U.S. Government & Politics Explained
 "Everything you should have learned during that one semester you took from your middle school's lunch lady."  -Brian
v1.0 - Updated 06-29-09

 

   The Legislative Branch

US Senate

All states are represented equally in the U.S. Senate by two senators (in contrast to the House of Representatives, where a state's representation is in proportion to the size of the state's population). Senators serve six-year terms and are divided into three "classes," so that only one class, or one-third of the Senate, is up for election every two years. With two-thirds of its membership carrying over after each election, the Senate is a "continuing body." These longer terms (House members serve only two years) were intended to insulate the Senate, more than the House, from sudden shifts in public opinion.  The equality of the states' representation in the Senate, regardless of the size of the population, was designed to protect the smaller states. The Senate adopted rules that further enhanced minority rights. A small minority of senators, even a minority of one, can use the rules to delay or defeat objectionable legislation. The Senate's toleration of unlimited debate, in the form of the filibuster, has been its most notable difference from the House, whose rules favor the majority.  Although both houses of Congress share essentially the same powers, the Senate has the sole power of "advice and consent," to confirm the President's nominations and to ratify treaties. The Vice President serves as president (or presiding officer) of the Senate, and the senators elect their other officers. Like the House, the Senate determines its own rules and disciplines its own members. The Senate also sits as a court of impeachment once the House has voted to impeach, or formally accuse, a federal officer.  Initially, the Senate met in secret session, and even after it opened its doors in 1794 it operated for years in the shadow of the House. But during the 1830s the Senate emerged as a powerful counterforce to the strong Presidency of Andrew Jackson. Such rivals to Jackson as Henry Clay and Daniel Webster used the Senate as their forum, and a new political party, the Whigs, developed around them. Because senators were evenly divided between free and slave states, the Senate became the center of efforts to preserve the Union. Senators sought legislative compromise to calm popular passions, but decades of compromise could not prevent the Civil War.

Senate Leadership

The decades after the Civil War saw powerful committee chairmen exert strong party leadership over the Senate. By 1900 journalists were pointing to the Senate Four Republicans Nelson Aldrich, William Allison, John C. Spooner, and Orville Platt as being so influential that they could "block and defeat anything that the president or the House may desire." Press criticism of the Senate as a "millionaires' club," more responsive to powerful corporations than to public opinion, resulted in the 17th Amendment in 1913. It gave the privilege of electing senators to the voters rather than to state legislatures.  Throughout its first century, the Senate acted as a body of equals without official floor leaders. The position of majority leader emerged in 1913, when Democratic Caucus chairman John Worth Kern took on the role of directing his party's initiatives on the floor. The parties formalized the posts of majority and minority leader in the 1920s, and the leaders took the front-row seats on either side of the center aisle. Senate rules give the leaders the right of "first recognition," meaning that the presiding officer must recognize them to speak before any other senators.

A "Club-Like" Atmosphere

The atmosphere of the Senate has been compared to that of an exclusive club. Within that club developed an "inner club" made up of powerful committee chairmen and ranking minority party members. The "inner club" drew its membership largely from conservative Southern Democratic committee chairmen and generally excluded junior members and Northern liberals. During the 1950s Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson (Democrat-Texas) began to change this structure by appointing freshmen senators to important committees rather than making them spend years in apprenticeships on lesser committees. Johnson's successor as majority leader, Mike Mansfield (Democrat-Missouri), furthered the trend by spreading power more equally among all senators.  While the upper houses of most parliaments (such as the British House of Lords) have declined in influence in the 20th century, the Senate remains a powerful legislative body. As the Constitution intended, the Senate serves to balance the House, just as the Congress as a whole checks and balances the executive and judiciary branches of the government.
 

House of Representatives

The House of Representatives has been called the "people's body." No one ever became a member of the House by appointment or any means other than standing for election by the people. Because of the House's close connection to the voters, the Constitution gave the House authority to originate all bills to levy taxes and spend government money.  Representatives serve two-year terms. Each state has at least one representative. States with larger populations are divided into districts, whose lines are redrawn every ten years according to the latest federal census. The House has sole authority to determine any disputed elections and to expel members by a two-thirds vote.

Sheer numbers have shaped the House. The original House consisted of 65 members, one for every 30,000 citizens. After the first census the number rose to 105, and it grew steadily as the population increased and new states were added. In 1910 Congress fixed the membership at 435, and districts are reapportioned every ten years following a new census.

As its membership grew, the House changed its rules to limit time for debate and to strengthen majority rule. When Asher Hinds compiled the first volumes of House precedents in 1907, he observed that "the pages of these volumes show a constant subordination of the individual to the necessities of the whole House as the voice of the national will." Nearly a century later, in 1992, House majority leader Richard Gephardt (Democrat-Missouri) reconfirmed that "the Senate is a collection of individuals, while the House, by virtue of its size, forces you to function in a group."

Leadership in the House

The House sets its own rules and elects its own officers, headed by the Speaker. Depending upon the personality and philosophy of the various Speakers, they have acted as impartial presiding officers or as strong partisan leaders. Speakers of the stature of Henry Clay, James G. Blaine, Thomas B. Reed, Joseph G. Cannon, Nicholas Longworth, Sam Rayburn, Thomas P. ("Tip") O'Neill, Jr., and Newt Gingrich have shaped the development of the House. So, too, have strong committee chairs, notably of the powerful Rules Committee and of the "money" committees: Appropriations and Ways and Means. Traditionally, a small number of committee chairs, ranking minority members, and other senior representatives have dominated the House, and junior members have had little influence. Committee reforms in 1975 opened the chairmanships, particularly of subcommittees, to more members and gave members of the majority party the opportunity to vote to remove committee chairs who acted arbitrarily.

Constituent services

House members often receive less national press attention than do senators, and they tend to devote more time to constituent services. If effective, they assure that their district will have a voice in national and international affairs, and that the federal government will be responsive to its needs, whether in road building, federal water projects, public housing, military bases, Social Security payments, or any number of other areas.  The atmosphere of the House chamber has traditionally differed from that of the more staid Senate. The larger body has often been the more boisterous one, with shouts of "Vote! Vote!" and other commotion on the floor, causing Woodrow Wilson to describe the House as a "mass of jarring elements." The Speaker, as presiding officer, holds the responsibility for keeping order. He is assisted by the sergeant at arms, who during particularly tumultuous moments has lifted the House mace, the symbol of the authority of the House, as a means of quieting the chamber.  After 200 years the House of Representatives remains the branch of government closest to the voters and the most conscious of operating with the "consent of the governed." Its members therefore constantly strive to make sure that their constituents' voices are heard and their interests are fairly considered within the federal system.

   Executive Branch

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   Judicial Branch

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