on population. So, the bigger the population the more members were elected for the House of Representatives. The members would then elect two senators for each state.

According to the Constitution of the United States the legislative branch would be bicameral with an upper house and a lower house. The Senate was created as the upper house and will be made up of two senators from each state who were chosen by the legislatures of each state. At the time the Constitution was ratified and the Senate was created, there

The Legislative branch has the power to pass federal laws, establish federal courts, override a Presidential veto, and impeach the President. The size of the House of Representatives resulted out of the Great Compromise. The number of Representatives is determined by Congress based on the state population. At minimum each state would have one representative, with larger states having more. When the House was created there was one representative for every thirty thousand people, yet currently we have one

It would be an honor to be chosen to go to see the fascinating legislative process. The Unicameral is a unique aspect of our American government, it allows our state to run efficiently and is a more direct form of government with only forty-nine senators. Also the architecture in the Capitol is remarkable, it conveys the history of Nebraska and each individual county. I think as a citizen, not only of the United States but also of Nebraska, it is important for individuals such as myself to be more engaged and understanding of the politics that not only affect my life but also effect individuals across this amazing and diverse state of

In the Legislative Branch, I believe that there should be a minimum of two houses. I think this because if we only had one house, that house could easily get overpowering. If we have at least two houses, the power can be divided up. The more houses we have, the less powerful