The House of Representatives vs. the Senate

The U.S. Government constitutes three branches namely the legislative branch, the judicial branch and the executive branch. The framers’ original conception of Congress’s authority was much narrower than it is today. Those in attendance at the Constitutional convention were concerned with creating a legislative body that would be able to make laws and raise and spend revenues. Over time, these roles has have changed. Today, members of Congress must combine and balance the roles of lawmaker, budgeter and policy maker with being a representative of their district, their state, their party, and sometime this race, ethnicity, or gender. According to the Article section 8, the powers of congress include the power to lay and collect taxes and duties, borrow money, regulate commerce, establish rules for naturalization, coin money, establish post office, and etc.  The U.S. Congress and almost all the state legislatures are bicameral, meaning that there are two houses through which legislative initiatives must pass. At the federal level, these houses are the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. This system was set up for two reasons: It was a compromise between those who thought that democratic representation should be based on population (the House) and those who thought that the states should be represented equally (the Senate). 

There are several differences between the House of Representatives and senate. The U.S. Vice President is the head of the Senate. He is supposed to vote in the senate in case of a tie. On the contrary, the leader of House of Representatives is called the Speaker of the House. He/She is elected by the representatives. The Senate is made up of 100 voting members, two from each state. They are in office for six year. The senate also approves treaties and tries impeached officials. On the other hand, The House of Representatives is made up of 435 representatives the number of which is determined by that state’s population. The greater the population in a state, the more representatives that state will have in the House. The House initiates all revenue bills and initiates impeachment procedures and passes articles of impeachment. Another difference is that senators are elected to 6-year terms, while representatives are elected to serve 2-year terms. Every two years, the nation holds an election for members of Congress. At that time, all members of the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate are up for re-election.

In the House, there are several parties. Whoever holds the majority, has the biggest say in the decision making process. This means that if the House proposes a rule or bill, it only necessitates a majority of the votes to pass the said bill. The house tends to emphasize tax and revenue policies and the power is distributed less evenly there. They are more centralized and more formal. The Senate is somewhat similar but entirely different. They are less centralized, less formal and more personal. The power is distributed more evenly and they tend to emphasize foreign policies.

Over time, both the house and the senate have changed. The power centralized in the speaker’s inner circle of advisers. Turnover is relatively high in the house, although those seeking reelection almost always win. In the senate, their workload has increased over time and they have become more formal. Also it has become more and more difficult to pass legislation through the senate.