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C H A P T E R 10
SECTION 1
SECTION 2
SECTION 3
SECTION 4
The National Legislature
The House of Representatives
The Senate
The Members of Congress
Chapter 10
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Article I of the Constitution establishes a bicameral (two-house)
Congress.
Congress is a bicameral body primarily because the Framers:
• (1) Historical--were familiar with British, colonial, and early State practices
• (2) Practical--agreed to the Connecticut Compromise at the Philadelphia Convention
• (3) Theoretical--hoped that one house would act as a check on the other
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A term of Congress extends over two years with two regular sessions
each term—one per year.
Qualifications for House Members
o 25 years old
o Citizen of the US for at least 7 years
o Must inhabit the State from which elected
o Tradition also dictates that they live in their district
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Term of Congress
o Date of terms changed in
1933 by the
Amendment
20th
• Was March 4th
• Now noon of the 3rd day of
January
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Session
o Beginning day may be
changed by Congress
o Congress adjourns when it
sees fit
• Must have consent of both
houses
• President may adjourn with a
Prorogue if both houses can’t
agree on a date
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Special Sessions
o President may call to deal
with an emergency
o Only 26 that include both
houses have ever been
called
• Senate has been called alone
46 times (last in 1933)
• The House has never been
called alone
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The House of Representatives is the larger of the two
chambers with 435 seats (members) which are based on
population.
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Apportionment—number of seats each state gets in The House
Each state is guaranteed at least one representative (some only have
one—AK, De, MT, ND, SD, VT, WY)
DC., Guam, Virgin Islands and American Samoa each have a delegate
and Puerto Rico has a resident Commissioner—THESES ARE NOT FULL
FLEDGED MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
Each State is entitled to at least one seat in the House and members
are elected for a term of two years with no limit on the number of terms
that may be served (current longest John Dingell: 58 years, 306 days)
Members are elected from districts within the States that are designed
by the State legislatures.
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Article I commands congress to
reapportion (redistribute) The
House after every decennial
census (every 10 years)
Before the first census The House
was set at 65 seats (went to 106
in 1792)
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Reapportionment Act of 1929
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set up an “automatic” reapportionment
Set the permanent size of the House at
435 (Alaska and Hawaii did change the
size temporarily)
Procedure
o Census Bureau decides # of
seats
o President sends to Congress
o Plan goes into effect within
60 days
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Grew until 1920
• Number of seats was at 435. More
seats would have made The House
“unruly”
• Congress did NOT reapportion
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The state legislatures are
then allowed to draw their
states congressional
districts
This process has lead to:
o Gerrymandering
o Protected “safe” districts
o Court challenges
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Congressional Elections
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Held on the same day across the country =
Tuesday following the 1st Monday in
November
o Off-year elections
• Non Presidential election
• The party out of the White House
usually gains seats
o Congressional Districts
• 435 separate districts in the US
• All are single-member districts
• Each state is responsible for drawing
it’s own districts
• Must be contiguous
• Must be “compact territory”
• The Supreme Court ruled that
the districts must be drawn in
accord with the “one-person, one
vote” rule.
• Law is constantly violated
Gerrymandering
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Gerrymandering
o Districts drawn to the
advantage of the political
party that controls the State’s
legislature
• Two general forms (both to
make safe districts)
• Concentrate the opposition’s
voters in one district
• Spread the opposition thin
o Court has tried to fix the
problem
• Wesberry v. Sanders – 1964
• “one person one vote”
• Gomillion v. Lightfoot – 1960
• “majority-minority districts”
• Bush v. Vera – 1996
• Race can be factor, just not
controlling factor
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The Constitution stipulates that each State is to have two
senators from each of the current fifty States.
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Senators serve six-year terms and must be residents of the
States they represent.
o Continuous body—all seats are never up for election at the same time
o Only a third are up for election at any one time
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The Constitution sets higher qualifications for senators than it
does for representatives:
• (1) Members of the Senate must be at least 30 years old versus 25 years
for representatives.
• (2) Senators must have been citizens for at least nine years in contrast with
seven for representatives.
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The Senate also has the Filibuster
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Members of Congress are not a representative crosssection of the American people.
o White, Male, Mid-50s (House 54 & Senate 60), upper-middle class
to wealthy
o Composition is changing with more women and minorities
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Members of Congress are legislators and also serve as
representatives and servants of their constituents,
committee members, and politicians.
Most members usually adopt one of four behavioral styles:
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(1) trustees whose decisions are based solely on their best judgments
(2) delegates who follow the wishes of their constituents
(3) partisans who feel duty-bound to support their parties’ position
(4) politicos who try to balance these roles as situations demand
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Committee members
o What should be voted on “screen proposed laws”
o Oversight – check to see if the agencies of the Executive Branch are
working correctly
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Servants – help people they represent who have problems
with the government
Compensation
o $174, a year in salary (speaker makes $223,500 president pro
temp and majority/minority leaders make $193,400)
o Non-salary Compensation
• Medical, Retirement, Tax brakes, etc.
• Franking – Free use of the mail
• Protected form libel or slander in official conduct