Questions for Unit 2.1 Congress

KM - Explain the reasons for the difference in chamber size of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Describe how the different constituencies influence the formality of debate. While drafting the Constitution, there existed a contentious debate as to the structure of the legislative branch: larger states lobbied for a congress composed providing representation which was proportional to the state’s population size whereas smaller states argued this would disproportionately help large states and proposed equal representation from each state. In the end, this led to the success of the Great Compromise or Connecticut Compromise which called for a bicameral legislature in which two chambers would be erected - each representing the two sides of the argument at hand. This compromise represents America’s modern congressional structure: the House of Representatives, catering to the large states, provides representation upon the bases of population size, and the Senate, catering to the small states, provides equal representation. Currently, the House of Representatives has 432 members, with the least populated states such as Wyoming and Montana only have one representative and the largest state California having 52. On the other hand, the Senate has 100 seats, providing two representatives per state. In practice, this has led to debate procedures in the House being far more organized, complex, and formal due to its significantly larger size requiring a prodigious degree of structure as to ensure congressional efficiency.