United States Congress structure and function

United States Congress:

The legislature of the United States was established in 1789 under the country's constitution and divided structurally from the judicial and executive arms of the government. This legislative arm in separated into two houses which are the Senate and the House of Representatives. While the Senate requires that each state is represented by two senators regardless of its size, the House of Representatives consist of members who are elected on the basis of population. The Congress was created by the pioneers of the American Constitution on the basis that a huge portion of the powers of the government needs to be on the legislative branch. Whereas the two Congressional chambers are separate and distinct, they tend to have an equal role in the enactment of legislation in most cases. Representation, lawmaking, oversight, service to constituents, conflict resolution and public education are the six basic functions of the Congress. While lawmaking is the most common and important function of the Congress, it primarily approves legislation since the concepts for most policies come from outside.

The enumerated powers of this legislative arm of the American government are specified in Section 8 of the country's constitution. However, the United States Congress has also undergone several structural reforms that are focused on changing the balance of power within the institution. First, the elections of members to the institution varies based on the election laws of the particular state they represent ("Chapter 11: The Congress" par, 6).

The other major reform that is focused on harmonizing power within the institution is the issue of congressional reapportionment which is among the most complex aspects of congressional elections. To create that balance, the seat of the House is usually allocated based on the latest population figures after census that is conducted every decade. This is because representation in the House is dependent on the population in addition to being conducted so as redraw political boundaries that is in accordance with the changes that have taken place in region's population. Whereas previous legislatures didn't usually carry out this constitutional responsibility, it was applied to the Congress after the Supreme Court declared that the issue be reviewed by the court and defined the legislatures principle to redistrict. Furthermore, the Congress has established individual agencies in order to serve several specific interests like government printing, congressional budget and general accounting ("Congress of the United States" par, 4).

The United States Congress consists of various committees and sub-committees that perform most of the institution's work of creating policies and legislation. In addition to be referred to as little legislatures, there are five committees in the Congress namely select, standing, joint, the House Rules and conference. Congressional leadership is basically made up of formal leadership that is organized by political parties and consists of the speaker, the minority and majority leaders as well as the party whips. While the House is led by the speaker, the actual leadership power in the Senate is with the minority and majority floor leaders who are assisted by the party whips. While it's difficult to determine all factors that influence a member's vote in the Congress, political party membership is regarded as the basic indicator of the member's vote.