1. The Bicameral Congress

2. First Part: What are the basic structures of the House and Senate?
What does Congress do?
How do structural differences affect the House and Senate?
How does the membership of Congress compare with the national population?

3. Congress has two chambers. What is that called?
U.S. Congress
Feature
House
Senate
Total # of members
# from Texas
Age
Residency
Mode of election until and after 1914
Length of term
Congress has two chambers. What is that called?
Bicameral

4. Senators from Congress?

5. What Congress Does Action Done by Senate Done by House
Pass legislation
Yes, by majority vote
Propose constitutional amendments
Yes, by two-thirds vote
Ratify treaties No
Confirm appointments
No, with the exception of the nominee to fill a vice presidential vacancy
Conduct investigations
Yes
Spend money
Raise taxes

6. States, Congress, & Representation
Wyoming
California
582,658 people
1 seat in the U.S. House
2 seats in the U.S. Senate
38,332,521 people
53 seats in the U.S. House
2 seats in the U.S. Senate
Why is representation in Congress based this way?
The framers adopted a compromise (the Connecticut Compromise or the Great Compromise) to satisfy the small states.

7. House or Senate? Why?
More responsive to public opinion
Less responsive to public opinion
The House is more responsive to public opinion than the Senate because its members are elected from relatively small districts (smaller than states in most cases) and serve two-year terms.

8. Who was the last sitting senator to be elected president?
House or Senate? Why?
More prestigious body. Members sometimes regarded as potential presidential candidates.
Less prestigious body. Members quit to run for the other chamber, but members of the other chamber never quit to run for this body.
This is the Senate. Because senators are fewer in number and they serve longer terms, they are more likely to become nationally recognized figures.
Who was the last sitting senator to be elected president?
Barack Obama. Duh.

9. Membership

10. Gender
More women serve in Congress today than ever before. Most women in Congress are Democrats.

11. What is notable about Sen. Scott?
Race and Ethnicity
Sen. Tim Scott, South Carolina
What is notable about Sen. Scott?
He is Republican.

12. Religion
Would you vote for (or against) someone because of his or her religious affiliation?

13. What is notable about Sen. Baldwin?
Other facts
The 2015 Congress includes 4 House members and 1 senator who are openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual.
She is the first woman elected to represent Wisconsin in the Senate and the first openly gay U.S. Senator in history
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin
What is notable about Sen. Baldwin?