196

Douglas Shulman,

former commissioner

of the Internal Revenue

Service, IRS staff

member Lois Lerner,

and Neal Wolin of the

U.S. Treasury testify at

a House committee

hearing in 2013 after the

IRS admitted targeting

conservative groups

for extra scrutiny. (Pete

Marovich/Bloomberg via

Getty Images)

Most Americans view Congress in a less-than-flattering light. In

recent years, Congress has appeared to be deeply split, highly partisan in its conduct, and

not very responsive to public needs. Polls show that, recently, as few as 9 percent of the

public have had a favorable opinion about Congress as a whole. In one poll, respondents

rated traffic jams, root canal operations, and cockroaches more favorably than Congress.

(Congress did beat Fidel Castro, meth labs, and the Ebola virus.) Yet individual members of

Congress often receive much higher approval ratings from the voters in their districts. This

is one of the paradoxes of the relationship between the people and Congress. Members of

the public hold the institution in relatively low regard compared with the satisfaction they

express with their individual representatives.

9

Learning OutcOmes

The five Learning Outcomes (LOs) below are designed to help improve your

understanding of this chapter. After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

◾   LO1 Describe the various roles played by Congress and

the constitutional basis of its powers.

◾   LO2 Explain some of the differences between the

House and the Senate, and some of the privileges enjoyed by

members of Congress.

◾   LO3 Examine the implications of apportioning House

seats.

◾   LO4 Describe the committee structure of the House and

the Senate, and specify the key leadership positions in each

chamber.

◾   LO5 Discuss the process by which a bill becomes law

and how the federal government establishes its budget.

Check your understanding of the material with the Test Yourself section at

the end of the chapter.

The Congress

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