NOTES ON CONGRESS I THE FUNCTIONS OF CONGRESS The authors of the Constitution were influenced by the types of governments that were prevalent at the time On the whole they feared that power in the hands of a single individual would be abused and the people would suffer This in part explains why they placed a considerable amount of power in the legislative branch The national legislative power was vested in Congress that was to be a bicameral institution Each house was intended to serve different constituencies The House was to be elected by the people and would therefore represent the views of the people The members of the Senate were selected by the state legislatures and would be at least one step removed from the people Furthermore the House would represent the people because it was apportioned on the population of each state The Senate was to represent the interests of the states and each state would receive two senators Bicameralism also was a reflection of the class structure during our country s founding The constituencies of the House members were the masses whereas the Senate was to represent the elites within society In 1913 however the Seventeenth Amendment provided that the people of the various states would elect the senators of the states Bicameralism was designed to enable the legislative body and its members to perform certain functions for the political system The two most important and the ones that are most often in conflict are lawmaking and representation A The Lawmaking Function The prime function of Congress is lawmaking i e the process by which the legal rules that govern our society is decided In this function Congress may establish broad national policies including budgetary priorities B The Representation Function Members of Congress also function as representatives of their constituents Generally there are three roles elected officials can assume when representing their constituents 1 the trustee role 2 the instructed delegate role and 3 as the politico a combination of trustee and constituent C 1 The Trustee View of Representation The elected official attempts to consider the whole of society as opposed to simply being an agent of the constituents 2 The Instructed Delegate View of Representation The elected official is a mere agent for the constituents doing exactly what a majority of the constituents want on issues The Politico Representation The elected official combines both perspectives in a pragmatic mix Service to Constituents Members of Congress are expected to assist their constituents in dealings with the government Constituent service also called casework includes assisting constituents in procuring governmental services that were denied to them The member of Congress is seen as an ombudsperson or an investigator of constituent problems who uses his or her staff to cut through the red tape of the federal bureaucracy Casework provides a benefit to both constituents and to the representative who typically gains the grateful constituents support during reelection D The Oversight Function Congress is responsible for reviewing actions of the executive branch especially the implementation of policy or legislation Inquiries are made to determine whether implementation reflects legislative intent about the effectiveness of the federal bureaucracy and whether the bureaucracy is fulfilling the needs of the public E The Public Education Function This also is referred to as agenda setting Congress discusses issues that the public may not have information about in an attempt to make the public aware of issues that need attention In recent years Congress has greatly improved access to information through the use of the Internet F The Conflict Resolution Function Advocacy groups and representatives of different racial religious economic and ideological interests look on Congress as an access point for airing their grievances and seeking help Congress acts as an institution to resolve these conflicts and others within American society II THE POWERS OF CONGRESS The Constitution is both highly specific and extremely vague about the powers that Congress may exercise A Enumerated Powers The enumerated powers are set forth in Article I Section 8 Enumerated powers or expressed powers are specific grants of power to Congress These powers include taxing spending borrowing and coining regulation of foreign trade and trade among states regulation of the military state militias an army and navy and declaring war as well as the power to define the court structure B 1 Powers of the Senate The Senate must advise and consent to treaties and the appointment of top officials 2 Constitutional Amendments Congress has received other grants of power through amendments such as the Sixteenth Amendment that allows Congress to levy an income tax The Necessary and Proper Clause Implied powers emanate from the Necessary and Proper Clause of Article I Section 8 This clause allows Congress to make laws that are deemed necessary to carry out the enumerated powers In McCulloch v Maryland the Supreme Court ruled that this clause allows Congress considerable discretion and authority to enact laws C Checks on the Congress Congress is the most powerful branch of government But checks on congressional power include the presidential veto judicial review by the Supreme Court the need to face reelection and bicameralism III HOUSE SENATE DIFFERENCES Congress is composed of two chambers the lower chamber the House of Representatives and the upper chamber the Senate There are major differences between the two chambers A Size and Rules The size length of term and constituencies of the House and the Senate are different and in turn these generate more differences The House has 435 members In the House members are elected from essentially equally populated districts and their term is two years The Senate has 100 members two elected from each state Senators serve a six year term Originally members of the Senate were elected by each state s legislature In 1913 the Seventeenth Amendment provided for the direct popular election of senators In the Senate one third of the seats are up for election every two years so that the entire chamber does not face simultaneous reelection The rules governing each chamber also are different Because of the large number of members in the House there are many formal rules to govern activity on the floor and in committees As there are considerably fewer members in the