Back to Chapter 1 for a sec…
 What
kind of democracy do we
live in?
 So the people rule, but they don’t
make public policy
 Who does make it?
Bicameral Congress
 Our
Congress is bicameral, meaning
it has two houses
 The larger house, which is
supposedly the “common man’s
house,” is the House of
Representatives
 The smaller house, which is for “the
elite” of America is the Senate
Members of the House of
Representatives
 Official title is “Representative So
and So”
 Also called “congressman”
 There are 435 congressmen
 Congressmen are elected to a
term of 2 years
The House of Representatives
The House of Representatives
Members of the Senate
 Official
title is “Senator So and
So”
 There are 100 Senators (2 from
each state)
 Senators are elected to a term of
6 years
The Senate
The Senate
Basic Information
Since you get new congressmen
every 2 years, we call each 2 year
period a “term” of Congress
 The terms are numbered
consecutively… the one that ends
Dec. 2008 was the 110th Congress
 The one that was just elected is
called the 111th Congress

Basic Information
A
session of Congress is all the
time it takes to finish their
business for the year
 So how many sessions are there
in a term of Congress?
Seats in the House
 Seats
are apportioned (given out)
to each state based on population
 Every 10 years seats are
reapportioned after the census,
when a new count of the
population is taken
 Ever since 1929, the number has
been 435 (Reapportionment Act)
Seats in the House
 Every
state divides itself into
districts based on the number of
seats apportioned to the state
 For example, Arizona is given 8
seats based on our population
What Does it Take to be in the
House?
 25
years old
 U.S. citizen for
at least 7 years
 Must live in the
state you are
elected in
Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ 6th)
Seats in the Senate
 The
Constitution establishes that
there are 2 seats per state in the
Senate
 50 States = 100 Senators
What Does it Take to be in the
Senate?
 30
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
Years Old
 U.S. Citizen for
9 Years
 Must live in the
state you are
elected in
Off-Year Elections
 In
the election
years where there
is no presidential
election (2006,
2010), the
president’s party
usually loses seats
in Congress
In 2006 Republicans lost 27
seats in the House and 6 in
the Senate
Comparing the House and the
Senate
 Originally, congressmen were elected
by the public, and Senators were
elected by the state legislatures
 Founding Fathers did not trust the
public with all power
 17th Amendment has since changed
Senate elections to a public vote
Comparing the House and the
Senate
 Senators
have a much longer term
 Entire House is elected at once, while
only 1/3 of Senate is chosen at a time
 House members appeal to one small
district, Senators appeal to entire
state
Founding Fathers’ Intent
 The
Founding Fathers wanted to have
one house that would quickly respond
to the desires of the public (House of
Reps)
 And one house that would be
moderate, and stop any crazy
nonsense the House would try
(Senate)
Demographics of Congress
is not at all
demographically representative of
the U.S. population
 For example…
 Congress
Demographics of 111th Congress
 U.S.
 Males
– 49%
 Females – 51%
 Congress
 Males
– 83%
 Females – 17%
Demographics of 111th Congress

U.S.
 White – 75%
 Black – 12%
 Hispanic – 13%
 Asian – 4%
 Native – 1%
*Many people qualify
as more than 1
race

Congress
 White – 85%
 Black – 8%
 Hispanic – 6%
 Asian – 1%
 Native – 0%
Demographics of 111th Congress
 U.S.
 Millionaires
 Congress
–
0.7%
 Non-Millionaires
– 99.3%
 Millionaires
–
33%
 Non-Millionaires
– 67%