123-716: Thomas Sterling (February 21, 1851 – August 26, 1930) was an American lawyer, politician, and academic who served as a member of the United States Senate and the first dean of the University of South Dakota College of Law . A Republican , he served in the Senate from 1913 to 1925. He later served as dean and law professor at George Washington University Law School . The University of South Dakota School of Law awards "Sterling Honors" to their graduating top 10% in honor of their first dean. Sterling,
246-483: A Senate and a Chamber of Deputies : Buenos Aires , Catamarca , Corrientes , Entre Ríos , Mendoza , Salta , San Luis (since 1987) and Santa Fe . Tucumán and Córdoba changed to unicameral systems in 1990 and 2001 respectively. Santiago del Estero changed to a bicameral legislature in 1884, but changed back to a unicameral system in 1903. When the Australian states were founded as British colonies in
369-670: A blend or hybrid of the Westminster and the United States systems of government , especially since the Australian Senate is a powerful upper house like the U.S. Senate; this notion is expressed in the nickname "the Washminster mutation". Unlike upper houses in most Westminster parliamentary systems , the Australian Senate is vested with significant power, including the capacity to block legislation initiated by
492-524: A chair in the front of the Senate chamber. The powers of the presiding officer of the Senate are far less extensive than those of the speaker of the House . The presiding officer calls on senators to speak (by the rules of the Senate, the first senator who rises is recognized); ruling on points of order (objections by senators that a rule has been breached, subject to appeal to the whole chamber); and announcing
615-564: A different constitutional arrangement that may shift power to new groupings, bicameralism could be demanded by currently hegemonic groups who would otherwise prevent any structural shift (e.g. military dictatorships, aristocracies). The growing awareness of the complexity of the notion of representation and the multi-functional nature of modern legislatures may be affording incipient new rationales for second chambers, though these do generally remain contested institutions in ways that first chambers are not. An example of political controversy regarding
738-457: A given state are not contested in the same general election, except when a vacancy is being filled. Class I comprises Senators whose six-year terms are set to expire on January 3, 2025. There is no constitutional limit to the number of terms a senator may serve. The Constitution set the date for Congress to convene — Article 1, Section 4, Clause 2, originally set that date for the third day of December. The Twentieth Amendment , however, changed
861-496: A majority of electors for vice president , the duty falls to the Senate to elect one of the top two recipients of electors for that office. The Senate conducts trials of officials who have been impeached by the House. The Senate has typically been considered both a more deliberative and prestigious body than the House of Representatives due to its longer terms, smaller size, and statewide constituencies, which historically led to
984-407: A majority of the Senate constitutes a quorum to do business. Under the rules and customs of the Senate, a quorum is always assumed as present unless a quorum call explicitly demonstrates otherwise. A senator may request a quorum call by "suggesting the absence of a quorum"; a clerk then calls the roll and notes which members are present. In practice, senators rarely request quorum calls to establish
1107-665: A member of the State constitutional convention, and a year later in 1890 a member of the State senate. From 1901 to 1911 he was the first dean of the University of South Dakota College of Law at Vermillion . He was elected in 1912 as a Republican to the United States Senate, was reelected in 1918, and served from March 4, 1913, to March 3, 1925. During this time, he served on the Overman Committee investigating seditious German and Bolshevik activities. He
1230-614: A more collegial and less partisan atmosphere. The Senate chamber is located in the north wing of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. , the nation's capital. Despite not being a senator, the vice president of the United States serves as presiding officer and president of the Senate by virtue of that office ; the vice president may vote only if the Senate is equally divided. In the vice president's absence,
1353-530: A relevant field of legislation. Though the European Union has a highly unusual character in terms of legislature, one could say that the closest point of equivalency lies within bicameral legislatures. The European Union is considered neither a country nor a state, but it enjoys the power to address national Governments in many areas. In a few countries, bicameralism involves the juxtaposition of democratic and aristocratic elements. The best known example
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#17327721410721476-413: A runoff between the top two candidates occurs if the plurality winner in the general election does not also win a majority. In California , Washington , and Louisiana , a nonpartisan blanket primary (also known as a "jungle primary" or "top-two primary") is held in which all candidates participate in a single primary regardless of party affiliation and the top two candidates in terms of votes received at
1599-468: A second chamber has been the debate over the powers of the Senate of Canada or the election of the Senate of France . Bicameral legislatures as a result have been trending down for some time with unicameral , proportional legislatures seen as more democratic and effective. The relationship between the two chambers varies: in some cases, they have equal power, while in others, one chamber (the directly elected lower house with proportional representation )
1722-413: A senator's pension depends on the years of service and the average of the highest three years of their salary. The starting amount of a senator's retirement annuity may not exceed 80% of their final salary. In 2006, the average annual pension for retired senators and representatives under CSRS was $ 60,972, while those who retired under FERS, or in combination with CSRS, was $ 35,952. By tradition, seniority
1845-445: A share in the public confidence, and an indiscriminate and hasty admission of them, which might create a channel for foreign influence on the national councils. The Senate (not the judiciary) is the sole judge of a senator's qualifications. During its early years, however, the Senate did not closely scrutinize the qualifications of its members. As a result, four senators who failed to meet the age requirement were nevertheless admitted to
1968-443: A simple majority and does not remove a senator from office. Some senators have opted to withdraw from their re-election races rather than face certain censure or expulsion, such as Robert Torricelli in 2002. The "majority party" is the political party that either has a majority of seats or can form a coalition or caucus with a majority of seats; if two or more parties are tied, the vice president's affiliation determines which party
2091-490: A statewide popular vote . As the upper chamber of Congress, the Senate has several powers of advice and consent . These include the approval of treaties , as well as the confirmation of Cabinet secretaries , federal judges (including justices of the Supreme Court ), flag officers , regulatory officials, ambassadors , other federal executive officials , and federal uniformed officers . If no candidate receives
2214-536: Is a bicameral legislative body. The House of Representatives has 98 delegates, elected for four-year terms by proportional representation. The House of Peoples has 58 members, 17 delegates from among each of the constituent peoples of the Federation, and 7 delegates from among the other peoples. Republika Srpska , the other entity, has a unicameral parliament, known as the National Assembly , but there
2337-400: Is a factor in the selection of physical offices and in party caucuses' assignment of committees. When senators have been in office for the same length of time, a number of tiebreakers are used, including comparing their former government service and then their respective state population. The senator in each state with the longer time in office is known as the senior senator , while the other
2460-399: Is almost always connected with opulence". The Senate was created to be a stabilising force, not elected by mass electors, but selected by the State legislators. Senators would be more knowledgeable and more deliberate—a sort of republican nobility—and a counter to what James Madison saw as the "fickleness and passion" that could absorb the House. He noted further that "The use of the Senate
2583-531: Is also a Council of Peoples who is de facto the other legislative house. Only 6 of the 36 states or Union Territories of India have bicameral legislatures, Andhra Pradesh , Bihar , Karnataka , Maharashtra , Telangana , and Uttar Pradesh , while the rest all have unicameral legislatures. The lower houses are called Legislative Assemblies , and their members are elected by universal adult suffrage from single-member constituencies in state elections, which are normally held every five years called Vidhana Sabha. In
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#17327721410722706-410: Is anticipated. The Constitution authorizes the Senate to elect a president pro tempore ( Latin for "president for a time"), who presides over the chamber in the vice president's absence and is, by custom, the senator of the majority party with the longest record of continuous service. Like the vice president, the president pro tempore does not normally preside over the Senate, but typically delegates
2829-408: Is appointed when the two chambers cannot agree on the same wording of a proposal, and consists of a small number of legislators from each chamber. This tends to place much power in the hands of only a small number of legislators. Whatever legislation, if any, the conference committee finalizes is presented in an unamendable "take-it-or-leave-it" manner by both chambers. During his term as governor of
2952-534: Is called a senator-elect ; a member who has been appointed to a seat, but not yet seated, is called a senator-designate . The Constitution requires that senators take an oath or affirmation to support the Constitution. Congress has prescribed the following oath for all federal officials (except the President), including senators: I, ___ ___, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend
3075-484: Is called the House of Representatives and the upper house is named the Senate . As of 31 August 2017, the lower house has 151 members, each elected from single-member constituencies, known as electoral divisions (commonly referred to as "electorates" or "seats") using full-preference instant-runoff voting . This tends to lead to the chamber being dominated by two major groups, the Liberal / National Coalition and
3198-449: Is clearly superior in its powers. The first tends to be the case in federal systems and those with presidential governments. The second tends to be the case in unitary states with parliamentary systems . There are two streams of thought: critics believe bicameralism makes meaningful political reforms more difficult to achieve and increases the risk of gridlock—particularly in cases where both chambers have similar powers—while proponents argue
3321-590: Is democratically elected every four years (constitutionally up to five years). In contrast, in Canada's upper house , Senators are appointed to serve until age 75 by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister through an Independent Advisory Board as of 2016. The government (i.e. executive) is responsible to and must maintain the confidence of the elected House of Commons. Although
3444-399: Is divided into two separate assemblies , chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature . Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism , in which all members deliberate and vote as a single group. As of 2022 , roughly 40% of the world's national legislatures are bicameral, while unicameralism represents 60% nationally and much more at the subnational level. Often, the members of
3567-466: Is elected using proportional representation while the lower house uses Instant-runoff voting in single member electorates. This is reversed in the state of Tasmania , where proportional representation is used for the lower house and single member electorates for the upper house . The Legislature of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina , one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina ,
3690-538: Is held first for the Republican and Democratic parties (and a select few third parties , depending on the state) with the general election following a few months later. In most of these states, the nominee may receive only a plurality, while in some states, a runoff is required if no majority was achieved. In the general election, the winner is the candidate who receives a plurality of the popular vote. However, in five states, different methods are used. In Georgia ,
3813-445: Is held to fill the vacancy. In May 2021, Oklahoma permitted its governor again to appoint a successor who is of the same party as the previous senator for at least the preceding five years when the vacancy arises in an even-numbered year, only after the appointee has taken an oath not to run in either a regular or special Senate election. Senators serve terms of six years each; the terms are staggered so that approximately one-third of
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3936-576: Is often referred to as the " Mother of Parliaments " (in fact a misquotation of John Bright , who remarked in 1865 that "England is the Mother of Parliaments") because the British Parliament has been the model for most other parliamentary systems, and its Acts have created many other parliaments. The origins of British bicameralism can be traced to 1341, when the Commons met separately from
4059-610: Is the junior senator . For example, majority leader Chuck Schumer is the senior senator from New York, having served in the senate since 1999, while Kirsten Gillibrand is New York's junior senator, having served since 2009. Like members of the House of Representatives, Senators use the prefix " The Honorable " before their names. Senators are usually identified in the media and other sources by party and state; for example, Democratic majority leader Chuck Schumer , who represents New York, may be identified as "D–New York" or (D-NY). And sometimes they are identified as to whether they are
4182-524: Is the British House of Lords , which includes a number of hereditary peers . The House of Lords is a vestige of the aristocratic system that once predominated in British politics, while the other house, the House of Commons , is entirely elected. Over the years, some have proposed reforms to the House of Lords, some of which have been at least partly successful. The House of Lords Act 1999 limited
4305-468: Is the majority party. One hundred desks are arranged in the chamber in a semicircular pattern and are divided by a wide central aisle. The Democratic Party traditionally sits to the presiding officer's right, and the Republican Party traditionally sits to the presiding officer's left, regardless of which party has a majority of seats. Each senator chooses a desk based on seniority within
4428-437: Is the majority party. The next-largest party is known as the minority party. The president pro tempore, committee chairs, and some other officials are generally from the majority party; they have counterparts (for instance, the "ranking members" of committees) in the minority party. Independents and members of third parties (so long as they do not caucus support either of the larger parties) are not considered in determining which
4551-472: Is to consist in its proceeding with more coolness, with more system and with more wisdom, than the popular branch." Madison's argument led the Framers to grant the Senate prerogatives in foreign policy, an area where steadiness, discretion, and caution were deemed especially important. State legislators chose the Senate, and senators had to possess significant property to be deemed worthy and sensible enough for
4674-606: The Autonomous Communities to reform it into a strictly territorial chamber. The European Union maintains a somewhat close to bicameral legislative system consisting of the European Parliament , which is elected in elections on the basis of universal suffrage, and the Council of the European Union , which consists of one representative for each government of member countries, who are competent for
4797-834: The College of Law . He practiced law in Washington, D.C. , and served on the faculty of National University Law School, now George Washington University School of Law . He was appointed by President Calvin Coolidge in 1925 as field secretary of the Commission for the Celebration of the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of George Washington. Sterling died in Washington, D.C., on August 26, 1930. He
4920-589: The Crossbenches and given a life peerage. Until 2009, 12 Lords of Appeal in Ordinary sat in the House as the highest court in the land; they subsequently became justices of the newly created Supreme Court of the United Kingdom . As of 16 February 2021, 803 people sit in the House of Lords, with 92 Hereditary Peers, 26 Lords Spiritual and 685 Life Peers. Membership is not fixed and decreases only on
5043-491: The House of Representatives . Senators are elected by their state as a whole. The Elections Clause of the United States Constitution grants each state (and Congress, if it so desires to implement a uniform law) the power to legislate a method by which senators are elected. Ballot access rules for independent and minor party candidates also vary from state to state. In 45 states, a primary election
Thomas Sterling - Misplaced Pages Continue
5166-608: The Labor Party . The government of the day must achieve the confidence of this House to gain and hold power. The upper house, the Senate, is also popularly elected, under the single transferable vote system of proportional representation . There are a total of 76 senators: 12 senators are elected from each of the 6 Australian states (regardless of population) and 2 from each of the 2 autonomous internal territories (the Australian Capital Territory and
5289-587: The Northern Territory ). This makes the total number 76, i.e. 6×12 + 2×2. In many respects, Australia is a unique hybrid with influences from the United States Constitution , as well as from the traditions and conventions of the Westminster system and some indigenous features. Australia is exceptional in this sense because the government faces a fully elected upper house, the Senate , which must be willing to pass all its legislation. Although only
5412-440: The U.S. Constitution to pass or defeat federal legislation. The Senate has exclusive power to confirm U.S. presidential appointments to high offices, approve or reject treaties, and try cases of impeachment brought by the House. The Senate and the House provide a check and balance on the powers of the executive and judicial branches of government. The composition and powers of the Senate are established by Article One of
5535-413: The United States , link their bicameral systems to their federal political structure. In the United States, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, and Nepal for example, each state or province is given the same number of seats in one of the houses of the legislature, despite variance between the populations of the states or provinces. The bicameral Parliament of Australia consists of two Houses: the lower house
5658-413: The gavel of the Senate to maintain order. A " hold " is placed when the leader's office is notified that a senator intends to object to a request for unanimous consent from the Senate to consider or pass a measure. A hold may be placed for any reason and can be lifted by the senator who placed it at any time. A senator may place a hold simply to review a bill, to negotiate changes to the bill, or to kill
5781-656: The government . Another similar situation are cross-community votes in Northern Ireland when the petition of concern procedure is invoked. Norway had a kind of semi-bicameral legislature with two chambers, or departments, within the same elected body, the Storting . These were called the Lagting and the Odelsting, and were abolished after the general election of 2009. According to Morten Søberg , there
5904-477: The governor-general : however, this is generally considered a last resort and is a highly controversial decision to take, given the conflict between the traditional concept of confidence as derived from the lower house and the ability of the Senate to block supply (see 1975 Australian constitutional crisis ). Many political scientists have held that the Australian system of government was consciously devised as
6027-409: The president pro tempore , who is traditionally the most senior member of the Senate's majority party, presides over the Senate, and more often by rule allows a junior senator to take the chair, guided by the parliamentarian . In the early 1920s, the practice of majority and minority parties electing their floor leaders began. The Senate's legislative and executive business is managed and scheduled by
6150-457: The "senatorial trust" called for a "greater extent of information and stability of character": A senator must be thirty years of age at least; as a representative must be twenty-five. And the former must have been a citizen nine years; as seven years are required for the latter. The propriety of these distinctions is explained by the nature of the senatorial trust, which, requiring greater extent of information and stability of character, requires at
6273-413: The 19th century, they each had a bicameral Parliament. The lower house was traditionally elected based on the one-vote-one-value principle, with universal male suffrage, later expanded to women, whereas the upper house was either appointed on the advice of the government or elected, with a strong bias towards country voters and landowners. After Federation , these became the state Parliaments. In Queensland,
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#17327721410726396-653: The Appointment Commission (the independent body that vets non-partisan peers, typically from academia, business or culture) or by Dissolution Honours, which take place at the end of every Parliamentary term when leaving MPs may be offered a seat to keep their institutional memory. It is traditional to offer a peerage to every outgoing Speaker of the House of Commons. Further reform of the Lords has been proposed; however, no proposed reforms have been able to achieve public consensus or government support. Members of
6519-651: The British "three-tier" model. Most countries in Europe and the Commonwealth have similarly organised parliaments with a largely ceremonial head of state who formally opens and closes parliament, a large elected lower house, and (unlike Britain) a smaller upper house. The Founding Fathers of the United States also favoured a bicameral legislature. The idea was to have the Senate be wealthier and wiser. Benjamin Rush saw this though, and noted that "this type of dominion
6642-583: The Commons. The Senate's power to investigate issues of concern to Canada can raise their profile (sometimes sharply) on voters' political agendas. In German, Indian, and Pakistani systems, the upper houses (the Bundesrat , the Rajya Sabha , and the Senate respectively) are even more closely linked with the federal system, being appointed or elected directly by the governments or legislatures of each German or Indian state , or Pakistani province . This
6765-407: The Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God. The annual salary of each senator, since 2009, is $ 174,000;
6888-519: The Constitution, the vice president serves as president of the Senate. They may vote in the Senate ( ex officio , for they are not an elected member of the Senate) in the case of a tie, but are not required to. For much of the nation's history the task of presiding over Senate sessions was one of the vice president's principal duties (the other being to receive from the states the tally of electoral ballots cast for president and vice president and to open
7011-493: The German Bundesrat , the various Länder have between three and six votes; thus, while the less populated states have a lower weight, they still have a stronger voting power than would be the case in a system based proportionately on population, as the most populous Land currently has about 27 times the population of the least populous . The Indian upper house does not have the states represented equally, but on
7134-624: The House of Lords all have an aristocratic title, or are from the Clergy . 26 Archbishops and Bishops of the Church of England sit as Lords Spiritual (the Archbishop of Canterbury , Archbishop of York , the Bishop of London , the Bishop of Durham , the Bishop of Winchester and the next 21 longest-serving Bishops). It is usual that retiring Archbishops, and certain other Bishops, are appointed to
7257-601: The House of Representatives, the Senate has historically had stronger norms of conduct for its members. Article I, Section 3, of the Constitution , sets three qualifications for senators: (1) they must be at least 30 years old; (2) they must have been citizens of the United States for at least nine years; and (3) they must be inhabitants of the states they seek to represent at the time of their election. The age and citizenship qualifications for senators are more stringent than those for representatives. In Federalist No. 62 , James Madison justified this arrangement by arguing that
7380-485: The House to sit as representative peers sit for life; when a representative peer dies, there is a by-election to fill the vacancy. The power of the House of Lords to block legislation is curtailed by the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 . Peers can introduce bills except Money Bills, and all legislation must be passed by both Houses of Parliament . If not passed within two sessions, the House of Commons can override
7503-514: The Lords' delay by invoking the Parliament Act . Certain legislation, however, must be approved by both Houses without being forced by the Commons under the Parliament Act . These include any bill that would extend the time length of a Parliament, private bills, bills sent to the House of Lords less than one month before the end of a session, and bills that originated in the House of Lords. Life Peers are appointed either by recommendation of
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#17327721410727626-517: The Senate has had 100 senators since 1959. Before the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, senators were elected by the individual state legislatures . Problems with repeated vacant seats due to the inability of a legislature to elect senators, intrastate political struggles, bribery and intimidation gradually led to a growing movement to amend the Constitution to allow for the direct election of senators. In contrast to
7749-444: The Senate has several officers who are not members. The Senate's chief administrative officer is the secretary of the Senate , who maintains public records, disburses salaries, monitors the acquisition of stationery and supplies, and oversees clerks. The assistant secretary of the Senate aids the secretary's work. Another official is the sergeant at arms who, as the Senate's chief law enforcement officer, maintains order and security on
7872-509: The Senate of the United States was formed on the example of the ancient Roman Senate . The name is derived from the senatus , Latin for council of elders , derived from senex , meaning old man in Latin. Article Five of the Constitution stipulates that no constitutional amendment may be created to deprive a state of its equal suffrage in the Senate without that state's consent. The United States has had 50 states since 1959, thus
7995-482: The Senate premises. The Capitol Police handle routine police work, with the sergeant at arms primarily responsible for general oversight. Other employees include the chaplain , who is elected by the Senate, and pages , who are appointed. The Senate uses Standing Rules for operation. Like the House of Representatives , the Senate meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. At one end of
8118-572: The Senate's majority leader, who on occasion negotiates some matters with the Senate's minority leader. A prominent practice in the Senate is the filibuster on some matters and its remedy the vote on cloture . The drafters of the Constitution debated more about how to award representation in the Senate than about any other part of the Constitution. While bicameralism and the idea of a proportional "people's house" were widely popular, discussions about Senate representation proved contentious. In
8241-540: The Senate's retirement system since January 1, 1987, while CSRS applies only for those senators who were in the Senate from December 31, 1986, and prior. As it is for federal employees, congressional retirement is funded through taxes and the participants' contributions. Under FERS, senators contribute 1.3% of their salary into the FERS retirement plan and pay 6.2% of their salary in Social Security taxes. The amount of
8364-405: The Senate. The Seventeenth Amendment requires that vacancies in the Senate be filled by special election. Whenever a senator must be appointed or elected, the secretary of the Senate mails one of three forms to the state's governor to inform them of the proper wording to certify the appointment of a new senator. If a special election for one seat happens to coincide with a general election for
8487-479: The Senate: Henry Clay (aged 29 in 1806), John Jordan Crittenden (aged 29 in 1817), Armistead Thomson Mason (aged 28 in 1816), and John Eaton (aged 28 in 1818). Such an occurrence, however, has not been repeated since. In 1934, Rush D. Holt Sr. was elected to the Senate at the age of 29; he waited until he turned 30 (on the next June 19) to take the oath of office. On November 7, 1972, Joe Biden
8610-496: The Seventeenth Amendment is enacted varies among the states. A 2018 report breaks this down into the following three broad categories (specific procedures vary among the states): In ten states within the final category above – Arizona , Hawaii , Kentucky , Maryland , Montana , North Carolina , Oklahoma , Utah , West Virginia , and Wyoming – the governor must appoint someone of the same political party as
8733-502: The State of Minnesota , Jesse Ventura proposed converting the Minnesotan legislature to a single chamber with proportional representation , as a reform that he felt would solve many legislative difficulties and impinge upon legislative corruption. In his book on political issues, Do I Stand Alone? , Ventura argued that bicameral legislatures for provincial and local areas were excessive and unnecessary, and discussed unicameralism as
8856-488: The United States Constitution . Each of the 50 states is represented by two senators who serve staggered six-year terms . In total, the Senate consists of 100 members. From its inception in 1789 until 1913, senators were appointed by the state legislature of their respective states. However, since 1913, following the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment , senators have been elected through
8979-535: The appointed upper house was abolished in 1922, while in New South Wales there were similar attempts at abolition, before the upper house was reformed in the 1970s to provide for direct election. Beginning in the 1970s, Australian states (except Queensland, which is unicameral) began to reform their upper houses to introduce proportional representation in line with the Federal Senate. The first
9102-568: The basis of their population. There is also bicameralism in countries that are not federations, but have upper houses with representation on a territorial basis. For example, in South Africa, the National Council of Provinces (and before 1997, the Senate ) has its members chosen by each province 's legislature. In Spain, the Senate functions as a de facto territorially based upper house, and there has been some pressure from
9225-409: The bill. A bill can be held for as long as the senator who objects to the bill wishes to block its consideration. Holds can be overcome, but require time-consuming procedures such as filing cloture. Holds are considered private communications between a senator and the leader, and are sometimes referred to as "secret holds". A senator may disclose the placement of a hold. The Constitution provides that
9348-483: The certificates "in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives", so that the total votes could be counted). Since the 1950s, vice presidents have presided over few Senate debates. Instead, they have usually presided only on ceremonial occasions, such as swearing in new senators, joint sessions, or at times to announce the result of significant legislation or nomination, or when a tie vote on an important issue
9471-409: The chamber of the Senate is a dais from which the presiding officer presides. The lower tier of the dais is used by clerks and other officials. Sessions of the Senate are opened with a special prayer or invocation and typically convene on weekdays. Sessions of the Senate are generally open to the public and are broadcast live on television, usually by C-SPAN 2 . Senate procedure depends not only on
9594-591: The chambers, it may happen that a Government has a strong majority (usually) in the Chamber of Deputies and a weak one (or no majority at all) in the Senate. This has led sometimes to legislative deadlocks, and has caused instability in the Italian Government. In some of these countries, the upper house is indirectly elected. Members of France's Senate and Ireland's Seanad Éireann are chosen by electoral colleges . In Ireland, it consists of members of
9717-433: The complete command of a dominant assembly by some chance and for a moment, and it is therefore of great use to have a second chamber of an opposite sort, differently composed, in which that interest in all likelihood will not rule. Federal states have often adopted it as an awkward compromise between existing power held equally by each state or territory and a more democratic proportional legislature. For states considering
9840-714: The death, retirement or resignation of a peer. Another example of aristocratic bicameralism was the Japanese House of Peers , abolished after World War II and replaced with the present House of Councillors . Many unitary states like Italy , France , the Netherlands , the Philippines , the Czech Republic , the Republic of Ireland and Romania have bicameral systems. In countries such as these,
9963-490: The early years of the 20th century, the legislatures of as many as 29 states had provided for popular election of senators by referendums. Popular election to the Senate was standardized nationally in 1913 by the ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment . Elections to the Senate are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years, Election Day , and occur simultaneously with elections for
10086-532: The end, some small states—unwilling to give up their equal power with larger states under the Articles of Confederation —threatened to secede in 1787, and won the day by a vote of 5–4 in what became known as the Connecticut Compromise . The Connecticut Compromise provided, among other things, that each state—regardless of population—would be represented by two senators. First convened in 1789,
10209-532: The enemies of the United States. This provision, which came into force soon after the end of the Civil War, was intended to prevent those who had sided with the Confederacy from serving. That Amendment, however, also provides a method to remove that disqualification: a two-thirds vote of both chambers of Congress. Originally, senators were selected by the state legislatures , not by popular elections . By
10332-582: The government in the House of Representatives. This block can however be overridden in a joint sitting after a double dissolution election, at which the House of Representatives has the dominant numbers.As a result of proportional representation, the chamber features a multitude of parties vying for power. The governing party in the lower house rarely has a majority in the Senate, and so generally needs to negotiate with other parties and independents to get legislation passed. This variant of bicameralism has also been further explored by Tarunabh Khaitan, who coined
10455-665: The government. The passage of these motions, bills or amendments to government motions or bills requires double majority in both groups simultaneously. (Before 2004, when elections to the Legislative Council from the Election Committee was abolished, members returned through the Election Committee vote with members returned from geographical constituencies.) The double majority requirement does not apply to motions, bills and amendments introduced by
10578-407: The governor authority to appoint a senator. Because the 17th Amendment vests the power to grant that authority to the legislature – not the people or the state generally – it is unclear whether the ballot measure supplants the legislature's statute granting that authority. As a result, it is uncertain whether an Alaska governor may appoint an interim senator to serve until a special election
10701-522: The house to which the executive is responsible (e.g. House of Commons of the UK and National Assembly of France ) can overrule the other house (e.g. House of Lords of the UK and Senate of France) and may be regarded as an example of imperfect bicameralism . Some legislatures lie in between these two positions, with one house able to overrule the other only under certain circumstances. The British Parliament
10824-416: The inside of the desk's drawer with a pen. Except for the president of the Senate (who is the vice president), the Senate elects its own officers, who maintain order and decorum, manage and schedule the legislative and executive business of the Senate, and interpret the Senate's rules, practices and precedents. Many non-member officers are also hired to run various day-to-day functions of the Senate. Under
10947-724: The junior or senior senator in their state ( see above ). Unless in the context of elections, they are rarely identified by which one of the three classes of senators they are in. The Senate may expel a senator by a two-thirds vote. Fifteen senators have been expelled in the Senate's history: William Blount , for treason, in 1797, and fourteen in 1861 and 1862 for supporting the Confederate secession . Although no senator has been expelled since 1862, many senators have chosen to resign when faced with expulsion proceedings – for example, Bob Packwood in 1995. The Senate has also censured and condemned senators; censure requires only
11070-625: The lower house, local councillors, the Taoiseach , and graduates of selected universities, while the Netherlands' Senate is chosen by members of provincial assemblies (who, in turn, are directly elected). In Hong Kong , members of the unicameral Legislative Council returned from the democratically elected geographical constituencies and partially democratic functional constituencies are required to vote separately since 1998 on motions, bills or amendments to government bills not introduced by
11193-493: The lower house, the House of Representatives, can hold a no-confidence vote against the government, in practice the support of the Senate is also necessary in order to govern. The Senate maintains the ability similar to that held by the British House of Lords, prior to the enactment of the Parliament Act 1911 , to block supply against the government of the day. A government that is unable to obtain supply can be dismissed by
11316-430: The merits of the " checks and balances " provided by the bicameral model, which they believe help prevent ill-considered legislation. Formal communication between houses is by various methods, including: Some countries, such as Argentina , Australia , Austria , Belgium , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Brazil , Canada , Germany , India , Malaysia , Mexico , Nepal , Nigeria , Pakistan , Russia , Switzerland , and
11439-527: The nobility and clergy for the first time, creating what was effectively an Upper Chamber and a Lower Chamber, with the knights and burgesses sitting in the latter. This Upper Chamber became known as the House of Lords from 1544 onward, and the Lower Chamber became known as the House of Commons , collectively known as the Houses of Parliament . Many nations with parliaments have to some degree emulated
11562-676: The number of hereditary peers (as opposed to life peers , appointed by the Monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister ) to 92, down from around 700. Of these 92, one is the Earl Marshal , a hereditary office always held by the Duke of Norfolk , one is the Lord Great Chamberlain , a hereditary office held by turns, currently by Baron Carrington , and the other 90 are elected by all sitting peers . Hereditary peers elected by
11685-569: The opening date for sessions to noon on the third day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day. The Twentieth Amendment also states that the Congress shall assemble at least once every year, and allows the Congress to determine its convening and adjournment dates and other dates and schedules as it desires. Article 1, Section 3, provides that the president has the power to convene Congress on extraordinary occasions at his discretion. A member who has been elected, but not yet seated,
11808-463: The party. By custom, the leader of each party sits in the front row along the center aisle. Forty-eight of the desks date back to 1819, when the Senate chamber was reconstructed after the original contents were destroyed in the 1812 Burning of Washington . Further desks of similar design were added as new states entered the Union. It is a tradition that each senator who uses a desk inscribes their name on
11931-513: The phrase "Moderated Parliamentarism" to describe a parliamentary system with several distinctive features: mixed bicameralism, moderated (but distinct) electoral systems for each chamber, weighted multipartisanship, asynchronous electoral schedules, and deadlock resolution through conference committees. Canada's elected lower house, the House of Commons , comprises Members of Parliament (MPs) from single-member "ridings" based mainly on population (updated every 10 years using Census data). The Commons
12054-540: The position. In 1913, the 17th Amendment passed, which mandated choosing Senators by popular vote rather than State legislatures. As part of the Great Compromise , the Founding Fathers invented a new rationale for bicameralism in which the Senate had an equal number of delegates per state, and the House had representatives by relative populations. A formidable sinister interest may always obtain
12177-587: The president pro tempore and party leaders receive $ 193,400. In 2003, at least 40 senators were millionaires; by 2018, over 50 senators were millionaires (partly due to inflation). Along with earning salaries, senators receive retirement and health benefits that are identical to other federal employees, and are fully vested after five years of service. Senators are covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) or Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). FERS has been
12300-472: The previous incumbent. In September 2009, Massachusetts changed its law to enable the governor to appoint a temporary replacement for the late senator Edward Kennedy until the special election in January 2010. In 2004, Alaska enacted legislation and a separate ballot referendum that took effect on the same day, but that conflicted with each other. The effect of the ballot-approved law is to withhold from
12423-405: The primary election advance to the general election, where the winner is the candidate with the greater number of votes. In Louisiana, the blanket primary is considered the general election and candidates receiving a majority of the votes is declared the winner, skipping a run-off. In Maine and Alaska , ranked-choice voting is used to nominate and elect candidates for federal offices, including
12546-406: The quorum as present; instead, quorum calls are generally used to temporarily delay proceedings. Usually, such delays are used while waiting for a senator to reach the floor to speak or to give leaders time to negotiate. Once the need for a delay has ended, a senator may request unanimous consent to rescind the quorum call. Bicameral legislature Bicameralism is a type of legislature that
12669-461: The responsibility of presiding to a majority-party senator who presides over the Senate, usually in blocks of one hour on a rotating basis. Frequently, freshmen senators (newly elected members) are asked to preside so that they may become accustomed to the rules and procedures of the body. It is said that, "in practice they are usually mere mouthpieces for the Senate's parliamentarian , who whispers what they should do". The presiding officer sits in
12792-399: The results of votes. Each party elects Senate party leaders . Floor leaders act as the party chief spokesmen. The Senate majority leader is responsible for controlling the agenda of the chamber by scheduling debates and votes. Each party elects an assistant leader (whip) , who works to ensure that his party's senators vote as the party leadership desires. In addition to the vice president,
12915-434: The rules, but also on a variety of customs and traditions. The Senate commonly waives some of its stricter rules by unanimous consent . Unanimous consent agreements are typically negotiated beforehand by party leaders. A senator may block such an agreement, but in practice, objections are rare. The presiding officer enforces the rules of the Senate, and may warn members who deviate from them. The presiding officer sometimes uses
13038-458: The same time that the senator should have reached a period of life most likely to supply these advantages; and which, participating immediately in transactions with foreign nations, ought to be exercised by none who are not thoroughly weaned from the prepossessions and habits incident to foreign birth and education. The term of nine years appears to be a prudent mediocrity between a total exclusion of adopted citizens, whose merits and talents may claim
13161-454: The seats are up for election every two years. This was achieved by dividing the senators of the 1st Congress into thirds (called classes ), where the terms of one-third expired after two years, the terms of another third expired after four, and the terms of the last third expired after six years. This arrangement was also followed after the admission of new states into the union. The staggering of terms has been arranged such that both seats from
13284-654: The six states with bicameral legislatures, the upper house is called the Legislative Council ( Vidhan Parishad ) or Vidhana Parishat, one-third of whose members are elected every two years. Members of the Legislative Council are elected in various ways: From 1956 to 1958 the Andhra Pradesh Legislature was unicameral. In 1958, when the State Legislative Council was formed, it became bicameral until 1 June 1985 when it
13407-414: The state's other seat, each seat is contested separately. A senator elected in a special election takes office as soon as possible after the election and serves until the original six-year term expires (i.e. not for a full-term). The Seventeenth Amendment permits state legislatures to empower their governors to make temporary appointments until the required special election takes place. The manner by which
13530-530: The two chambers are composed: the deputies, in fact, are elected on a nationwide basis, whilst the members of the Senate are elected on a regional basis: this may lead to different majorities among the two chambers because, for example, a party may be the first nationally but second or third in some regions. Considering that in the Italian Republic the Government needs to win confidence votes in both
13653-510: The two chambers are elected or selected by different methods, which vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. This can often lead to the two chambers having very different compositions of members. Enactment of primary legislation often requires a concurrent majority —the approval of a majority of members in each of the chambers of the legislature. When this is the case, the legislature may be called an example of perfect bicameralism . However, in many parliamentary and semi-presidential systems,
13776-418: The two chambers formally have many of the same powers, this accountability clearly makes the Commons dominant—determining which party is in power, approving its proposed budget, and (largely) the laws enacted. The Senate primarily acts as a chamber of revision: it rarely rejects bills passed by the Commons but does regularly amend them; such amendments respect each bill's purpose, so they are usually acceptable to
13899-625: The upper house generally focuses on scrutinizing and possibly vetoing the decisions of the lower house. On the other hand, in Italy the Parliament consists of two chambers that have the same role and power: the Senate (Senate of the Republic, commonly considered the upper house ) and the Chamber of Deputies (considered the lower house ). The main difference among the two chambers is the way
14022-433: The upper houses of their state legislatures . During the 1930s, the legislature of the State of Nebraska was reduced from bicameral to unicameral with the 43 members that once comprised that state's Senate. One of the arguments used to sell the idea at the time to Nebraska voters was that by adopting a unicameral system, the perceived evils of the " conference committee " process would be eliminated. A conference committee
14145-801: Was a related system in the 1798 constitution of the Batavian Republic . In some countries with federal systems, individual states (like those of the United States , Argentina , Australia and India ) may also have bicameral legislatures. A few such states as Nebraska in the U.S., Queensland in Australia, Bavaria in Germany, and Tucumán and Córdoba in Argentina have later adopted unicameral systems. ( Brazilian states and Canadian provinces all abolished upper houses). Only 8 out of 24 provinces still have bicameral legislatures, with
14268-494: Was abolished. This continued until March 2007 when the State Legislative Council was reestablished and elections were held for its seats. In Tamil Nadu , a resolution was passed on 14 May 1986 and the state's Legislative Council was dissolved on 1 November 1986. Again on 12 April 2010, a resolution was passed to reestablish the council, but was ultimately unsuccessful. Similarly, the states of Assam , Jammu and Kashmir , Madhya Pradesh , Punjab , and West Bengal have also dissolved
14391-576: Was admitted to the bar in 1878, commencing his practice in Springfield, Illinois . He became the city prosecuting attorney in 1880 until 1881. In 1882 he moved to the Territory of Dakota and located in Northville, Dakota Territory . He moved to Redfield in 1886 and continued the practice of law, serving as district attorney of Spink County, South Dakota , from 1886 to 1888. In 1889, he became
14514-464: Was also the case in the United States before the Seventeenth Amendment was adopted. Because of this coupling to the executive branch , German legal doctrine does not treat the Bundesrat as the second chamber of a bicameral system formally. Rather, it sees the Bundesrat and the Bundestag as independent constitutional bodies. Only the directly elected Bundestag is considered the parliament. In
14637-899: Was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1924, losing in the Republican primary to William H. McMaster , who won the general election. During the Sixty-sixth Congress , he was the chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Civil Service . In the Sixty-seventh Congress he served on the Committee on Civil Service, and on the Committee on Post Office and Post Roads during the Sixty-eighth Congress . While he served in Congress he served with William Williamson and Royal C. Johnson , two of his first graduates from
14760-445: Was born near Amanda, Ohio . He moved with his parents, Charles Sterling (1821–1905) and Anna Kessler (1827–1908) to McLean County, Illinois in 1854, where he attended the public schools and graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University at Bloomington in 1875. He was superintendent of schools of Bement, Illinois , from 1875 to 1877. His brother John A. Sterling , became a U.S. representative from Illinois. Sterling studied law and
14883-450: Was elected to the Senate at the age of 29, which was only 13 days prior to his 30th birthday on November 20, 1972. Therefore, he reached his 30th birthday before the swearing-in ceremony for incoming senators in January 1973. The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution disqualifies as senators any federal or state officers who had taken the requisite oath to support the Constitution but who later engaged in rebellion or aided
15006-635: Was interred in Cedar Hill Cemetery . United States Senate Minority (49) The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress . The Senate and the United States House of Representatives (which is the lower chamber of Congress) comprise the federal bicameral legislature of the United States . Together, the Senate and the House have the authority under Article One of
15129-846: Was the South Australian Legislative Council in 1973, which initially used a party list system (replaced with STV in 1982), followed by the Single Transferable Vote being introduced for the New South Wales Legislative Council in 1978, the Western Australian Legislative Council in 1987 and the Victorian Legislative Council in 2003. Nowadays, the upper house both federally and in most states
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