What Does Congress Do?

We can consider 6 basic functions for all members of Congress.
- The Lawmaking Function
- The Representation Function
- The Service Function
- The Oversight Function
- The Public Education Function
- The Conflict Resolution Function

In the interest of time, let's bypass the latter four (you can read about them in your text; pretty self-explanatory) and let's focus on the first two functions: lawmaking & representation.

The most basic task of any legislator is to legislate (i.e. - to make laws). This is easier said than done. We will see later on that getting a bill through the process of becoming a law is dang-near-impossible. Today, most of the laws that Congress tries to pass aren't even written by those in Congress. They are brought to the Congress by the White House (written by their team of lawyers) or by special interest groups (written by their team of lawyers). Bills that somehow navigate their way through Congress usually only survive because of logrolling (vocab term). Simply put, I'll support your bill if you support mine. How badly do you really want your bill passed?

So, the most basic task of those in Congress (legislating) is a bit more difficult than we first thought. Surely the other most basic task, representing the people, is simpler.

We live in a democratically-elected representative republic. Therefore, each elected representative is tasked with representing the will of their constituents (the people they represent). This is not an easy task however. Think of what it really means to represent a large group different people. For every decision, a good representative must take into consideration the following:
- constituents
- interested groups (interest groups)
- "the people" (the good of the nation as a whole)
- self (personal beliefs)

If you take all of those into consideration for each decision, then you can see that legislating well can be a very difficult task.

The Structure of Congress
As we know, by way of the Great Compromise, Congress is a bicameral body.

Theoretical map of US for apportionment

Map of the US for equal representation of state

And this is a map of the United States Congressional Districts

Time to play..... Who's in Congress?!!!!

Basic rule of thumb (yes, it's a huge generalization but tends to be true....awkward)

-older

-whiter

-manlier

-richer

than the general American population as a whole