Congress And Legislative Tactics Analysis

The Functions of Congress and Legislative Tactics The United States Congress was initiated in 1789 as a separate entity from the judicial and executive branches of government under America’s Constitution (Congress of the United States, 2014). Furthermore, it is comprised of two houses (the Senate and the House of Representatives), this division of houses is known as bicameralism and is a consequence of the Connecticut Compromise, which was an attempt to balance the voting advantages of states with large populations (Schmidt, Shelley & Bardes, 2012, p. 196). Indeed, Congress performs six legislative functions, such as lawmaking, representation, service to constituents, oversight, public education, and conflict resolution (Schmidt, Shelley & Bardes, 2012, p. 196).
First, the function of lawmaking, which is “the process of establishing the legal rules that govern society” (Schmidt, Shelley & Bardes, 2012, p. …show more content…
205). Accordingly, after a state conducts a census, every ten years, it undergoes reapportionment to assign the correct number of seats allowed and redistricting to ensure the number of representatives align with the number of districts in the state (Schmidt, Shelley & Bardes, 2012, p. 205). Nonetheless, issues like gerrymandering, the drawing of district boundaries to bestow an advantage on the majority party at the expense of the minority party, and minority-majority districts, a requirement of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which are meant to form districts to enhance the power of the minority vote by making them the majority in the district, are still creating apportionment problems that must be addressed (Schmidt, Shelley & Bardes, 2012, p.