Congress: formality of debate

The Senate was traditionally seen as the more mature and deliberative chamber, regarded as the home of the great political orators of the time — not to mention the body where true dealmaking took place. Its members prided themselves on their cool approach to legislating, in contrast with the more brawling nature of the House. 

However the Senate is more partisan than in the past, less collegial . Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), who retired in 2012, acknowledged that changed reality bluntly in an op-ed for The Post . "The Senate is not living up to what the Founding Fathers envisioned," she wrote. 

The movement away from the center has been accompanied by a coarsening of politics and bitter partisanshipþleaving voters increasingly disenchanted with Washington politics. Political discord has played itself out in part in an apparent decline in congressional comity. Senator Robert Byrd noted scathingly last year, “There have been giants in this Senate, and I have seen some of them. Little did I know when I came here that I would live to see pygmies.”

The polarized environment has also made it hard for members of both parties to meet in the center to forge compromise. As former majority leader Bob Dole lamented in retiring from the Senate, “None of us has a perfect solution. But there’s got to be some solution of where we can come together, Republicans and Democrats.”

The Senate, unlike the House of Representatives, was established by the United States Constitution to provide equal representation to all states, with each state having two senators. Due to the disparity in size between the two chambers—435 members in the House of Representatives and 100 in the Senate—each operates differently.

 The Senate allows for more extensive debate on legislation compared to the House. Senators and representatives collaborate differently due to their varying term lengths, with House members serving two years and senators serving six years. The Senate's longer terms and smaller size facilitate the building of relationships across party lines.

Bipartisanship 

Parochialism 

Polarisation is dividing America State by State 

 Representatives are tasked with representing their districts, considering individual constituents, organized interests, and the district as a whole. They engage with constituents by setting up mobile offices, responding personally to letters, contacting federal agencies, and providing various services. Representatives also work with organized groups by introducing legislation, securing grants, delivering speeches, and participating in events. Their efforts for the district as a whole include securing federal projects, advocating for employment and tax benefits, and supporting policies that benefit the district geographically. Representatives strive to connect with constituents through public relations strategies like sending congressional letters highlighting achievements in the district. The primary function of Congress is legislative responsibility, but understanding the process of how a bill becomes law is essential before delving into the different approaches to lawmaking.

The culture of the Senate is traditionally more informal.

If all politics is local in the House 'Reciprocity is a Senate folkway ' In the Senate personal relationships and favors are more important than the party groupings and factions in the House. Reciprocity, deals and favors cut across parties and factions.  The recognition of status and ways of deal making existed in unwritten rules or 'folkways'.

''It demands, too, an ability to calculate how much “credit” a senator builds up with a colleague by doing him a favor or “going along.” If a senator expects too little in return, he has sold himself and his constituents short. If he expects too much, he will soon find that to ask the impossible is fruitless and that “there are just some things a senator can’t do in return for help from you.” Finally, this mode of procedure requires that a senator live up to his end of the bargain, no matter how implicit the bargain may have been. “You don’t have to make these commitments,” one senator said, “and if you keep your mouth shut you are often better off, but if you do make them, you had better live up to them.” 

Political Scientist Donald R. Matthews, 1960