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