United States Senate

The United States Senate, officially the Senate of the United States, is the upper house of the United States Congress, the federal Legislature of the Government of the United States. Members of the Senate are styled, "Senator", and each State is represented by three Senators, regardless of population. Senators are not elected –popularly or otherwise– but are in each State appointed to a Term of six Years by the chief Executive thereof, by and with the Advice and Consent of the upper house of the State Legislature. The Senate represents the Governments (executive branch) of the eighteen States at the Federal level. While the Senate represents the Governments of the respective States, the Peoples of the respective States are represented in the U.S. House of Representatives, the lower house of the Congress.

The political makeup of the Senate is affected by changes in power in the States, and thus by elections in each State. Each state delegation in the Senate is a representation of the State government and usually reflects the political makeup of the ruling majority or plurality of each State Legislature (including coalitions), meaning that the chief Executive of a State, if from a different party that that or those which control the State Senate, may be forced to negotiate and compromise with the opposition as to the nomination for Senator if he is to gain the State Senate's Advice and Consent to the appointment.

History
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Voting
In contrast to many other legislative bodies, each State's Delegation to the Senate are required to cast the Votes of their State as a single bloc (since the Votes are not those of individual Senators, but those of individual States). If the Votes of a State Delegation are split (that is they are not unanimous), then the entire Vote of that State is rendered null and void. However, there are no such restrictions as to actual debate; but, as Senators serve at the pleasure of their State's chief Executive, they tend to promote and defend the position(s) of their State's chief Executive, regardless of their own personal beliefs and opinions.

Senators
The Senate is composed of three Senators from each State, chosen by the chief Executive thereof, by and with the Advice and Consent of the least-numerous branch of the State Legislature : Like most other upper-houses worldwide, the formula of the United States Senate does not use representation by population as a criterion for member selection, since this is already done for the lower house &mdash;Regardless of size of population or territory, each State is represented by exactly three Senators. Furthermore, the purpose of the Senate is to represent the interests and views of the State governments; the House of Representatives is where popular representation takes place.

The delegations are supported by their State's representative office, which function as de facto embassies of the States in the federal Capital.

Qualifications
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Current composition
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Officers
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Procedure
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Committees
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Chamber and symbols
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Senate office buildings
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Relationship with the executive
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Criticism
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