The US Parliament as a legislature. USA congress

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

The United States of America is a presidential republic. The main feature of their political system is the division of powers into three types: executive, legislative and judicial. It is this structure that keeps the balance in the country.

History of occurrence

Initially, all power in the country was in the hands of the US Constitutional Congress (1774). At that time, there was no separate leader of the country, and the US Parliament (Congress) elected a president from among its members, whose role, however, was small - he was only the chairman during the voting. Only in 1787 did the United States acquire the status of a presidential republic, and the president became the chief leader of the country. The head of the United States represented the federal executive power in the country. The power of the head of the country was supported and strengthened by the Constitution adopted two years later.

To balance the system of government in the United States, there is a division into three branches: executive, legislative and judicial. Each structure has the ability to influence the activities of other authorities, which allows you to achieve maximum balance. The first US Congress in its present form was convened in 1789.year. A year later, he moves into the Washington State Capitol building.

US Congress (Parliament)

The US Congress, or Parliament, represents the legislature in the country. Its structure includes two links:

House of Representatives.
Senate.

Elections to both structures are held secretly. Members of structures cannot be dissolved before the expiration of their term.

House of Representatives

It is elected for a two-year term and has 435 members. The number of members depends on the number of counties in the Americas, with seats distributed in proportion to population. The change in the number of representatives from the state occurs every ten years and only according to the results of the census. There are certain requirements for a member of the House: he must be at least 25 years old, have American citizenship for at least seven years, and live in the state he wants to represent.

Senate

The Senate is formed for a period of six years, but every two years there is a renewal of part of its composition. Representatives are elected by two people from the state, and the number of its population does not matter. The requirements for senators are more stringent than for representatives of the House. A senator must be a U. S. citizen (who has been a citizen for at least nine years) who is thirty years of age and resident in the state he intends to represent.

Status of Members of Parliament

The US National Congress gives its members special status and rights. They have immunity, which is valid only during meetings, on the way to them, and also back. There are exceptions to this privilege: treason, felony, and disorderly conduct. Members of the US Congress are also not responsible for their statements and votes. But even here there are exceptions, and disciplinary measures can be applied to them, such as reprimand, censure, deprivation of seniority status, expulsion from the composition.

The US Parliament gives its members a mandate that does not oblige them to anything before the voters, because they represent the interests of the nation. However, in reality, the re-election of members is carried out by voting of ordinary citizens, so their opinion has to be taken into account.

The legislature gives its members other privileges as well. All parliamentarians receive a salary, use a large number of medical services free of charge, as well as some other services. They are provided with office space for living, and are also assigned a pension. The calculation of the pension of a member of parliament is based on the length of service.

The structure of the chambers. US Senate and Congress

Each chamber of the US Congress has its own internal structure. The House of Representatives is headed by the Speaker, who is elected at the first session. The US Parliament gives it a wide range of powers. The speaker is the third person in the entire state (1st is the president, 2nd is the chairman of the Supreme Court). So, he appoints disciplinary measures, determines the main issuesmeetings, gives the right to vote to the deputies. The speaker's vote is decisive in the event of a tie.

The head of the Senate is the Vice President. During his absence, his temporary deputy is selected (in fact, the deputy is the main character). It is the link between the executive and legislative branches. The vice president presides over certain meetings, directs bills to certain committees, and signs and approves bills. He also has the right to vote in case of a controversial issue, otherwise the vice president does not vote.

An annual session is held, which begins at the beginning of the year and lasts more than six months, with breaks. As a rule, the meetings of the chambers take place separately, but there are exceptions. These meetings are most often held openly, which does not exclude the holding of a secret meeting if necessary. The meeting is considered held when the majority of votes is reached.

Further links in the structure of the chambers are their committees. There are two types:

Permanent.
Temporary.

There are 22 Standing Committees in the House of Representatives and 17 in the Senate. The number of committees is determined by the supreme law of the country (the Constitution). Each of the committees deals with a separate issue (medicine, economics, national defense, finance, etc.). The chairs of the standing committees are representatives of the majority party with the longest seniority and experience in Congress.

Special committees are formedonly when needed. These may be cases of investigating certain issues of the activities of government bodies or solving problems. They sit at any time and in any place. Witnesses may be invited to the meetings and the necessary documents may be requested. After all issues are resolved, the special committees are subject to disbandment.

Party factions

The US Congress includes two main parties:

Democratic.
Republican Party.

Both of these parties form their own factions, led by elected leaders. The faction creates committees in various areas, and there are also party organizers. They represent the interests of faction members and oversee the observance of the rules in the House. The Republican and Democratic parties promote committee appointments, campaigning and support MP initiatives.

Powers of the US Congress

The US legislature has a wide range of powers. They can be divided into two groups:

General.
Special.

General powers are exercised by both houses of Parliament. They include: finance (taxes, fees, loans, debts, exchange rates and others), economics (trade, patent and copyright, bankruptcy, science and crafts and others), defense and foreign policy (war, army and others), protection of public order (police, riots and uprisings, and others). Also, general powers include issues of obtaining citizenship,federal courts and some others.

Special powers of the Congress are exercised by each of its chambers separately. The chambers have their own functions, and each of them solves its own tasks (for example, the House of Representatives sometimes has the right to elect the president, and the Senate sometimes decides on the guilt and innocence of a citizen).

Legislative process

The legislative process begins with the introduction of a bill into Congress. In order to expedite its consideration, it is possible to introduce a bill for simultaneous consideration by both chambers. In each of the Houses of Parliament, the bill goes through three main stages of consideration. Moreover, there is an additional stage - consideration in the committee.

During the first reading, the bill is simply submitted for consideration, then it is submitted to the special committee dealing with this area, or even several committees at the same time. Here the document is deeply studied, amendments and additions are made to it. If the majority of the committee members approve the bill, then it goes to further consideration.

The second reading consists in announcing the text of the bill, the possibility and need for amendments and additions to it.

At the third reading, an improved final version of the bill is announced, after which a vote is announced. If the bill was passed by the first chamber, then it can be considered by the next instance. The next chamber follows the same procedure. If there is no singleopinions, then a conciliation committee is formed, which helps to find a solution that will suit both parties. Even if this did not help and no consensus was formed, then the bill should be rejected. When the bill is approved by both chambers, it moves to the final stage - signing by the president. After this procedure, the bill is considered adopted and is subject to publication.

Resolution

The US Parliament has a wide range of powers. His activities are not limited to the creation and approval of laws, he is also involved in the adoption of resolutions. These can be simple resolutions, joint and congruent. Simples determine the activities of the House and are accepted only by its members, after which they are subject to approval by the President of the United States. Joint resolutions are subject to consideration and vote by both houses. The coinciding ones are accepted immediately by the two houses of Congress on the issues of their relationship.

The status of the Congress and its shortcomings

The role of Congress in the US is huge. It is not just a legislature. Parliament influences the defense of the country. Its status greatly surpasses the role of the Pentagon, which is forced not only to reckon with the opinion of parliamentarians, but also to obey them in everything. This greatly weakens America's military strength. For example, in order to make a decision to create a new weapon or military vehicle, the military must prove to members of Congress this necessity and all the advantages of such a decision. At the same time, parliamentarians have no idea about the intricacies of military policy, the specifics of weapons and the organization of weapons inin general. Most members of Congress have a law degree. The military has to do mass advertising and put on whole performances in order to win over more votes. This procedure has its drawbacks. First of all, this is the submission of the adoption of secret decisions to the hearing of such a large circle of people. This makes it impossible to keep secret the appearance of new products. Secondly, parliamentarians, having no special education, look not at a real need, but at a brighter speech of a representative. Thirdly, the same situation is with the issues of resolving military conflicts.