Unit 4:

Legislature

Mastery Project by David Kim, Kenneth Yi, Josh Gonzalez,

Frank Arellano

1.Identify and explain the organization of

The Legislature
Legislative Branch is organized as follows: The Congress is
composed of two branches: the Senate and the House of
Representatives. The House of Representatives has 435 members, while
the Senate has 100 members. These members are broken into
committees, based on their experience and expertise in certain
industries. The House of Representatives includes a speaker of the
House, who is the most powerful member. It also includes majority and
minority leaders, based on the majority or minority party. There are also
majority and minority whips, who direct members in voting and keep
track of vote counts. In the Senate, the U.S. vice president is the
presiding officer. A president pro tempore is a senior member of the
majority party who presides in the absence of the vice president.
Senate also includes majority and minority floor leaders (like the House
of Representatives) as well as majority and minority whips.

Identify and provide an example of the

powers of Legislature, both formal and
informal.

The Legislature has the powers of declaring war, raising an army or

navy, borrowing or coining money, regulating interstate commerce, and
creating federal courts. For each branch specifically, the House has the
power to originate revenue bills and begin impeachment of officials. The
Senate can court to try impeachment, approve presidential
appointments, and approve treaties with foreign nations. Informal
powers of the legislature include anything through the necessary and
proper clause.

Identify and explain how Congress shares

powers with the Executive, Judiciary, and
In
the Executive sense, Congress can impeach the President. Any bills
bureaucracy.

that go through Congress must be approved by the President. The

President often brings issues to attention so that Congress can act and
pass bills.
In the Judiciary sense, any law that Congress passes must be
constitutional, and the Judicial branch has the power to void a law if it is
not constitutional.
A bureaucracy is the administrative organization that handles the dayto-day business of a government or society. Bureaucratic agencies and
departments do the work of administering the laws that Congress
passes. Congress enables the bureaucrats to work through funding, and

4. Discuss the implications of Congress

sharing powers with each of the following:
Executive, Judiciary, and bureaucracy.
Because Congress shares powers with each of these groups, the power
of Congress is checked. They must make sure that their laws are
constitutional, and must seek the approval of the President in order to
ensure that laws are not vetoed (although they can override). They also
must oversee agencies in the bureaucracy to ensure that their laws are
being implemented.

5. Discuss the functions that Congress

performs
Congress has the following functions: lawmaking, representing the
people, performing oversight, and helping constituents. Lawmaking is
shown by the process of turning bills into laws. Congress represents the
people through the House of Representatives (population) and the
Senate (equal representation per state). Oversight is performed in order
to ensure the laws of Congress are administered properly. Congressmen
must also ensure to help the constituents back home, and represent
their interests.

6. Identify how the power of Congress

has/may evolve gradually.
The power of Congress has evolved gradually through various clauses
like the implied powers and the interstate commerce clause due to their
broad interpretations.

7. Identify how the power of the Congress

has/may change dramatically as a result of
In
times of crisis, Congress can use their implied powers to ensure that
crisis.

the people and their freedoms remain safe, which in turn increases their
power. However, in most situations, the power of the president
increases during times of crisis (like the Great Depression), which may
even infringe upon the power of Congress.

8. Identify and discuss the ties between the

Congress and political parties.
Members of congress, although they want to please their constituents,
tend to vote by their own party ideals. Parties also can reward members
who are most loyal to party priorities by assigning them to more
prestigious committees and giving them better assignments.

9. Identify and discuss the ties between

Congress and interest groups.
Interest groups influence Congress greatly. They are an invaluable
source of information for Congresspeople as they try to convince the
Congress to support their issues by providing relevant information. They
also provide information in the sense that Congresspeople can
understand what the people -- in some cases their constituents -- want.
Thus, Congresspeople can serve the best interests of the population.
Interest groups also have lobbyists, who often promise funding and
possible financial support in future campaigns.

Identify and discuss the ties between the

Congress and media.
Congress and the media have an interesting relationship. Through the
pressure of the media and programs like C-SPAN, Congress may be
forced to be more objective and orderly. However, public hearings are
often for show, and most of the work goes on in private committees.
However, the media is invaluable for Congress as it allows
Congresspeople to see what issues are of greatest importance to
America and helps Congresspeople gauge public opinion.

11. Identify and discuss the ties between

the Congress and state and local
governments.
Congress
is very closely involved in local and state governments. The

bicameral structure of the Congress allows for the representation of

states as well as local districts. Each representative in the House helps
bring the issues of their constituents within their district to national
attention. On the other hand, Senators bring the issues of their entire
state to attention. Often, Congresspeople must balance between the
issues of their constituents (state and local) and national pressures.