Legislative Branch

The United States government is split into three main branches, the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. The first branch that we shall be looking over is the legislative branch

The first article of the Constitution is about the legislative branch, which leads one to believe that the Founding Fathers thought that it was the most important branch of government. The legislative branch consists of the House of Representatives, and the Senate. Those make up the US Congress. Congress is the only one with the power to declare war, and make laws.

The House of Representatives is made up of 435 representatives from all 50 states. The leader of the House, is called the Speaker of the House, and they are third in the line of succession to the Presidency. Members of the house most have been a US citizen for the past seven year, be over 25 years of age, and live in the state they represent. Representatives are elected every two years.

The Senate is the other part of Congress. There are 100 senators, and they must be at least 30 years old. Senators aren't chosen by the popular vote, but instead, by state legislators. Senators are elected to six year terms, have been a US citizen for the past nine years, and live in the state the represent. If the Senate has a tie on something, the Vice President is the tie breaker. The Senate also has to confirm the people that the President's appointments.

In order for a law to be passed by Congress, both the House and the Senate must get a majority vote in favor of the law, but, due to the checks and balances of the American government, the President does have the power to veto the law. Congress can also overrule the President's veto if two thirds of both the Senate and House vote in favor of the law.

We have a bicameral legislative branch because back when the Founding Fathers were still figuring out the American government, they didn't want big states to have more power than smaller states. They also thought that if it was not bicameral, that the legislative branch might have too much power, so they split it up. That's also why states with a larger population have more representatives, but everyone has two senators.

Back in the 1780s, there was an argument about state population. Congress was trying to figure out if slaves counted towards the population of a state, and if they did, how much did the count for? There was an argument about how much of a person slaves counted for. Eventually, there was a compromise that slaves were 3/5 of a person. In 1865, the 3/5 compromise was repealed.

The structure of the House and the Senate are different because there is a hierarchy in the House, while there is less of one in the Senate. The power is distributed more evenly in the Senate than in the House. The two parts of congress are also different because they do different things. The House has the power to impeach an official, but the Senate has the power to conduct impeachment trials. The Senate has the power to make treaties. The House has the power to start the taxes. In the Senate, there is a Senior Senator and Junior Senator from each state. Typically, the Senior Senator is the Senator that has been serving in the Senate longer.

Putting a term limit on Congress could either be a good thing, or a bad thing. It could be good, because it would let new blood into Congress, and could encourage more people to vote. It could also help limit corruption and give newer people more of a say in Congress. It could also force good leaders to have to step down, and it could also force politicians to go through a learning curve more quickly than before.

Some ways that the system of checks and balances applies to the Legislative branch are that Congress can make laws, but the President can veto the laws, and Congress can make laws, but the Judicial branch can say that the laws are unconstitutional. The legislative branch also have the power to approve Presidential nominations, control the budget, and impeach the President.

If you wanted to become a Senator or Representative, there isn't really a specific career you should look into. You just need to be active in local forms of government, and keep an eye on when there's a vacancy.