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The Congress
Lesson 1
Congress:Senate and House of Representatives
House of Representatives Size: 435 members Term Length: 2 years No term limits
Elections All up for re-election every 2 years
Represents people in one district
Constitutional Qualifications At least 25 years old Citizen for 7 years Live in state he / she represents
Missouri Representatives
Wm. Lacy Clay (D)
1st District
Todd Akin (R)
2nd District
Russ Carnahan (D) 3rd District
Missouri Representatives
Jo Ann Emerson (R) District 8
Kenny Hulshof (R) 9th District
Sam Graves (R) 6th District
Vicky Hartzler (R) 4th District
Billy Long (R) 7th District
Emmanuel Cleaver (D)
5th District
Senate Size: 100 members Term: Length: 6 Years No term limits
Elections 1/3 of Senators up for re-election
every 2 years
Represents people in whole state
Constitutional Qualifications At least 30 years old Citizen for 9 years Live in the state he/she represents
Missouri Senators
Sen. Roy Blunt (R) Sen. Claire McCaskill (D)
Caucasian 385
Asian 25
Caucasian 457
Asian 10
Other Christian 3 Other Christian 3
Other 6Other 3
How are seats in the House and Senate divided among the
states?
Apportionment of Seats Apportionment is the distribution of seats in
the House and Senate
The Senate has a total of 100 seats, 2 per state
The House has 435 seats These seats are divided among the states according to each state’s population Congress sets total number of seats
The Census The population is counted every 10 years
(1990,2000, 2010, for example)
Census is important because Results are used to calculate how House seats
should be redistributed (REAPPORTIONED) Each state is guaranteed one representative
Congress caps number of House members at 435 Average population a House member represents
Currently 646,952 2012: 710, 767
Redistricting Whether a state looses or gains seats in the
House, each state must redistrict itself to accommodate the change
What does that mean? Redrawing their House district lines
States are in charge of redistricting
GerrymanderingWhat is it? Redrawing the boundaries of congressional
districts to influence the outcome of elections.
How did we get the name Gerrymandering?
First printed in March 1812, this political cartoon was drawn in reaction to the state senate electoral districts drawn by the Massachusetts legislature to favor the Democratic-Republican party candidates of Governor Elbridge Gerry over the Federalists.
Two forms of Gerrymandering Packing
Concentrating the opposition’s voters in one or a few districts leaving the other districts safe for the dominant party
Fragmenting (Cracking) Spreading the opposition as thinly as possible
among several districts limiting the ability for the opposition to win anywhere in region
Redistricting in MissouriFrom 9 to 8 Seats
What do states have to keep in mind when redistricting?
The US Supreme Court has ruled that districts must meet these three requirements
Population Equity: Districts must have about the same number of people in them
Contiguity: Districts must be of one solid shape; no land islands
Compactness: Districts must be compact shapes; no jagged lines or skinny extensions
Review Apportionment Reapportionment Census Gerrymandering Fragmenting (cracking) Packing
House and Senate Number of members Total Number Term length Term limit Elections held when / who is up for election How is apportionment determined? Constitutional qualifications
Age Citizenship Residency
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