National Government

Federalism

• State and National Government share power

• THERE ARE THREE LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT– NATIONAL– STATE– LOCAL

State vs. National Government

National Government

• 3 branches of government– Legislative- makes laws– Executive-enforces laws– Judicial- interprets laws– Congress: legislative– President: executive– Supreme Court: judicial

Congress

Quick Question:

Which Article of the Constitution deals with the Congress (legislative branch)?

How Congress is Organized

Bicameral Legislature2 Houses

• House of Representatives

House of Representatives

• 435 Representatives • 2 year terms• Organized by state– According to population- so the more populous

the state is, the more representatives)– Census- every 10 years we take a population

count.

House of Representatives Census

• Each state is divided into congressional districts

• Each district must have the same number of constituents.

• Constituents= people represented

Gerrymandering

• Oddly shaped district designed to increase voting strength of a particular district.

The original Gerrymander• In 1812 Governor Eldbridge GERRY of

Massachusetts had district lines drawn to benefit his political party in elections.

• One of the districts was said to resemble a salamander.

• Hence the name “GERRYMANDER”.

How many districts are there in the US?

• There are 435 districts in the US. (435 US House of Representative seats).

• Each state has a certain number of districts.• Each district has about 700,00 constituents in it.• Since FL is very populated, we have 27 districts.• Some unpopulated states only have 1 district, like

Wyoming and Alaska. • The state with the most districts is California- they

have 53 districts.

Districts in FL

Bicameral Legislature2 Houses

• Senate

Senate

• 100 members• 2 per state (regardless of population)• Six year terms

These are the 2 US Senators who represent Florida. Bill Nelson, a Democrat (left) & Marco Rubio, a Republican (right).

Who gets to be in charge?

• Majority Party- The political party with the most members in Congress

• Minority Party- The party with less members in Congress

House of Representatives • Speaker of the House:– Leader of the House of Reps.– Article I, Section 2 of the US Constitution says

"The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker..."

• Paul Ryan– Republican • Republicans are the majority party in the House

Senate

• Vice President of the US– President of the Senate– Joe Biden-Democrat– Only votes in the case of a tie

• President Pro tempore:– Chairperson– Not really a leader– Orrin Hatch-Republican

• Republicans are the majority party in the Senate

Committees: Little Legislatures

• In a congressional term (2 years) about 10,000 bills are proposed in Congress! That is a lot of work!!!

• Committees help to break up the work

Different kinds of committees

1. Standing Committee- permanent committees-The House of Representatives has 19-The Senate has 16

2. Select Committee- set up for a special reason and limited time

-The 9/11 Commission was a committee that was established to investigate 9/11 attacks.

Different kinds of committees

3. Joint Committees- Has members both the House and Senate

What are the powers of Congress?

Powers specifically listed inthe Constitution

• Article 1, Section 8: lists specific powers Congress has. These are called EXPRESSED POWERS.

• EXPRESSED POWERS=Specific powers given by the Constitution

• IMPLIED POWERS= Powers not expressly given in the Constitution.– Elastic Clause(Article 1, Section 8, Clause 18)-Allows

Congress to “stretch” its powers when necessary.

Elastic Clause(Article 1, Section 8, Clause 18)-Allows Congress to “stretch” its powers when necessary.

Powers of Congress

• Legislative power- power to make laws

• Non-Legislative- duties other than lawmaking

Powers of Congress

• Legislative Powers- power to make laws1. Taxing and Spending2. Regulating Commerce3. Foreign Relations and Treaties

1. Taxing and Spending

• All taxes start in the House of Representatives.• There are 2 steps:

• Authorization Bills:-create projects to spend money on

• Appropriations Bills:- provide the money for each program

2. Regulating Commerce

• Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3- gives Congress power to regulate commerce.

• Commerce: trade• Air traffic, railroads, trucking, radio, TV, air

pollution, stock market.

3. Foreign Relations and Treaties

• Declaring War• Senate approves treaties made by President

Powers of Congress

• Non-Legislative Powers- duties other than lawmaking

1. Adding Amendments2. Power of Approval and Removal3. Oversight and Investigation

1. Adding Amendments

• Congress has the power to change the Constitution

• Amendment proposal requires 2/3 vote in both houses of Congress (House of Rep & Senate).

2. Approval and Removal

• Power to approve or reject presidential appointments (checks and balances)

• Power to remove any official from office.• Impeach: to accuse a public official of

misconduct

3. Oversight and Investigation

• Power to watch what the other branches (executive, judicial) are doing.

Limits on Power

Writ of Habeas Corpus

• Cannot suspend Habeas Corpus• Latin for “you should have the body”.• Requires the government to produce a

prisoner before a court and justify his or her imprisonment.

Bills of Attainder• Not allowed• Laws that punish a person without a trial• “Ms. Potts is guilty”– (That’s the law)

Ex Post Facto Laws

• Not allowed • Ex Post Facto= “Before the Fact”• Laws that make an act a crime after the act

has been committed.

Requirements of Congress

• Senate– 30 years old– Live in state– US citizen for 9 years

• House of Representatives – 25 years old– Live in state– US citizen for 7 years

Congress Pay

• Congress sets their own salary• Right now Congress gets paid $174,000/year• Their salary has been the same since 2009.• What does Amendment 27 say? It’s about

Congress’ salary!– Look it up!

Personal Staff

• Helpers of all Congress members• Secretaries, researchers, etc.

Lobbyists

• Lobbyists: people hired by private groups to influence government

Casework

• People requesting help from the government• Congress gets about 80,000 emails each day!!!

What’s going on here? What do you see that makes you say that?

How a bill becomes a law