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The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress. The United States Senate and the lower chamber of Congress, the United States House of Representatives, comprise the federal bicameral legislature of the United States.
The characteristics of the Senate—the basis of representation, the number of senators per state, the qualifications for office, the terms of service, and the powers that the body exercises—were the product of fierce debate and a number of compromises at the Constitutional Convention.
The centerpiece of Paterson’s plan was a unicameral (one-house) legislature in which each state had a single vote. The Convention voted down Paterson’s proposal on June 19 and affirmed its commitment to a bicameral legislature on June 21.
In part, this reflects the influence that the United States and European countries have around the globe. But a significant number of countries, including countries in western and southern Africa, Central America, the Middle East, and northern Europe, as well as many island nations, have unicameral legislatures.
- Leading The Senate
- The Powers of The Senate
- The More 'deliberate' Chamber
- The Senate Committee System
- Brief History
The Vice President of the United States presides over the Senate and casts the deciding vote in the event of a tie. The Senate leadership also includes president pro tempore who presides in the absence of the vice president, a majority leader who appoints members to lead and serve on various committees, and a minority leader. Both parties —majority...
The Senate's power derives from more than just its relatively exclusive membership; it also is granted specific powers in the Constitution. In addition to the many powersgranted jointly to both houses of Congress, the Constitution enumerates the role of the upper body specifically in Article I, Section 3. While the House of Representatives has the ...
The Senate is commonly the more deliberative of the two chambers of Congress; theoretically, a debate on the floor may go on indefinitely, and some seem to. Senators may filibuster, or delay further action by the body, by debating it at length; the only way to end a filibuster is through a motion of cloture, which requires the vote of 60 senators.
The Senate, like the House of Representatives, sends bills to committees before bringing them before the full chamber; it also has committees which perform specific non-legislative functions as well. The Senate's committeesinclude: 1. agriculture, nutrition, and forestry; 2. appropriations; 3. armed services; 4. banking, housing, and urban affairs;...
The concept of having two houses of Congress—a “bicameral” legislature—resulted from the “Great Compromise” between large and small states reached at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. While membership of the House of Representatives is apportioned according to a state’s population, each state is granted equal representation in the Senate. The ...
- Phaedra Trethan
The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the House of Representatives. Click on the map below to find your state's congressional delegation.
People also ask
Is the US Senate a democratizing or a unicameral state?
Is the Senate more powerful than the House of Representatives?
Is the Senate a lower chamber?
How are senators elected?
There are two senators from each state serving in Congress. Small and large states alike each have two Senators, so there is no differentiation in representation based on population, unlike the House, and there are fewer senators (100) compared to representatives in the House (435).
