The House of Representatives and the Senate make up the two chambers of Congress in the United States. People elect both bodies during regular elections, usually held in November. Many have wondered why the United States Constitution calls for a bicameral approach to governance, thinking a single body would perfect the process of governing the people. The founding fathers that wrote the constitution and created Congress back in 1787 believed the power should be a shared process among all units of the government. The House incumbents and Senate seats are likely to change in the 2012 election with the impact of candidate characteristics, incumbents, money and primaries on race competitiveness.
A “grand committee” was created with one delegate from each state and Benjamin Franklin was the chairman. The committee decided on an amalgamation of the Virginia and New Jersey plans. They propose The Great Compromise insisted that there would be two houses in the legislative branch of Congress and it would made for both small and large states would have favor in one house or the other. In one house, the House of Representatives, the larger populated states would favor because it was based off of population size. Whereas the Senate favored small states and every state would have equal representation that made states like Virginia and New Jersey equal in this
The U.S. Constitution states the promotion of the “general welfare”. Both governments are democracies and support a widespread of the population instead of a handful. They also both support “equal opportunity” of the public. Because of these many similar views, Greece’s government is very much alike the government of the U.S. Athens of Greece was part of the Delian League, a coalition of states, each one independent and sharing a common interest with the others (4). These states created a strong military force.
II. Leaders preferred a unicameral legislature, or one with single house whose members elected their representatives. Thomas Paine of the Patriots wanted to put more power in hands of people, but many distrusted the ability of the common people. III. Most States like Massachusetts and New York, wanted more of the Unicameral legislature that has two houses of body making, a house of representatives and the Senate which has the power of wealthy well-educated gentlemen and the
Furthermore, minor parties which secure a large number of votes, Liberal Democrats, will command a more reflective percentage of the seats in the Commons as each vote cast will be viewed with equal value over the whole country meaning a minority vote could no longer decide which party dominates the Commons. Overall, it will make the House of Commons more democratic but also at the same time making it more legitimate and giving it greater authority as the people votes actually reflect more in the government of the day. However there are some who do not like the idea of Proportional representation as they believe that by giving minority parties a greater representation will reduce the chances of one party dominating, as to some
The Constitution The Constitution was created for the people of America to establish a formal written document for how the new country should be governed. It was created to bring together a new nation that was divided by states of different land sizes and population. Delegates from each of the original thirteen states were assembled for the objective of revising the Articles of Confederation. The convention was attended by fifty-five out of the seventy-four delegates that were selected. There is a need to improve the Article of Confederation because there were flaws in the national system.
The other ratification method is by convention that involves an entirely different body from the legislature. The state of Vermont, for example, after proposal of the amendment, the governor has 60 days to call the convention, elect delegates from each county, and set the convention date. 14 people are elected to be at-large members. This means that each voter would cast votes for 14 people, with the top 14 vote getters being elected. The convention takes place in the Senate chamber in the state capitol.
Constitution Paper By: April 13, 2015 HIS/110 Instructor: Constitution of the United States In the 1700’s men came up with a set of laws that they felt could aid the people of the US. There were some objections with the Decoration of Independence that the Constitution was capable to address. The Constitution was capable to detect and address weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. There are some explanations why the Constitution changed and it aided for the US. The Great Compromise was an official contract for the big and small states that have two representatives in the upper house for each state.
Why a more centralized and stronger constitution/government was needed? The Utility of the Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection (#10) is perhaps the most famous and highly regarded of the Federalist papers. It was written by one of the Founding Fathers of the Constitution, James Madison, and was published by the Dailey Advisor on Thursday, November 22, 1787. (1) Howard Zinn says, “Madison argued that a representative government… vote of the majority.”(2) According to Madison a faction is “a number of citizens, whether amounting to the majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse or passion, or of interest.”(3) When Madison says majority and minority, he is referring to the
After all, if the people don’t like it, they can always vote them out of office! This dilemma has often been debated about a representative government: are the elected officials expected to vote the way the majority of his or her constituents would desire, as amplified by the famous observer of American democracy Alexis de Tocqueville? Or, are elected officials expected to