The Makeup of Congress When discussing the makeup of Congress, one must first look to the intent of the framers around creating a bicameral legislature. This would take me to the first section of our class regarding the debates the founding fathers had about equal representation of the states in the Congress. Edmund Randolph of Virginia was the first to offer a suggestion, known as the “Virginia Plan”, that addressed representation. His plan provided for a system of representation based on the population of each state or the proportion of each state’s revenue contribution, or both. This did not fly with the smaller states like New Jersey, Delaware, or Connecticut. The smaller states saw this idea as a bias towards the larger …show more content…
Each congressional member also has a plentiful staff assigned to them who help deal with the many demands of being an agent of the people. Responsibilities of staff include, but are not limited to dealing with details, organizing hearings, handling constituency requests, and negotiating with lobbyist. Additional joint powers of the Congress are that of oversight, which conduct hearings and investigations on government agencies as well as grant appropriations, Advice and Consent, which requires that Congress approve the Presidents appointments for federal justices and Cabinet nominees, as well as treaties with other nations, and the power of impeachment, which is the removal of a president, vice-president, or other executive officials from office. A balance of wisdom and consent in the legislature is addressed by the very nature of the rules in the House and Senate, and will be described in further detail respectively. Basically, the House, being the more organized and less deliberative of the two chambers, would be quicker in voting on what their constituents would want due to the close relationship a representative would have with the people. Their terms are shorter, and this is what drives representatives to be out amongst voters more frequently and more responsive to their concerns. The Senators, however, have longer terms and established rules that allow for long, deliberative debate
The most significant power that congress has is to create and pass legislation. Most of the creation is down to congressional committees - specialist groups of congressman who revise and investigate laws into their own committee's interests, for example The House Science Committee. Some of the legislation can
Madison’s national veto also weakened the Virginia Plan, since the national government’s supreme judgment could only cause resentment by local authorities grappling with purely local issues. To counteract Madison’s bold proposal, delegates from the smaller states, headed by New Jersey’s William Paterson, offered a competing plan, the New Jersey Plan. To its credit, the New Jersey Plan amended the Articles of Confederation by adding a plural executive and a judiciary appointed by the executive branch. The New Jersey Plan proposed proportional representation in both houses of Congress to protect the smaller states. Although the addition of an executive would have strengthened the existing confederation, it resulted in a weak plural head of state. Furthermore, since the New Jersey Plan merely amended the Articles, and since the Articles had never been amended given the necessity of a unanimous vote by all of the states, the Plan was almost certainly doomed to
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
The legislative branch is the most powerful branch in government. The legislative branch is in charge of making and passing laws. They have the power to override a president’s decision, stop laws from being passed, and basically control all decisions the governments makes. The legislative branch, also called the congress, consists of the House of Representatives and the senate. The reason for two houses of congress is to balance out the concerns of smaller but more populated states against states that are larger but with less population (www.Usgovinfo.com).
The third factor that seems to have an influence on the operations of Congress is the public opinion. Logically, if the public thinks that a certain congressman doesn’t know how to do his job, then he won’t get elected. That’s why the public opinion has a major influence the operations of Congress because the public has say if that Congressman or Congressmen will get elected again.
Mayhew examines the congressmen activity in Washington that is useful to engage in for the purpose of reelection. The first activity is advertising, defined by making a conscious effort to disseminate one’s name in a positive light among constituents to gain a favorable view. They emphasize personal qualities such as:
The Virginia Plan is a document created by James Madison, presented on May 8, 1787, to the Constitutional Convention by Edmund Randolph (Munson). It entailed a proposal for a bicameral legislature, a plan to separate the legislative branch into two chambers, “the National Legislature ought to consist of two branches” (Madison). The Virginia Plan also suggested that the powers of the government be separated into branches, executive, legislative, and judicial. The significance of the Virginia plan was its call for a proportional representation of the states, which would result in a strong national government. This planned upstaged the smaller states, such as New Jersey, since they feared that the states would no longer have a voice in their society, creating the New Jersey Plan.
the U.S. Congress to term limits. There are many ways in which this could occur,
Sentences 1. The republic of the United States allows the citizens to elect representatives to make laws that satisfy the needs of the people. 2. Before the Constitution was written, the U.S. government had an unicameral legislature; a single law-making body. 3.
Secondly, members of a Congress have an Expertise of getting themselves re-elected. They need to know other things besides being a lawyer or just how to get re-elected. Congress creates agencies with a particular expertises or certain
The president is the foreign policy leader for the United States with an important political, military and economic role in the international arena. If there is collision between the president and congress, can congress restrain the president in foreign policy making?
Assuming that I have become a member of the U.s House of Representatives for the State of Georgia I take on a big role and become a member of Congress. The legislative assembly of Congress is divided by The U.s Senate and the House of Representatives this is called bicameralism. Congress establishes equal representation of citizens. The legislative branch is made up of congress and they are responsible for declaration of war, producing laws, and managing finances. With becoming a member of congress you have several roles and activities to partake in.
Congress has many functions to keep it working and functioning. They do many things to make laws, make sure they’re fair, and much more. There are also many committees with important jobs. There are many things that influence congressional elections such as reapportionment, redistricting, much more. There are many people who make up the House and Senate and they have many important jobs to keep things running smoothly.
The Constitution gives Congress all of the legislative powers of the national government. The House and Senate share most of these powers. This includes the broad enumerated powers in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution—for example, coining money, regulating interstate and foreign commerce, raising and equipping a military, and declaring war. The House and the Senate share most lawmaking powers. Bills must clear both chambers in exactly the same form before they are sent to the president for approval or veto.