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Congress: House of Representatives & Senate
Chapter 10, Sections 2 & 3
House of RepresentativesChapter 10, Section 2
Qualifications
Formal Must be 25 years of age Must have been a U.S. citizen for at least
7 years Must be an inhabitant of the State from
which he/she is elected Informal
Must live in the district which he/she represents
Qualifications
House can challenge or refuse to seat a member-elect Rarely successful
May also be punished for “disorderly behavior” by majority vote With 2/3 vote, can expel members▪ Has only happened 5 times, most recently in
2002
Size and Terms
Constitution says the total number of seats in the House is apportioned, or distributed, among the states based on population There are currently 435 members.
Each state is guaranteed at least one representative. District of Columbia, Guam, Virgin
Islands, and American Samoa also have a representative.
Size and Terms
Constitution says Congress must reapportion, or redistribute, the seats in the House after each census A census occurs every 10 years.
Representatives serve 2-year terms No constitutional limit on how many
terms one person can serve
Reapportionment
Reapportionment Act of 1929 “Permanent” size of the House if 435
members▪ Each seat represents ~ 650,000 people
After each census, the Census Bureau is to determine the number of seats each state has
When this plan is ready, the President will present it to Congress
If, within 60 days of receiving the plan, neither house rejects it, the plan becomes effective
Congressional Elections
Tuesday following the first Monday of November in even-numbered years
Elections that occur in between presidential elections are called off-year elections More often than not, the party in the
presidency during off-year elections loses seats in Congress
Congressional Districts
Some states have only one representative, so they represent the entire state
State legislatures responsible for drawing congressional districts within the state Each district must be made up of
“contiguous territory” Districts should have as equal
populations as possible
Gerrymandering
What is gerrymandering? Drawing a Congressional district to the
advantage of a political party that controls the State legislature
Most often takes 1 of 2 forms: Lines drawn to concentrate the opposition’s
voters in one or a few districts, leaving the others safe for the dominant party
Lines drawn to spread the opposing party’s voters as thinly as possible among several districts, limiting the opposition’s ability to win elections in that region
Gerrymandering
Senate Chapter 10, Section 3
Qualifications
Formal Must be 30 years of age Must have been a U.S. citizen for at least 9
years Must be an inhabitant of the state from which
he/she is elected Senate can also challenge or refuse to
seat a member-elect, and be punished for “disorderly behavior” by majority vote With 2/3 vote, can expel members
Size and Terms
States have equal representation Every state has 2 Senators. There are a total of 100 Senators.
Serve 6-year terms No Constitutional limit on how many
terms Senators can serve Makes Senators less subject to the
pressures of public opinion
Senatorial Elections
Terms in the Senate are staggered Only a third of Senate terms expire
every 2 years Senate is a continuous body▪ All of its seats are never up for election at
once Senators are elected
Only 1 Senate seat up for election at a time▪ Unless other seat is vacated by death,
resignation, or expulsion
Members of CongressChapter 10, Section 4
Jobs of Congress Members
Five major roles Legislators Representatives of their constituents Committee members Servants of their constituents Politicians
Jobs of Congress Members
Representatives of constituents Must vote hundreds of time▪ Trustees – vote on independent judgment▪ Delegates – vote as they think their
constituents would▪ Partisans – vote in line with their party▪ Politicos – try to balance all of the above
Servants of constituents Help with government problems Fulfill requests of constituents
Jobs of Congress Members
Committee Members Screen proposed laws (bills) and decide
which go to the floor for voting Oversee various agencies of the
executive branch
Personal & Political Backgrounds “Average” member of Congress
White male in early 50s Some cultural diversity
More women now than ever Barack Obama was only the 5th African
American in the Senate when elected in 2004 Nearly all members are married with an
average of 2 children Nearly all went to college Almost half of Senators are lawyers
Compensation
Congress chooses their salary Today, Senators’ and Representatives’ salary is
$162,00 annually▪ Speaker of the House makes $208,100▪ President pro tem, majority leaders, minority leaders
all make $180,100 “Fringe” benefits
Special tax deduction to help with maintaining two residencies
Generous travel allowances, healthcare, retirement
Franking privilege – mail letters postage-free