What is Congress?

1. Why did James Madison call Congress "the first branch" of government?
2. Why is it significant that Congress is described in Article I of the Constitution?
3. Do you consider Congress still "first among equals"?
   • If not, which branch is?

Bicameral Structure of Congress

1. Why couldn’t the framers of the Constitution copy the British form of bicameralism?
2. How democratic is the representational scheme of the Senate?
3. How fair is the representational scheme of the Senate?
   • Should it be revised?
   • Why or why not?
4. The framers agreed to grant all states equal representation in the Senate in order to appease the small states. How can this decision be philosophically defended?
   • Do these arguments stand up today? 
   • Why or why not?
5. Why did the large states agree to this representation scheme in 1787?
6. Would the small states have enough clout to block an attempt to restructure the Senate today? Explain.

House of Representatives

1. The House was designed to be the people’s chamber—the scale of representation was fairly small (1:30,000) and the framers expected a high turnover in House membership. But today, the scale of representation is roughly 1:700,000 and turnover is very low. Is this a problem?
2. How might the House be made more responsive to the public?
   • Could the scale of representation be reduced?
   • Could something be done to increase turnover?
3. Term limits—i.e., no more than three terms for any member—have been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Therefore, there would need to be a constitutional amendment in order to enact them at the federal level. If it could be done, would it be worth it?
   • Would the House be more responsive to the voters?
   • Would this unfairly deny voters the right to re-elect an effective representative?
   • How would term limits impact the operations of the House?
   • How might term limits impact the role of lobbyists? 
     • Would they become more or less influential? Explain.

Senate

1. The filibuster is one of the unique features of the Senate—on what principle is it based?
   • Should one member have this much power? Why or why not?
2. Filibustering has increased in frequency. During the 1960s, there were, on average, seven filibusters per term. Since 2000, the Senate has averaged 49 filibusters per term. In 2007-08, there were more than 100. In the 2013-14 term there were over 250.
   • Why do you suppose senators filibuster more frequently?
   • Is this a problem? Why or why not?
   • How does this rising use of the filibuster affect the work of the Senate?
3. A filibuster can be broken through a cloture vote of 60 senators. In other words, major legislation now needs 60 votes, not just 51.
   • Is this a problem? Why or why not?
   • Is this consistent with the intentions of the framers? Explain.

Powers of Congress, Expressed Powers, and Implied Powers

1. Explain the difference between the three types of powers granted to Congress: express, implied, and inherent. 
   • Which tend to be the most controversial and why?
2. Which expressed powers of Congress seem the most important and why?
3. What are the implied powers of Congress?
4. What is the “necessary and proper” or “elastic” clause?
   • Is this clause necessary or dangerous? Explain. 
   • Without an elastic clause,  how would Congress be able to adapt to changing times? 
   • Is the amendment process sufficient for addressing unanticipated needs? 
     • Why or why not?
5. What are the limits of the elastic clause? Just how elastic should it be?
6. Who gets to define the limits of the elastic clause?
   • Is this reasonable? Why or why not?

Strict Constructionism v. Broad Constructionism

1. Would you consider yourself a strict or broad constructionist? Explain.
2. What basic philosophy or fear underlies each of these positions?
3. Why has the trend over the centuries been toward broad constructionalism?
   • Has this been demanded by the times?
   • Have those in power pushed for more?
   • Have the people demanded more from government?
   • Have the states been unable to address public needs?
   • Explain your answer.

Non-Legislative Functions

1. Do the provisions regarding the election of the president in the House seem appropriate to you? Why or why not?
2. Why was the House, rather than the Senate, given the authority to select the president if no candidate receives the necessary number of Electoral College votes?
3. What potential problems do you see in granting this power to the House?
   • What sorts of states gain influence under this method? (Note: each state’s delegation receives one vote regardless of size.) 
   • Why not just hold a second election?
4. Is the list of impeachable offenses long enough? Explain.
5. Should incompetence be an impeachable offense? Why or why not?
6. Should Congress be allowed to impeach a president for policy differences? Why or why not?
7. How would increasing Congress’s impeachment powers affect the relationship between the branches?
   • Would this be good or bad?
   • Would government become more or less effective? 
   • More or less efficient?
   • Explain.