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