1. Chapter 11
Congress

2. Purposes of Congress Rule initiation Interest representation
Rule application
Rule Interpretation
Constituency Service

3. Bicameral Legislature
Senate
Senators serve 6 year terms
Two per State for 100 total seats
House
Representatives serve 2 year terms
435 seats, seats apportioned by population

4. Senate
Must be 30 years old
Represent statewide constituencies
The Senate is less formal than the house. For example, the Senate can allow “unlimited debate.”
House
Must be 25 years old
Represent districts in the state
Debate is limited and takes place according to a rule

5. House
More specialization in the House b/c more members
Generally, Reps. are not as well known nationally
Senate
Cover a greater variety of issues
Media coverage tends to be more extensive

6. Apportionment Apportionment is based on the national census
Districting: drawing the lines for congressional districts
Washinton State districts can be viewed on

7. Apportionment Beware of districting manipulation (ex. Gerrymandering)
Result can be court cases

8. Informal Norms
The culture of Congress and politics include unwritten understandings that define appropriate and inappropriate behavior.
Informal norms can influence behavior as much as formal rules can.
Individuals who fail to conform can find sanctions taken against them.

9. Informal Norms Examples Work Hard Specialize Honesty Reciprocity
Apprenticeship periods

10. Party Leaders in the House
Speaker of the House: most powerful in House, member of majority party, can recognize members on floor, can set agenda, refers bills to committee, assigns members to committees.

11. Party Leaders in the House
Majority Floor Leader: leader and spokesperson of party during floor debates, general

12. House Leadership
Majority Whip: serves as liaison between party leaders and rank-and-file members, responsible for rounding up votes on bills.

13. House Leadership
Minority Floor Leader: duties similar to that of the majority counterpart, top position of minority party though

14. House Leadership
Minority Whip: like majority counterpart, tries to get party to vote together
Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Missouri)

15. Senate Leadership
Vice President of U.S.: can break a tie vote, rarely attends the Senate

16. Senate Leadership
President Pro Tempore: Presiding officer of the Senate in VP’s absence, primarily an honorary position that is usually given to the most senior member of the Senate.

17. Senate Leadership
Other leaders: Majority floor leader, Majority whip, Minority Floor leader & Minority Whip
These positions similar to those in House
Can find specific names at

18. Committee Structure There are four types in Congress:
Standing Committees: permanent committees; all bills are submitted to standing committees and must go through these committees before being approved by the full House or Senate (See how a bill becomes a law)

19. Committee Structure
2. Select Committees: created for special reasons to investigate some current issue or problem; covers issues not being handled by the regular standing committees.  

20. Committee Structure
Joint Committees: consist of members from both the House and Senate; created for a wide variety of reasons (examples: Joint Committee on Intelligence and the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress) 

21. Committee Structure
4. Conference Committees: created each time a bill is passed with different versions by the House and Senate; designed to work out the differences in legislative language between the two houses of Congress; temporary in nature

22. How a Bill Becomes a Law Introduction Committee assignment and action
Floor Action (votes)
Conference Action
President (signature or veto)
See

23. Summary
Congress has three primary functions: legislation, representation, oversight
Congress is bicameral in nature with a House and a Senate
See and for details on members, committees and congress in general