congress

congress and president

6. Beyond Legislation: Additional Congressional Powers Besides legislating, what else does Congress do to participate in American national government and the separation of powers? A potential check on presidential power, the Senate provides "advice and consent" to executive, ambassadorial, and judicial appointments, occasionally leading to high-profile confrontations between the two branches. Senatorial advice and consent are also required for the ratification of treaties, although presidents often resort to "executive agreements" when they anticipate conflict with the Senate. Perhaps Congress's most potent weapon in separation of powers conflict is its power to impeach the president, vice president, other executive officials, and federal justices and judges. Still, this is a power that has rarely been used. Only two presidents, Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, have been impeached by the House, and neither was removed by the Senate. Richard Nixon resigned amid impeachment proceedings in the House, forestalling the process altogether. 7. Power and Representation Congress was designed to be the "first branch" and is unique among world legislatures in its potential for power, but its power has fluctuated over time. What determines the ebb and flow of congressional power throughout American political history? Congressional power is, in part, a function of its capacity to effectively represent important groups and constituencies in society, but its position and power have suffered as presidents came increasingly to be seen as representatives of popular interests. In response to some decline in its power vis-à-vis the presidency, and particularly when divided government raises the political stakes of inter-branch conflict, Congress has reform1ed internal institutions and otherwise sought to compete better.

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Congress is the most important representative institution in American government. Each member's primary responsibility is to the district―that is, to his or her constituency (the people in the district from which an official is elected). The House and Senate play different roles in the legislative process. The Senate is more deliberative, whereas the House is characterized by greater centralization and organization. House members are more attuned to localized narrow interests in society, whereas senators are more able than House members to represent statewide or national interests. In recent years, the House has exhibited more partisanship and ideological division than the Senate. Sociological representation is when representatives have the same racial, gender, ethnic, religious, or educational backgrounds as their constituents. It is based on the principle that if two individuals are similar in background, character, interests, and perspectives then one could correctly represent the other's views. Agency representation is the sort of representation that takes place when constituents have the power to hire and fire their representatives. This is incentive for good representation when the personal backgrounds, views, and interests of the representative differ from those of his or her constituency. Congress is not a sociological microcosm of American society. Members of Congress frequently communicate with constituents and devote a great deal of staff time to constituency service. Electoral motivations have a strong impact on both sociological and agency representation in Congress. Incumbency affords members of Congress resources such as constituency service and mailing to help secure re-election. Incumbency can help a candidate by scaring off potential challengers. The overwhelming percentage of incumbents who run are re-elected. In recent years, turnover rates in Congress have increased, although this is due more to incumbent retirement than to the defeat of incumbents in elections. Supporters of term limits (legally prescribed limits on the number of terms an elected official can serve) argue that such limits are the only way to get new faces into Congress. Apportionment and redistricting affect who wins seats in Congress. The manipulation of electoral districts to serve the interests of a particular group is known as gerrymandering. Members of Congress often have an opportunity to provide direct benefits, or patronage, for their constituents. Members of Congress can supply benefits to constituents by passing pork-barrel legislation. Members of Congress exchange pork-barrel votes for votes on other issues. OVERSIGHT Once a bill becomes a law, Congress has the responsibility of making sure that it is implemented well by the bureaucracy. They do so in a number of ways: by controlling budgets, by holding hearings and conducting investigation, or by overturning bureaucratic decisions. In addition, the Senate can make use of its power to provide "advice and consent" to the President on appointments and treaties. Lastly, Congress has the power to impeach the President, Vice President, federal judges or other civil officers. CONGRESSIONAL REFORM Often, Congressional reforms are proposed to either fix Congress' image in the public eye, or to make it more efficient. In general, these reform ideals run counter to each other: fixing Congress' image in the public eye is unlikely to make the legislative process better; while improving the legislative process itself is unlikely to make Congress' image significantly better. As a result, Congressional reforms rarely pass

Organization of Congress: What are the major elements of congressional organization and what are their sources of influence? Party organizations are the fundamental building blocks of coalition building in Congress; they foster cooperation, coalitions, and compromise. Every two years at the beginning of a Congress, all four legislative parties (Democrats and Republicans in both the House and the Senate) gather to elect their top leaders. The elected leader of the House majority party is automatically elected Speaker of the House; in addition to this post, all four legislative parties also elect floor leaders, whips, and other leaders. Party leaders in Congress exercise important internal influence, especially by setting the legislative agenda, as well as external influence as major fund-raisers for their parties. Some political scientists argue that members give power and influence to party leaders primarily so that those leaders can advance members' individual and collective goals and that, as members of a party become more cohesive, they are more likely to yield additional power to their party leaders. The committee system, the core of Congress' organization, consists of standing committees, each of which has its own policy jurisdiction, membership, and authority to act. Committees' policy jurisdictions provide legislators who are members of those committees disproportionate influence on the policies that matter most to them and their constituents. Considered as agents of the overall House or Senate chamber, committees are delegated, first, the authority to act as gatekeepers to determine what policies will be considered, and second, the after-the-fact authority to follow up on the fate of policy proposals by serving on conference committees and, subsequently, overseeing the policy's implementation. Still, like any agent, a committee must be monitored by the full chamber, its principal. The committee system is organized hierarchically: committee chairs are vested with considerable influence, and an elaborate organization of subcommittees work under and for (though with authority of their own) full standing committees. Congressional organization is also supported by staff, agencies, and special interest caucuses. Both individual members and committees hire professional staffs to help them meet their representative and legislative duties. Staff agencies including the Congressional Research Service, the Government Accountability Office, and the Congressional Budget Office also help Congress gather expert information and oversee the executive branch. Legislative service organizations, or congressional caucuses, sometimes play important informal roles in advancing particular interests otherwise not represented (or underrepresented) in Congress. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------THE ORGANIZATION OF CONGRESS At the beginning of each Congress, Democrats and Republicans gather to select their leaders. The leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives is elected Speaker of the House by a strict party vote. In the Senate, the president pro tempore is the presiding officer, although the majority and minority leaders control the calendar and agenda of the Senate. The committee system provides Congress with a second organizational structure that is more a division of labor than the party-based hierarchies of power. With specific jurisdiction over certain policy areas and the task of processing proposals of legislation into bills for floor consideration, standing committees are the most important arenas of congressional policy making. Power within committees is based on seniority, although the seniority principle is not absolute. During the 1970s, reforms fragmented power in Congress—the committee system, specifically—by increasing both the number of subcommittees and the autonomy of subcommittee chairpersons. Each member of Congress has a personal staff that deals with constituency requests and, increasingly, with the details of legislative and administrative oversight. Groups of senators or representatives who share certain opinions, interests, or social characteristics form informal organizations called caucuses.

House Leadership The leader of the House of Representatives is the Speaker of the House. The Speaker is elected by the majority party (the Democratic Party Caucus or the Republican Party Caucus, depending on which party controls the House) and sets the schedule for debates and votes on the House floor. The majority party also elects a majority leader, who works closely with the Speaker and the caucus leadership, and several whips, who count votes and connect the leadership to the rank-and-file members. The minority party in the House, meanwhile, elects a minority leader and several whips of its own. The leadership in the House has a great deal of power over its party because the leaders have the ability to reward and punish members. Members who cooperate with the leadership may be given good committee assignments or even leadership of a committee. Conversely, members who defy leadership may be ostracized by other party members. Party discipline is usually very strong in the House. Senate Leadership According to the Constitution, the vice president of the United States presides over the Senate. In reality, however, the most senior member of the senate—also called the president pro tempore (informally called the president pro tem)—usually presides over the Senate in the vice president's absence. The president pro tem position is mostly a ceremonial position. The majority party of the Senate elects a majority leader, who performs some of the same tasks as the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The minority party also elects a minority leader. Leaders in the Senate have much less ability to punish and reward members than their counterparts do in the House. Senators are expected to be independent, and party leaders give members wide latitude in how they behave. Floor Debate Rules A major difference between the House and Senate concerns the rules governing floor debate. In both houses, a majority of members must vote in favor of a bill for it to pass, but the rules for the debating and voting process differ greatly. Debate in the House Due to its large size, the House does not permit unlimited debate. Before a bill goes to the floor for debate, it must go through the House Rules Committee, which passes a rule to accompany each bill. This rule determines how much debate is permitted, as well as how many amendments to the bill can be proposed. A closed rule strongly limits or forbids any amendments, whereas an open rule allows for anyone to propose amendments. Debate in the Senate Because senators are supposed to be experienced and independent legislators, the Senate offers few rules for floor debate. In general, there are no rules: Senators can speak for as long as they wish and offer as many amendments as they want. This leads to the filibuster, a tactic in which a senator in the minority on a bill holds the floor indefinitely with the aim of blocking all Senate business until the majority backs down. A filibuster can be stopped by a vote of cloture, which requires sixty votes. Filibusters are uncommon, but even the threat of one can cause consternation among senators. Because senators are allowed to offer as many amendments as they wish, they sometimes propose amendments that have nothing to do with the bill. These amendments are called riders and can serve a number of purposes. One rider may be added to attract votes—by adding funding for a popular cause, for example—whereas others can discourage votes by adding a controversial provision to a bill. The Longest Filibuster Filibusters are the stuff of legend, in part because of the movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), in which actor Jimmy Stewart plays the part of a senator who filibusters against corrupt senators. Former senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina holds the record for the longest filibuster: twenty-four hours and eighteen minutes against a civil rights bill in 1957. Committees: Little Legislatures Members of Congress serve on a number of committees and subcommittees. Committees are sometimes called little legislatures because of the influence they wield. These committees do most of the legislative work in Congress and therefore have great power in determining which bills get reviewed and in shaping the laws that are passed. Only after a committee has reviewed a bill does the whole body deliberate and vote on it. The committee system allows Congress to operate more efficiently through division of labor and specialization., Speaker, majority leader, minority leader, committees ------------------------------ There are two general tracks for how bills become law. In the "textbook" version: Once a member introduces a bill, it is sent to the relevant committee in the first chamber (House or Senate), where the committee chair sends it to the relevant subcommittee. The subcommittee goes over the bill, holds hearings and rewrites it, sometimes adding amendments. The subcommittee then decides whether or not to pass the bill on to the full committee. If the bill goes on to the full committee, committee members have the opportunity to add amendments, vote on it as-is, or table it (effectively kill it). If the bill gets passed on by the committee, it goes to the floor. There, it goes through another round of debate and amending, whereupon it is up for a vote. If the House and Senate pass bills that are not identical, the differences are often resolved in a conference committee, where members from both the House and Senate meet. If the conference committee can agree on all the changes, the final version is sent back to each of the two chambers for a majority vote. If the bill passes each of these chambers, it is sent to the President, who can either sign it into law or veto it. If the President vetoes it, the bill can still become a law if both chambers pass the bill with a two-thirds majority. Otherwise, the bill dies. Deviations from the "Textbook" Process Rather than bringing up legislation in this "textbook" process, party leaders often deviate from this textbook process when major legislation comes up, and there are several ways that party leaders can do this. They can choose to hold summit meetings Remove a bill from its assigned committee Rewrite the bill after committee mark-up Sponsor omnibus legislation, or large bills that cover lots of topics Differences in the House and Senate Legislative Processes The House and Senate have very different rules structuring the legislative process, which can lead to very different outcomes for bills. For example, the House has very specific rules for when a bill can be voted on by the floor, how long debate can go on, what types of amendments can be offered, and so on. The House Rules Committee exerts lots of control on the legislative process, particularly on major bills. They can pass special rules that govern how a particular bill is considered: Closed rules do not allow any amendments to the bill Open rules allow only germane amendments Modified rules allow some types of amendments, but not others By contrast, the Senate has far fewer rules, with no limits on when the majority leader can bring a bill to the floor or the types of amendments that can be offered for a specific bill. Also, the Senate has no limit on how long debate can last. Debate can only be cut off by invoking cloture, which requires that sixty senators vote to end debate. The practice of talking a bill to death is called the filibuster, and it gives the minority party in the Senate a significant advantage in controlling what the majority party passes.

2 Structure of congress: in the real of foreign policy congress can declare war, deal with piracy, regulate foreign commerce, and raise and regulate the armed forces and military installations. Congress makes laws which shall be "necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers and all other powers vested by this constitution in the gov. of the United States or any office of Department." How congress works?? WORKS SLOWLY BECAUSE THIS WAY PREVENTS BAD IDEAS FROM PASSING IN THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT, MANY PROTECTIONS FOR MINORITIES TO PREVENT MAJORITY FROM USING THEIR POWERS TO ABUSING MINORITIES RIGHTS , ALL KIND OF INTEREST GROUPS CAN BE INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS IN ORDER SO THAT THE DIFFERENT INTEREST OF THE PEOPLE ARE REPRESENTED, SET UP TO REQUIRE COMPROMISE OR BUILDING COALITIONS AT MANY POINTS OF THE PROCESS TO FORMULATE A FINAL PIECE THAT REPRESENTS BOTH SIDES Legislative process congress makes laws that govern the nation, members need to try to understand what the American people want and need to translated into law through the legislative process (a proposed bill becomes law) Conducing the legislative process in Congress is daunting because it is hard for a large assembly to formulate, enact and implement laws. Also partisanship makes makes legislative process difficult -Less than 10% of bills becomes law -Representatives and senators decides laws -committee does much of the work done on bills -House and senate equal role in legislative process -Conventional law making process involves serveral stages of review -several basic steps in the standard outline of the standard process through which a proposed bill becomes law textbook legislative process: requires the participation of various political forces: political parties, committies, staff, caucuses, rules of lawmaking and the president 1- bill introduction in house refereed to committed 2 subcomittes reviewing 3- full committe review: 1-6 bills passed the committed review stage 4- house rules committes: special rules for amending or debating bills, house votes on special rules 5 Floor actions: house and senate discuss bill may amend and votes on passage 6 house senate compromise: differences between house and senate vesions of a bill must be solved at this stage in order for the bill to precede 7-final house and senate vote: approval from both required so they discuss a compromise bill and vote on approving it 8- sent to president: president has veto power if he decides to sign the bill it become a law (congress 2/3 votes to overide presidents veto) CRITICISM ARGUES THIS PROCESS IS TOO SLOW BUT IT ALSO INSURES THE PROTECTION OF PUBLIC INTERESTS, QUALITY OVER SPEED ,BALANCES COMPETING INTERESTS, CONGRESS NEED TO CHECK AND BALANCE STRONG LEADERS IN THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH -CONFLICT BETWEEN IDEAS AND INTERESTS IS NECESSARY TO AVOID THE CONCENTRATION OF POWER, NECESSARY IN A DEMOCRATIC GOV. - compromise BILL IS SIGNIFICANT AND ENDURING FEATURE OF THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS BECAUSE IT REQUIRES CONSTANT CYCLE OF COALITION BUILDING BY MEANS OF BARGAIN TECHNICS TO MOVE THE LEGISLATION FORWARD Dynamic or Unorthodox legislative process: has become the standard operation process in the US: alternative procedures to accelerate process, most major bill passed by congress no longer goes through all stages , resulting in loss of transparency, accountability and deliberation because difficult to get a through a committee, conversation with leaders to determine compromises be able to debate each line of a bill with members is time consuming, majority supported necessary in each stage which makes difficult and slow the process

THE role that voters play in congress: voters can reward or punish their agents and representatives are influenced by electoral considerations.Congressional reforms of the 1970s fragmented power in Congress and made it more open to special interests. For the Founders, Congress was the national institution that best embodied the ideals of representative democracy. A member of Congress can represent his or her constituency as a delegate or as a trustee. Most members of Congress take the threat of re-election seriously and try to anticipate the wishes of their constituents. What the public dislikes most about Congress stems from suspicions that Congress does not act as a trustee or as a delegate of any broad interest but that it is swayed by narrow special interests with money. Elections for congressional seats are conducted in single-member districts with plurality rule. This contrasts sharply from countries that elect their legislatures through proportional representation, in which seats are allocated to parties based on their proportion of the public's vote. Candidates typically earn their party's nomination for a seat through a primary election. The boundaries of congressional districts are important because how they are drawn can shape how much representation a party or group gains in Congress. Drawing boundaries specifically for political advantage is called gerrymandering. Members of Congress often claim that they try to balance serving as a trustee, using their judgment to decide what is best, and as a delegate, using constituent preferences to make decisions. Over the past few decades the incumbency advantage, or advantage current officeholders have in elections, has been on the rise as re-election rates have increased. Five factors that likely have contributed to this are: gerrymandering, pork, television access, campaign finance, and national party efforts. Minority and female representation has been on the rise, especially since the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Representation and the Constituency To understand congressional behavior, it is important to understand the two characteristics of the relationship between a member of Congress and his or her constituency. Descriptive representation asks, "Does my member of Congress look like me?" Descriptive representation can build trust in the government among traditionally underrepresented groups. Substantive representation asks, "Does my member of Congress reflect my interests?" Depending on whether a legislator is more concerned with doing what is in their constituents best interests, or if they do what their constituents want, their form of substantive representation is classified as trustee (responsible), delegate (responsive) or politico (balance between responsibility and responsiveness). Even though voters are typically unaware of congressional activity, members of Congress behave as if their constituency are watching. They do this because they know that when elections approach they will be more likely to lose if they are caught failing to uphold their district's interest. Representing the district's interests can be quite difficult. Where districts are heterogeneous, members of Congress can have a tough time appealing to all their subconstituencies. As such, legislators generally represent the central ideological tendencies of their districts, so as to not alienate too many voters. The Electoral Connection The key to understanding the behavior of legislators is to recognize that re-election is their primary interest. Without getting elected, legislators would be unable to enact policy change or represent their constituents. Members of Congress take credit for bringing government projects and federal funds to their home district and they engage in constituent case work. Doing so maximizes support back home, while also reducing the likelihood that the member of Congress faces a quality challenger in the next election. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ how congress works: 5. How Congress Decides What political pressures influence how Congress makes policy decisions? Because of their representational roles and their goals to be re-elected, constituency influence is an important determinant of how members of Congress decide policy. Interest group pressure is also key to legislative decision making, particularly because interest groups pay more attention to legislative matters and they can deliver campaign contributions and other sources of political support. By influencing members' committee assignments and access to floor debates as well as by exerting political influence through the whip system and facilitating logroll compromises, party leaders have a good deal of influence in members' legislative decisions; and key indicators of "party discipline," including the percentage of party votes, have increased considerably in recent decades. A difficult part of the job of being a member of Congress is weighing the importance (and political influence) of these diverse interests and pressures. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Creating a legislative agenda, drawing up a list of possible measures, and deciding among them is a complex process in which a variety of influences from inside and outside government play important roles. Interest groups can influence congressional decision making by mobilizing followers in congressional districts, setting the agenda, or writing legislative language. Party discipline is still an important factor in congressional voting, despite its decline throughout the twentieth century. Among the resources that party leaders have at their disposal are (1) leadership PACs, (2) committee assignments, (3) access to the floor, (4) the whip system, (5) logrolling, and (6) the presidency. Party leaders regularly use these resources, which are often effective in securing the support of party members. Party unity is typically greater in the House than in the Senate. Party unity on roll-call votes has increased in recent sessions of Congress. Party unity is a result of a combination of the ideology and background of individual members and the resources party leaders have at their disposal. The influence of the presidency is probably the most important of all the resources that maintain party discipline in Congress.

1 Structure of congress: (Article 1 of the constitution) national representative body that has power of governance. Vast authority over the two most important powers (control over the nation's military forces and power over money (article 1 section 8)= congress can led and collect taxes, deal with indebtedness and backrupcy, impose duties, borrow and coin money, control nations purse, provide for the common defense and general welfare, regulate interstate commerce, undertaken public works, acquire and control federal lands, promote science and useful arts, regulate the militia. Internal Institutions of Congress Over time, the size of Congress has grown and members have served longer careers. To handle this and the increasingly complex problems it has faced, Congress has become more institutionalized, adding many staffers and standing committees. The Speaker of the House is the leader of the House of Representatives and of the majority party in the House. The majority and minority parties also elect a majority leader, majority whip, minority leader, and minority whip. These four offices exist in the House and the Senate, and the holders of these offices try to enforce party discipline on votes. Congress does much of the detailed legislative work in committees. Standing committees have permanent jurisdiction over their policy areas, while special committees are temporarily formed to consider a special issue. Joint committees and conference committees each consist of both House and Senate members, and conference committees have the specific task of trying to reconcile conflicting House and Senate versions of the same bill. The committee system simultaneously serves to create better informed public policy and to help members' re-election efforts. Other important congressional institutions include caucuses, staff, and research services (such as the Congressional Budget Office). Committee deliberation is necessary before floor action on any bill. Many bills receive little or no committee or subcommittee action; they are allowed to "die in committee." Bills presented out of committee in the House must go through the House Rules Committee before they can be debated on the floor. The Rules Committee allots the time for floor debate on a bill and the conditions under which a bill may (or may not) be amended. In the Senate, rules of debate are much less rigid. In fact, senators may delay Senate action on legislation by refusing to yield the floor; this is known as a filibuster. Conference committees are often required to reconcile House and Senate versions of bills that began with similar provisions but emerged with significant differences. After being adopted by the House and the Senate, a bill is sent to the president, who may choose to sign the bill or veto it. Congress can override a president's veto by two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate. Congress has a number of rules and norms. Norms are not official rules, but are informal agreements commonly held by legislators. Informal Structures Universalism is the norm where benefits are divided up among districts, members of Congress generally try to benefit as many states and districts as possible. Similarly, members of Congress often practice reciprocity, wherein they support another member's bills in order to get support for their own. The seniority norm awards powerful positions to legislators based on the length of time they have been in office. Specialization demands that members of Congress (particularly Representatives) become experts on a small subset of issues allowing them to develop knowledge and build support back home. Formal Structures In addition to these informal norms, Congress also has a long list of formal structures. The majority party in the House of Representatives is led by the Speaker, who chooses the party strategy and committee assignments. Both the majority and minority party have party leaders who manage their parties' day-to-day Congressional activity; and whips, who gather and share information, count votes, and build coalitions. The leadership structure of the Senate is similar to that of the House, though Senate leaders are not as powerful. Both the majority and minority party have a leader, assistant leader, and whip. Unlike their counterparts overseas, the Congressional party leaders do not have much power over their members and are unable to force a member of Congress to vote a certain way. Committees divide up much of the work that Congress does, allowing for members of Congress to develop expertise and reinforce norms of reciprocity and universalism. There are four kinds of committees: Standing committees are the most common, and do the most work. They are relatively permanent, draft legislation, and have wide jurisdiction. Select committees address specific topics for one or two terms, and are then disbanded. Joint committees are composed of members from both the House and Senate, and they gather information but rarely have legislative authority. Conference committees are formed between House and Senate members to reconcile the differences between bills passed by the House and Senate.

The role that parties: is healthy for the democracy and the representation of minorities and majorities intrests. partisanship complicated the legislative process because the senate could be control by democrats and the house by republicans because they represent different intrests. Political parties play an important role in Congress because the houses are organized around parties. Although the Constitution does not mention political parties, they have developed into essential institutions of American politics. Although there were (and are) dozens of political parties, the American political system quickly evolved into a two-party system, which means that two parties have almost always dominated American politics. Since the 1850s, the dominant political parties in the United States have been the Democrats and the Republicans. Each chamber of Congress has a majority party, which holds more than half of the seats, and a minority party, which holds less than half. The parties elect their own leadership, organize for votes, and formulate strategy. At the start of every congressional session, the parties meet in a caucus, an informal meeting of people with common interests. Caucuses consist of all members interested in a particular issue, and examples include the congressional Black Caucus, the Travel and Tourism Caucus, and Concerned Senators for the Arts. Although caucuses have no formal power, they can be important in formulating bills and rallying support. and committed play in congress: Senate committees monitor on-going governmental operations, identify issues suitable for legislative review, gather and evaluate information, and recommend courses of action to the Senate. During each two-year Congress thousands of bills and resolutions are referred to Senate committees. Committees: Little Legislatures Members of Congress serve on a number of committees and subcommittees. Committees are sometimes called little legislatures because of the influence they wield. These committees do most of the legislative work in Congress and therefore have great power in determining which bills get reviewed and in shaping the laws that are passed. Only after a committee has reviewed a bill does the whole body deliberate and vote on it. The committee system allows Congress to operate more efficiently through division of labor and specialization. Types of Committees There are four major types of congressional committees: Standing committees: The most common type of committee, standing committees deal with issues of permanent legislative concern. Standing committees also handle the vast majority of legislation. Most standing committees have subcommittees covering more specific areas of an issue. Conference committees: A very common kind of joint committee with members from both the House and the Senate. For a bill to become law, both houses must approve identical versions. When different versions are passed, the leaders create a conference committee to reconcile the differences between the two bills. Conference committees issue a single bill for both houses to vote on. Select committees: Select committees are created for a limited period and for a specific purpose. Joint committees: Joint committees consist of members of both houses, usually created to deal with a specific issue. House of representatives:The House of Representatives is meant to be "the people's house," or the part of government most responsive to public opinion. Each state's representation in the House is based on population, with each state getting at least one member. California has the most members (54), while several states, including Delaware, Vermont, Montana, and Alaska, each have only one member. Every member of the House represents a district within a state, and each district has roughly the same population (roughly 660,000 in 2006). Membership in the House is capped at 435. To keep them responsive to the people, House members face reelection every two years, and the entire body is elected at the same time. A person must be twenty-five years old and a resident of the state he or she represents in order to run for a seat in the House. The Senate The framers envisioned the Senate as a body of statesmen who make decisions based on experience and wisdom, not on the unpredictable whims of the people. As a check on excessive democracy, only one-third of the Senate is elected every two years. The framers hoped that staggered elections of only portions of the Senate would prevent a single popular faction from taking control of the whole Senate in a single election. The framers of the Constitution were often wary of public opinion, so they attempted to structure the national government such that the public could never take control of it at one time. Also, because both the Senate and House must pass identical versions of a bill, the Senate can check any democratic excesses in the House. Representation in the Senate is equal for every state: Each state has two senators. Senators serve six-year terms. The length of the term is supposed to insulate senators from public opinion and allow them to act independently. For nearly a hundred years, senators were appointed by the legislatures of the states they represented. The Seventeenth Amendment, ratified in 1913, gave the people the power to elect their senators directly. To serve in the Senate, a person must be at least thirty years old and live in the state he or she represents. Senate: has the power to ratify treaties (2/3 votes) and to approve the appointment of ambassadors. The House and Senate play different roles in the legislative process. The Senate is more deliberative, whereas the House is characterized by greater centralization and organization.

Political context of Tom MacArtur

explain using themes in the course the political context of the member: Tom MacArtur 3rd congressional district of new jersey examine: Demographics of the district : http://www.census.gov/fastfacts/ Political makeup of district: http://ballotpedia.org/New_Jersey's_3rd_Congressional_District_elections,_2014 The 3rd Congressional District of New Jersey held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Tom MacArthur (R) defeated Aimee Belgard (D) and Frederick John LaVergne (Democratic-Republican) in the general election.[8] In the primary election on June 3, 2014, MacArthur defeated Steve Lonegan for the Republican nomination, while Belgard defeated Howard Kleinhendler and Bruce Todd for the Democratic nomination. New Jersey's 3rd was considered a battleground district in 2014. Incumbent Jon Runyan (R) did not run for re-election, leaving an open seat. Moreover, although Runyan won re-election by an 8.9 percent margin of victory in 2012, the presidential election went Democratic, with President Barack Obama winning in the 3rd District by 4.6 percent.http://ballotpedia.org/United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections_in_New_Jersey,_2014 Conduct of the 2014 campaign: VOTER TRENDS, results, factor affecting (lots of funding and spending, who was more popular and why? their objectives?) examine Tom bio http://www.tmac4congress.com/about/ political Experience== http://ballotpedia.org/Tom_MacArthur https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cycle=2014&cid=N00036155&newMem=Y&type=I http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2014/05/12/jon-runyan-endorse-macarthur-lonegan/ http://ballotpedia.org/New_Jersey's_3rd_Congressional_District_elections,_2014

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http://www.app.com/story/news/politics/new-jersey/2014/12/15/nj-voter-turnout-record-low/20328781/ http://fordhampoliticalreview.org/the-establishment-wins-in-nj-03/ http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/11/elections_2014_macarthur_defeats_belgard_to_win_njs_open_3rd_congressional_district_seat.html http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/sep/13/a-look-at-congressional-candidate-tom-macarthur/ https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00036155&newmem=Y http://thehill.com/new-members-guide-2014/223734-rep-elect-tom-macarthur-r-nj-03 http://www.nationaljournal.com/article/533658 https://www.opensecrets.org/overview/topspend.php https://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary.php?cycle=2014&id=NJ03