This is very concise. Id like to add a little something. We have multiple levels of government, starting at city/town or county (as in mayors or county seats), then there are state level governments each of the 50 states have their own governors and senates and courts. Then there is the federal government which the comment above shows.
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cattywampas@lemm.ee 3 days ago
The legislative branch of the US government is bicameral, which means it is composed of two houses. One being the House of Representatives, and the other being the Senate. The House of Representatives is composed of 435 Representatives, divided proportionally based on the population of the states, while the Senate is composed of 100 members, with two from each state. The theory behind this bicameral legislature is that the House of Representatives represent the people, while the Senate represents the states.
The Senate and House together make up the legislative branch. They work together to enact legislation, and they also hold checks and balances over the other two branches (executive and judicial).
Each of the houses has more specific duties as well. The Senate has power to confirm presidential appointments, to approve or reject treaties, and to convict or exonerate impeachment cases brought by the House.
supernicepojo@lemmy.world 3 days ago
I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world 2 days ago
sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 days ago
Also worth adding that the original concept of the Senate was meant to give more representation to the political bureacracy/aristocracy class.
Originally, state legislatures voted amongst themselves to appoint state senators to represent them at the Federal level.
Then, in 1913, the 17th Ammendment was passed, which mandated the populations of states voting for their Federal Senators, not the state legislatures.
…
So, the original idea of Senators was pretty much that they were to be ‘august, seasoned statesmen’… or more cynically, well connected elder political insiders who functionally amounted to an aristocracy… vs the House, who would be… fucking whoever, basically…
And then that was altered around 100 years ago such that Senators are more directly democratically chosen… but, they still serve 6 year terms as opposed to 2, and very much still are the elder statesman/aristocrat types, usually older than House of Rep members, etc.
evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world 3 days ago
The last paragraph is a good catch. Someone from outside the US is not going to catch the difference between “a Wisconsin state senator” and “a senator from Wisconsin”.
guldskat@feddit.dk 3 days ago
cattywampas@lemm.ee 3 days ago
That means he’s a senator in the United States Senate, the federal one.