George W. Bush delivered his annual State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on January 28, 2003, in the House chamber.
The history of the United States Congress refers to the chronological record of the United States Congress including legislative sessions from 1789 to the present day. It also includes a brief history of the Continental Congress from 1774 through 1781 and the Congress of the Confederation from 1781 to 1789.
The United States Congress first organized in 1789, is an elected bicameral democratic legislative body established by Article I of the United States Constitution, ratified in 1788. It consists of an upper chamber, the senate with 2 members per state, and a lower chamber, the House of Representatives, with a variable number of members per state based on population. The bicameral structure of the Congress was modeled on the bicameral legislatures of the Thirteen Colonies, which in turn were modeled on the bicameral structure of the English Parliament.
The politics of Congress have been defined by members' affiliation with political parties. From the earliest days, politicians and the public have adopted a de facto 2-party political system. Membership in parties has at
different times been defined by ideology, economics, rural/urban and geographic divides, religion, and populism.
In different periods of American history, the role of Congress shifted along with changing relations with the other branches of government and was sometimes marked by intense partisanship and other times by cooperation across the aisle. Generally, Congress was more powerful in the 19th century than in the 20th century, when the presidency (particularly during wartime) became a more dominant branch.
One analyst examining Congressional history suggested there were four main eras, with considerable overlap, and these included the formative era (1780s–1820s), the partisan era (1830s–20th century), the committee era (1910s–1960s), and the contemporary era (1970s–today).[1]
^Eric Patashnik (2004). Julian E. Zelizer (ed.). "The American Congress: The Building of Democracy". Houghton Mifflin Company. pp. 671–672. ISBN 0-618-17906-2. Retrieved September 11, 2010. This expansion of the U.S. welfare state fundamentally altered the politics of national budgeting. ... entitlement programs removed this flexibility ... The government was legally obligated to provide benefits to any person that met the eligibility requirements established by law. ... entitlements were institutionally detached from Congress's ordinary legislative routine and rhythm. ... This autonomy greatly benefited the constituents of programs like Social Security, but it weakened Congress's overall budget capacity.
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