The U.S. Congress is the chief legislative body of the United States, the bicameral legislature of the U.S. federal government. It comprises the Senate, and the House of Representatives - the upper and lower houses, respectively. The 535 voting Members of Congress hold meetings in the Capitol in Washington, D.C. The powers of Congress are stated by Article I of the Constitution, and further widened by the Amendments. The Constitution's Framers created a unique system in which the three branches of the government could limit each other's power using a number of various checks and balances.
The structure of the U. S. Congress is complex. A number of committees handle a wide range of topics presided over by elected officers. Committees are where the most congressional legislative work is fulfilled. Some committees branch out to manage other committees. However, it not possible for the members of Congress to be expert on all matters that are dealt with by the Congress. Congressional committees are there to provide informational services to the U.S. Congress by holding investigations and reporting. This is a vivid example of how the Congress structure is optimized to ensure its efficiency. Congresspersons area granted by a range of privileges to help them best serve the national interest. In the course of committee work, members often develop personal expertise on the matters their committee deals with. At the beginning of each two-year Congress the speaker is elected, who is the leader of the majority party.
American electorate has also been evolving over the years. Five stages are usually described concerning the evolution of American electorate: The founding period; the spoils era, when elections resembled lotteries, with Government employment as the prize; the early years competitive civil service, with few professional executive career jobs; the beginning of the modern civil service, when civil service required high level of professional and executive expertise; and the period since passage of the Civil Service Reform Act in 1978, with an emphasis on performance management and commitment to merit principles.
Works Cited
Lowi, Ginsberg, Shepsle and Stephen Ansolabehere. Civil Liberties And Civil Rights.
NY: W W Norton & Company Incorporated, 2012. Print.
Yourlastname PAGE …