1. Chapter 12 The Congress

2. Why was Congress Created? founders feared tyrannical rulers founders also had experienced the weakness of the congress under the Articles of Confederation bicameralism attempts to balance the power among large and small states

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

4. The Functions of Congress lawmaking constituent service (casework) representing –as a trustee –as an instructed delegate –as a combination of roles oversight public education conflict resolution

6. Congressional Elections operated by individual state governments House of Representatives elected every two years by popular ballot number of seats is determined by population each state has at least one representative each district has about a half million residents U.S. Senate elected every six years by popular ballot (since ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment) one third of the Senate is elected every two years each state has two Senators

7. 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

8. The Committee Structure of Congress standing committees select committees joint committees conference committees

10. 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 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

12. FIGURE 12–3 How a Bill Becomes Law This illustration shows the most typical way in which proposed legislation is enacted into law. Most legislation begins as similar bills introduced into each chamber of Congress. The process is illustrated here with two hypothetical bills, House bill No. 100 (HR 100) and Senate bill No. 200 (S 200). The path of HR 100 is shown on the left, and that of S 200, on the right.