Chapter 10 Congress Section 1 The National Legislature Article 1 Section 1 All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives US Constitution ID: 660529
Download Presentation The PPT/PDF document "The Legislative Branch Chapters 10, 11, ..." is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.
Slide1
The Legislative Branch
Chapters 10, 11, and 12Slide2
Chapter 10
CongressSlide3
Section 1
The National LegislatureSlide4
Article 1, Section 1
“All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.” – US ConstitutionSlide5
A
Bicameral
congress
Bicameral
legislature
A legislature made up of
two
houses.
3 Reasons for Bicameral Leg
Historical ReasonBritish Parliaments was bicameral so framers knew it well; 11 of 13 colonies had bicameral legPractical ReasonFramers had to settle disagreement btwn VA and NJ Plans; Bicameralism is a reflection of FederalismTheoretical ReasonOne house checks the other; Spreads out the power of CongressSlide6
Senate Chamber
House Chamber
Why is the House Chamber so much larger than the Senate Chamber?Slide7
California and Wyoming each elect two senators, despite a huge difference in their populations.
How does the distribution of Senate seats among the States illustrate the principle of Federalism?
California has a much large population than Wyoming, yet both States have two memebers in the Senate. This system prevents large States like California from dominating the small states in the Senate’s decision making.Slide8
Terms of Congress
Each
term
of Congress lasts two years.
Each of the two-year terms is numbered consecutively.
We are currently in the 113
th
Congress; It runs from January 3, 2013 until January 3, 2015.Slide9
Sessions of Congress
A
session
of Congress is the period of time that Congress assembles and conducts business
.
There are two sessions to each term of Congress – one session each year; Sessions usually last most of the year
Convenes
= begins
Adjourns
= SuspendsRecess = temporarily suspend businessPresident has the power to prorogue (end, discontinue) a session; This has never happened
President Obama speaking to a Joint Session of Congress
Slide10
Special sessions
Only the President can call Congress into a
special session
.
A meeting to deal with some emergency situation.
Only 27 JOINT sessions have ever been called; Last one was 1948 by Truman
The President can call Congress or either house into a special session.
Senate has been called 46 times; last in 1933
House has never been
called alone; Special Session of Congress called by Roosevelt in 1933