11.2: Bicameralism

The Congress of the Constitution is an expansion of the Congress of the Articles of Confederation from one chamber to two. The “lower,” larger chamber is the 435-member House of Representatives, with one per congressional district. The “upper,” smaller chamber is the 100-member Senate, with two members per state.

In crafting a bicameral (two-chamber) national legislature, the Founders had in mind the British Parliament, which is divided into the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Many other world legislatures are bicameral, including Germany’s parliament, Japan’s National Diet, and Russia’s Federal Assembly. Forty-nine of America’s 50 state legislatures are also bicameral, with Nebraska’s being the only (unicameral) exception.

In most bicameral legislatures, the lower chamber predominates. In the United Kingdom, for example, the House of Commons is led by the Prime Minister and handles virtually all lawmaking. (The House of Lords mainly debates policy and holds inquiries.) American legislatures are unusual in that their lower and upper chambers both have lawmaking authority. In Congress, both representatives and senators can introduce bills, which need both chambers’ support to become laws. This makes Congress less efficient than many comparable bicameral legislatures, whose upper chambers are often bypassed in the lawmaking process.

The House of Representatives and Senate differ in several notable ways besides the size of their membership. Representatives serve two-year terms and senators six-year terms, though neither are term-limited (except by their own mortality). Only the Senate votes to ratify treaties and to confirm presidential cabinet appointees, Supreme Court justices, and the heads of certain government agencies. The House has the power to impeach a president, but the Senate holds the trial and votes to convict or acquit an impeached president. If no presidential candidate wins a majority in the Electoral College, the House (voting by state) chooses the president, and the Senate (voting individually) chooses the vice president.

The differences between the House and Senate reflect the Founders’ belief that they would play distinct roles in the American government. The House, popularly elected every two years and with most members representing fewer constituents than senators do, was viewed as closer and therefore more beholden to average Americans. The Senate, with its six-year terms, was designed to be more independent of public opinion. In fact, before the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were elected by state legislatures rather than directly by voters. The idea was to have the people’s will represented in the House while their passions were held in check by the intervention of the more aloof Senate.