The CongressThe CongressChapter 10Chapter 10

I. The House of RepresentativesI. The House of Representatives

A. Size and Terms

1. 435 members (seats)

2. Apportioned among the States on the basis of their populations.

3. Each State is guaranteed at least one seat.

4. Hold office for two-years.

5. No terms limits.

6. Death or resignation, governor appoints a temporary replacement until a special election is called

B. Reapportionment

1. Redistribution of the seats as a result of census every 10 years.

2. 1929 fixed at 435.

C. Wesberry v. Sanders, 1964

1. "one person, one vote“

2. Congressional districts must be equal

D. Qualifications for House Members

1. 25 years of age, a citizen seven years, and an inhabitant of the State represents.

2. The House judges the acceptability of individual members and may vote to censure or remove members.

II. The United States SenateII. The United States SenateA. Election and Terms

1. The Senate consists of 100 members, two from each State.

2. Prior to the 17th Amendment in 1913, United States senators were chosen by state legislatures.

3. popular vote in regular November elections choses members of the Senate.

4. six-year terms

5. Terms are staggered so that only a third of the members are up for election every two years (continuous body).

6. Death or resignation, governor appoints someone until the next election, or can call a special election.

7. Called the "upper" house because it has stricter qualifications, more prestige, a longer term of office

8. Has been a stepping-stone to higher political office.

9. Represent the views of their entire State, senators are expected to focus more on the "big picture" of government.

10. Senators become famous earlier in their career than representatives

B. Qualifications

1. 30 years of age, a citizen for nine years, and an inhabitant of the state represents.

2. The Senate judges the qualifications of its members and may exclude members-elect by a majority vote.

3. The Senate may punish members with a majority vote or expel them with a two-thirds vote.

III. Members of CongressIII. Members of Congress

A. Personal and Political Backgrounds

1. Not a cross section of America.

2. White male in his mid-50s.

3. Married w/ children

4. Christian

B. Today most are lawyers or from business background (education, agriculture, journalism in our history).

C. Duties

1. Act as legislators, committee members, representatives of their constituents, servants of their constituents, and politicians.

2. Oversight function

3. Trustees —holders of the public trust.

4. Delegates —agents of those who elected them

5. Partisans —vote according to the party platform

6. Balancer of conflict.

7. Many other roles — like appointments to military academies

D. Compensation

1. Senators and representatives receive $141,300 per year.

2. Congressional leaders are paid an additional stipend.

3. Non salary Compensation

a. Free parking, low-cost medical care, generous pension plans, free printing and distribution of materials.

4. The Politics of Pay

a. Congress sets its own pay and benefits.

b. salaries makes public service appealing

c. The President's veto and voter backlash act to limit salaries.

E. Membership Privileges

1. May not be arrested for misdemeanors while in session.

2. Immune from court action because of any speech they may make in Congress.

IV. Congressional ElectionsIV. Congressional Elections

A. In general

1. Date —Tuesday following the first Monday in November of each even-numbered year.

2. Off-Year Elections —elections occurring in non-presidential elections called off-year elections (mid-terms).

3. Districts

a. House chosen by single-member districts

b. Districts drawn by State legislatures.

c. Senate, seats are filled from the State at large.

4. Gerrymandering — drawn to the advantage of the political party that controls the State legislature.

5. Two ways to gerrymander:

a. “packing” drawing lines to include as many of the opposing party voters as possible

b. “cracking” is dividing an opponents voters into other districts to weaken their voter base

How Gerrymandering can influence electoral results on a non-proportional system. Example for a state with 4 districts and a 36:28 Green (G) party majority. Top left: Magenta (M) party wins the urban district, while G party wins the 3 rural/suburban districts — the result expresses and enhances the fact that G is the state-wide majority party. Top right: by redesigning the 4 districts, there is a 2:2 tie, with G dominating the 2 new rural districts and M dominating the 2 new urban/suburban districts — closer to proportionality, but masking the fact that G is the state-wide majority party. Bottom left: Creating 4 mixed-type districts can yield a 4:0 win to G — a disproportional result considering the state-wide reality. Bottom right: With classical Gerrymandering techniques it is even possible to ensure a 1:3 win to the state-wide minority M party.

B. Who wins?

1. The most RECOGNIZED name.

2. Incumbents are those already holding office, and incumbents usually win.

3. House of Representatives

a. 90 percent of the incumbents win with more than 60 percent of the vote.

b. The most important resource is to be the incumbent.

4. Senate

a. Senators win by narrower margins than House members.

b. More visible challengers with substantial financial backing.

c. Incumbents more vulnerability

C. The advantages of incumbents1. Advertising, credit claiming, and position taking.

a. Advertising: members concentrate on staying visible; trips to the home district (or state) are frequent.

b. Credit claiming: involves personal and district service.

• Helping constituents as individuals• Pork barrel bills.

c. Position taking: involvement in public policy important to voters

2. Mailing newsletters: Franking privilege: members are entitled to send mail to constituents without charge by putting their frank, or mark, on the envelope.

3. Weak opponentsa. Incumbents are likely to face weak opponents.b. Effective opponents do not want to risk challenging.

D. Defeating incumbents1. Tarnished by scandal or corruption. Voters do take out

their anger at the polls.2. redistricting

E. Money in congressional elections1. Candidates spend enormous sums on campaigns for

Congress.2. Campaign finance.

a. Super PACsb. Individualsc. Political Action Committees (PACs).d. About 83% goes to incumbents.e. Money buys access to policymakers.

3. Spending money is not a guarantee for success.

4. For challengers, money buys them name recognition and a chance to be heard.

5. Spending is greatest when there is an open seat

6. The candidate who spends the most usually wins.