POLI 103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Congressional Budget Office, The Chairs, Bicameralism
Document Summary
Poli lecture 12 & 13 notes on congress. Congressional elections generally favor incumbent reelection: house elections are heavily influenced by how congressional districts are drawn (every 10 years). Congress tends to not represent the public adequately (women and minorities). The organization of congress effects how it operates: party leadership has large influence over business of congress, especially in the. House (increasingly partisan nature recently): standing committees play large role and are key to understanding congress. Structure of congress: bicameral legislature: the house and the senate, having shared roughly equal power since 1789. Structure of the house: the house was intended to represent ordinary people, encouraged by short two year election terms. Being proportional to population also helped keep it attuned to needs/wants of its people. Gerrymandering maximizes advantage: article 1 requires house members be 25 years or older, a citizen for 7 years, and live in relevant state.