The Congress

The Congress is the first branch of power to appear in the constitution. Indeed, the first article is dedicated to the legislative power. It to defines and limits its rights and its authority. The main functions of the congress are to represent the people in the the government and to be a place of democratic debates in view of the creation of new laws. Nonetheless, deliberation isn't an easy task and it shows in the American history.

What are the functions of the Congress? Are they fulfilled?

The Origins of the Congress

When the Articles of Confederation were put in power, the legislative branch was unicameral. The absence of the executive power only made it a grow stronger. Alongside with the growth of strength, grew a feeling of fear that the congress would become as tyrannical as the King George, if not worse. Therefore, the Connecticut Compromise was made. The Connecticut Compromise enbaled the Congress to have the form we currently know: a higher chamber also called the Senate with two people to represent each state (100 senators in total) to and lower chamber also called the House of Representatives directly elected by the people.

As you can notice every state has two representatives, there is an equal voice representation, whereas the house of representatives' representation is proportionate to the size of consituancies and the size of states.

Being able to vote before the Civil War was a priviledge for only caucasian landowners.

In 1787 , as southern states had many slave residents the constitution was purposely created with an omission of human rights and unalienable rights that slaves had. Hence, the Three Thirds Compromise which declared that all slaves had three thirds of a human rights. Therefore they could not vote... This compromise obviously stems from the fear of a legal or illegal rise of Afro-American rebellion. It would have been a demonstration of weakeness in white-suremacy. This issue was resolved after the Civil War.

Let's dig into the notion of...

.... Bicameral Legislature

A bicameral legislature is defined by two equal chambers. These chambers compete and influence each other and legislative functions are distributed in between them to prevent tyranny and abuse of power.

Here are the main functions of the congress:

1. The power of the purse: the congress has the duty to manage national money spendings and taxation

2. Declaration of war: while the president is the commander in chief of the army, the Congress is the one to declare war

3. Regulation of intrastate disputes

4. Power to impeach: impeachment is the act of putting into doubt the effectiveness and validity of a political figure (civil servants presidents judges senators etc.). Here again both chambers have their own responsibility. The house of representatives of votes the articles of impeachment then a trial is held in the US Senate.

5. The necessary and proper clause: the Congress can imply its power if the other branches can't and it is a necessity.

The house of representatives, the house of the people:

The house of representatives distinguishes itself by the fact that representatives are always elected by the people. The house has 435 representatives that for a two year term.

In the lower chamber abides imagination institution. In other words, the bigger state the more it representation of its political preference are present in the House of Representatives. The term used to explain this is "the majority":

The majority

- Elects a speaker which becomes the leader and the party whip

-Seats at a congressional commission

-Budget laws and impeachments start in the House of Representatives which acts accordingly to the political party it represents.

The lower chamber has a political and legislative leader (the Speaker of the House) who also provides as an officer (leader of a majority political party and the House of Representative). The speaker of the house is all the second in line for succession after the Vice President. Nancy Pelosi democrat representative of the state of California is the first female speaker in the history of the American legislature.

If the House of Representative gets to reflect a political party that has been elected by the people, how does the Senate function.

Set it has 100 members (2 representatives per state) who stayed for six year term linked to their function. They are directly elected by a popular vote.

Senators appear to have more power individually therefore they increase the bipartisan polarization making it more difficult for law drafts of the house to be passed by the Senate. Moreover the Senate has a rule allowing any member to prevent and delay votes on the proposal, it is called the Filibuster: a senator who does not agree for a law to pass can speak to defend their thesis. In simpler terms the more they speak the more they prevent a law from being passed on to the president for a signature.

How does a bill become a law?

What an issue that the people have comes back to the house of representatives the committee of the house draft a bills. Pernicious become a draft needs to be adopted by a simple majority of the house ie and 18 representatives out of 435 or else it is rejected. Then passed onto the Senate we're a conference committee has to adopted as well by a majority of 51 senators over 100 and finally both chambers review the draft that has now become a bill for final vote. The bill finally gets passed to the president who either signs the bill (it then becomes a law) or vetoes the bill. Evita represents an obstacle in the legislative process therefore checks and balances give the opportunity to the Congress to override the presidents veto by a vote of 2/3 of senators and representatives representatives in the House. For this same reasons amendments and new laws are a very difficult process to go through in the American legislature.

Does the congress fulfil its two democratic duty?

Partisan polarisation is the cause for the decline of compromise in the congress. Political rights such as the filibuster and the the presence of a TV in the Congress make it harder to prevent legislative paralysis.

In terms of representation, representatives stay for a term of two years and have a hard time implementing their ideas. They consecrate their time campaigning in hopes of a reelection whereas the senator stay for a term of 6 years and are most likely to be reelected. Incubent senators have a privilege being reelected because they benefit from their campaign money, and their renown name. Indeed, most senators are millionaire white man who can afford a reelection. The House of Representatives and the Senate lack a representation of people.

Is there any solution?

The only solution, is awareness! The new generation has been more active bringing issues back to the Congress (eg Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez(D-NY)) and pointing out how partizan polarisation disturbs the process of legislation. The presence of more women, people of different ethnicities and sexualities in the congress are a necessity to shed light on the different issues in the USA partially because of decisions taken by politicians who lack awareness knowledge concerning the least privileged citizens in the country. Tangible solutions would be the cancelation of disenfranchisement in order to appreciate the opinion of the whole country. A few million votes could change many things even in the Congress.

Do you think that there are issues that need to be talked about in the Congress? Tell me about it in the comments.

Stay tuned for a new article. See you soon guys!