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Chapter 12: Congress

Get Connected

Get Connected

This activity contains 2 questions.

	Representatives and Senators American and Canadian federalism allow for both the people and the states and provinces to be represented in the national government. The people are represented in the lower house (called the House of Representatives in the U.S. and the House of Commons in Canada) and the states and provinces are represented in the upper house (called the Senate in both the U.S. and Canada). This federal arrangement makes a lot of sense. While states and provinces have authority over their own territory and people, the national government has some authority over all people and territories. Originally, U.S. Senators were appointed to serve by the individual states, just as Canadian Senators are appointed by Provinces. However, America changed its constitution in 1913 requiring senators to run for office in elections. Search Tips Review Article 4 Sections 21, 22, and 23 of the Canadian constitution http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/const/c1867_e.html#legislative and pay particular attention to how senators are chosen. Review Article 1, Section 3 of the U.S. constitution http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.overview.html and pay particular attention to how senators are chosen. Questions to Ask Why do you think the United States decided to change the way Senators were chosen in 1913? In your view, does it make a difference in the way a Senator performs in office if he or she is chosen by a provincial government or elected by the people? Why it Matters Democracy means rule by the people. The Canadian version of democracy and the American version of democracy operate slightly differently, although both are models of democracy. In the Canadian model both the people and the provinces are directly represented in the national government. In the American model the people are directly represented in both houses. States are no longer directly represented in the U.S. Congress like they once were. Get Involved Ask others in class whether they think it would make any difference in the way individuals in your state are represented if the senators from the state were appointed by the state legislator or elected by the people.   To create paragraphs in your essay response, type <p> at the beginning of the paragraph, and </p> at the end.

	Congressional Elections As the text points out, there are several possible explanations for the high rate of incumbents who get reelected. Incumbents have the ability to raise money easier than do challengers, for example. But, incumbents also have the ability to claim credit for good things that happen to their constituents and to their district. For instance, if a company in the congressional district in which you live wins a big federal contract it is very likely that the member of Congress who represents your district will take some credit for the contract, even if it means nothing more than saying a few words at the press conference when the contract is announced. Another way that members of Congress claim credit for things is on their official web sites. Go to five random congressional websites and look for instances of credit claiming. Search Tips Go to http://www.house.gov/ and pick a representative's web site. Look at five different sites and take notes on the credit claiming examples that you find. You will often find instances of credit claiming under titles like "Latest Headlines", "Headlines", or "Latest News" Questions to Ask Did you find any representatives who did not claim credit for something? What was the most interesting example of credit claiming that you could find. Do any of the instances of credit claiming seem overtly political to you, or do they seem to be in the context of the normal day-to-day work that a representative would do? Why it Matters We elect representatives to go to Washington and serve our interests. In order to make sure that we know that they are doing what we elected them to do, representatives often have to take credit for things that they know we are concerned about. Get Involved Watch the news for the next few weeks and try to identify examples of politicians at all levels (from the local city or town council all the way up to Congress) taking credit for things.   To create paragraphs in your essay response, type <p> at the beginning of the paragraph, and </p> at the end.

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