Participation in Government

Topic 4.1

National Legislative Overview

The Framers of the Constitution created a Congress with two bodies: a small Senate and a much larger House of Representatives. Each Congress since 1789 has met for a term of two years; those terms are now divided into two one-year sessions.

Topic 4.2

The Two Houses

The 435 members of the House of Representatives represent districts of roughly equal populations but very different characters. House members can serve for an unlimited number of two-year terms.

Each State has two seats in the Senate, the smaller and more prestigious house of Congress. Senators are generally older and more experienced than representatives, and their long terms protect them from political pressure.

Topic 4.3

The Expressed Powers

A typical day in either chamber of Congress might suggest that there is no limit to what Congress can do. On any given day, the House might consider bills dealing with such varying matters as the interstate highway system, an increase in the minimum wage, and grazing on public lands. Meanwhile, the Senate might be considering aid to a famine-stricken country in Africa, the President's nomination of someone to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court, or any number of other matters. 

Topic 4.4

The Implied and Nonlegislative Powers

What does the Constitution have to say about education? Nothing, not a word. Still, Congress provides tens of billions of dollars every year for the United States Department of Education to spend in a variety of ways throughout the country. Look around you. What indications of these federal dollars can you find in your local school? If you attend a public school anywhere in the United States, that evidence should not be hard to spot.

Topic 4.5

Congress at Work⎯Organization and Committees

What comes to mind when you hear the word Congress ? The Capitol? Your members of Congress? Some particular bill? Those senators and representatives you often see on the evening news? Of course, you know that the nation's lawmaking body is much more than that. It is, in fact, a very complex enterprise, and much larger than most people realize. Some 30,000 men and women work for the legislative branch today, and Congress appropriates some $5 billion every year to finance its own many-sided operations.

Topic 4.6

Congress at Work⎯Making Law

These numbers may surprise you: From 6,000 to 9,000 bills and resolutions are introduced in the House and Senate during each session of Congress. Fewer than ten percent become law. Where do all those measures come from? Why are so few of them passed? How, by process, does Congress make law?