Objective 27a
Compare and contrast the
differences between the House and
the Senate. Including the terms and
qualifications of office, election
process, organization, equal vs.
proportional representation,
varying constituencies, and the
amount of formality present in each
house.
The House-Terms
Each member of
the House serves a two-year
term
The Senate- Each member
of the senate serves a sixyear term
Qualifications for the House
1. Must be at least 25 years of age
2. Must have been a citizen of the
United States for at least 7 years
3. Must be an inhabitant of the state
that he or she is elected
(Longstanding custom also states that
he or she must live in the district
they represent.)
Qualifications for the Senate
1.Must be at least 30 years old
2.Must be a United States Citizen
for at least 9 years
3.Must live in the state in which they
are elected
Election Process
The House- Members of the House
get elected every two years.
The Senate- Members of the
Senate are elected every six years
The terms in the Senate are
staggered every 6 years. So
a third of the terms expire
every two years. It is a
continuous body which
means all of the seats are
never up for election at the
same time
Proportional Representation
-The House represents the
states proportionally, which
means each state gets their
number of seats by the size of
their population.
- This favors large states, and
gives them more representation.
Equal Representation
-The
Senate has equal
representation, in which
each State gets two
Senators regardless of
population.
-This type of representation
favors the smaller states.
Varying Constituencies
Constituencies = The people and
interests that the representatives
represent
Senators are concerned less with
small local problems, are more
focused on statewide “Big
Picture” Interests
• The House of
• Representatives focus more
on small localities. They are
usually focused more on the
district that they are
representing..
Major Differences
House
Larger Body (435)
Short Term (Two
Years)
Less Prestige
Lower Media Visibility
Elected by districts
Strict Rules/ Limited
Debate
Senate
Smaller Body (100)
Longer Term (Six
Years)
Two from each state
More prestige
Heavy Media
Coverage
Flexible Rules,
Debate
Filibuster
Cloture
Unlimited