California State Senate and the United States Senate - Essay Example

There are 40 CA senators who are elected on alternating terms of four years each so that half the body is up for reelection every other year, while there are 100 US senators who serve six-year terms on alternating schedules so that one-third of the body is up for reelection every other year.  CA senators are term-limited to two terms while US senators are not.

Such structural differences, however, are merely superficial.  The importance of the California economy to the nation’s economy makes holding a job on, for example, the agriculture committee in CA a critical job, and one on par with many US Senate committee assignments.  CA senators command great respect due to their role in overseeing the critical state budget and economy.  While US Senators have more formal powers due to appointment oversight roles, the structural differences between the jobs – even in light of the term limits – can be made too much of.  Both jobs serve critical legislative functions.

Where the real differences between the two bodies exist is found in political factors.  Because the CA senate has been continuously in the hands of the Democratic Party since 1970, it is essentially a one-party system.  Republican state senators can have an impact on their specific districts, but the statewide power is held exclusively by a single party.  In the US Senate, on the other hand, shifting power among parties has required greater parity among the parties and thus great bipartisanship.