In the United States, divided government describes a situation in which one party controls the executive branch while another party controls one or both houses of the legislative branch.

To balance the interests of both the small and large states, the Framers of the Constitution divided the power of Congress between the two houses. Every state has an equal voice in the Senate, while representation in the House of Representatives is based on the size of each state’s population.

House members must be twenty-five years of age and citizens for seven years. Senators are at least thirty years old and citizens for nine years. Another difference is who they represent. Senators represent their entire states, but members of the House represent individual districts.

Also referred to as a congressman or congresswoman, each representative is elected to a two-year term serving the people of a specific congressional district. Among other duties, representatives introduce bills and resolutions, offer amendments and serve on committees.

VOTING IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

• Voice vote. A voice vote occurs when Members call out “Aye” or “No” when a question is first put by the Speaker.
• Division vote.
• Yea and Nay Vote.
• Record Vote.

The first clause of Article I, Section 8, reads, “The Congress shall have Power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States.” This clause, called the General Welfare Clause or the Spending Power Clause, does not …

The American Heritage Dictionary definition of welfare, as in “general welfare,” includes health, happiness, and well-being. The way I see it, a “more perfect union” that provides for the “general welfare” is one in which all Americans will have access to quality, affordable health care.

The common good is not the sum total of the desires and aspirations of the people. The change from ‘general welfare’ to ‘common good’ was intended to project the idea of a social order that enables every citizen to attain his or her fullest development economically, politically, culturally, and spiritually.

The expressions “common welfare,” “general welfare” and “public welfare” are synonymous.

Congress’s first enumerated power in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution reads as follows: “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States.” The question of whether this clause …