Comparison Between House of Representatives and The Senate
Instructions:
1) What are the differences between the House of Representatives and the Senate institutionally, and how do those differences affect how Senators and Representatives function in Congress?
Solution.
Comparison Between House of Representatives and The Senate
Introduction
Article 1, Section 2 of the American Constitution defines that the Congress, as the makers of the law, has two legislative bodies, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The two entities share some commonality in that; the public elects the respective members. For a bill to become a legislation, both houses must be in agreement. This paper transcends the institutional differences between the two houses of Congress. The differences are evident regarding the powers that each segment possesses, the structure and leadership style.
First, the House of Representatives is intended to be the house of the people (Vile, 2012). It is that part of the government which is most responsive to the public opinions. The representation in the House of Representatives is based on the population. For instance, California has fifty-four members while other states have one representative. On the other hand, the framers of the constitution defined the Senate as a body of statesmen who apply decision-making skills strategically incorporated with experience and wisdom. With this view, the Senate would prevent single factions in the Senate in a single election by electing only one-third of the Senate every two years. Unlike the Senate, the House of Representatives has issues to deal with the equal representation of states. The Senate’s representation system benefits small states such as Wyoming as they can get more attention when represented in the Senate unlike in the House of Representatives.
Another important difference that distinguishes the Senate from House of representatives is how powers are distributed among them. The House has exclusively three powers. One, to initiate money bills. The House is like a voice of the people; it has a say on how people’s money is spent. Another significant power of the House is the power of impeachment. The House has the authority to accuse any member of the judicial or executive branches of government. Lastly, they have the power of Electoral College deadlock; the House elects the president in case either of the candidates wins an absolute majority electoral college votes. Alternatively, the Senate have powers confirm appointments made by the executive leader, including appointments at the federal judiciary levels. Also, they have the authority to endorse any treaties negotiated by the president by a two-thirds majority.
Additionally, the leadership style in the two houses differ. For example, the speaker if the leader of the House, and he is mostly elected by the majority party in the House. He acts like an “opposition leader” to the president in cases where the president is from a minority party. On the other hand, The Vice President is a leader in the Senate, but he or she delegates the President pro-tempore, who is the highest ranking personnel in the Senate (Ross, 2008). Other differences include; the House of Representatives has a larger number of members, totaling to 435, more partisan and membership duration in the House of Representatives is approximately two years. On the other hand, the Senate has a smaller number of members totaling to 100 members, its membership duration or terms are longer, six years. Unlike the House, the Senate is less partisan. Also, the age requirement for a representative in the House is twenty-five years and must be a member of the respective state for seven years. On the other hand, Senate’s age requirement is thirty years and must be a member of the individual state for nine years (Epstein & Walk, 2012).
Conclusively, it is evident that there is a difference in the two houses of Congress in America. Such differences are important in sharing power and avoiding any entity in ruling one part of the legislature tyrannically. Also, the differences as precise and shows the sole purpose of the two houses. Citizens of the US are well represented by the two bodies and they choose on the wisely.
References
Epstein, L., & Walk, T. G. (2012). Constitutional Law: Rights. New York: Sage.
Epstein, P. A. (2014). Addressing Minority Vote Dilution Through State Voting Rights Acts. U of Chicago, Public Law Working Paper, 474.
Ross, B. K. (2008). House and Senate. New York: W.W. Norton, 2008 .
Vile, M. J. (2012). Constitutionalism and the Separation of Powers. New York: Liberty Fund.