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
Basis of Constitutional Authority in Article I
House member must be
• 25 years old
• American citizen for 7 years
• Inhabitant of state the representative represents

Senator must be
• 30 years old
• American citizen for 9 years
• Resident of state the senator represents

Common powers to Congress listed Article I,
Section 8
•
•
•
•

Power to tax
Coin $
Declare war
Regulate foreign & interstate commerce
Implied powers come from “necessary & proper
clause” (aka “elastic clause”)
 HoR
has power to
• Begin revenue bills
• Select president if no electoral college majority
• Initiate impeachment proceedings
 Senate
has power to
• Approve presidential appointments
• Ratify treaties
• Try impeachment proceedings
 Congress
may overrule presidential veto by
2/3 vote of each house
 Bicameral
• House of Representatives, 435 members
 # of seats established in 1910
• Senate, 100 members
 Originally chosen by state legislatures
 Changed to election by the people by 17th Amendment
 Reapportionment
Act of 1929
• Provides for permanent size of HoR & number of
seats each state should have based on the census
 Each
seat represents average of 650,000
people
• Individual states determine make-up of each
congressional district based upon census changes
 leads to charges of gerrymandering, or drawing of
congressional districts that favor either the political party
that controls the state legislature or the incumbent
 To isolate minorities in a district = packing; to divide them across
many districts = cracking
 … can end up with oddly shaped & created unfair representation
patterns…
• S Court cases have defined manner in which states create
representation patterns
 Smith v Allwright (1944): denying African Americans the right to
vote in primary elections was found to be a violation of the 15h
Amendment
 Baker v Carr (1962): established 1 man, 1 vote
 Wesberry v Sanders (1964): dictated population differences in
GA were so unequal, they were unconstitutional
 Buckley v Valeo (1976): giving $ to political campaign was a form
of free speech & threw out some stringent federal regulations on
fundraising & election spending
 Shaw v Reno (1993) & Miller v Johnson (1995): race cannot be
sole or predominant factor in redrawing legislative district
boundaries
 US Term Limits v Thornton (1995): States cannot set term
limits on members of Congress
 Bush v Gore (2000): the FL recount for the 2000 election
was a violation of the 14th Amendment’s equal
protection
 Both Wesberry & Baker decisions furthered minority
representation
 But… doctrines modified by S Court in 1990s
 Decisions have struck down oddly shaped congressional
districts which guarantee minority representation
 1995: S Court ruled a district in GA which was apportioned to
create representation for African Americans was
unconstitutional
 Success
of Senate incumbents not = to those of
HoR incumbents
• But it’s obvious a sitting representative has an
advantage
 Exceptions: scandal, unpopular sitting president during midterm elections
 1992: HoR members abusing checking & post office privileges,
many incumbents decided to not seek reelection or lost
 1994: mid-term elections reflected disapproval of Clinton’s
performance (first time had Republican HoR & Senate in 40 years)
 The stats:
• Only 2 members lost in 1986, 1 in 1988
• On average fewer than 2% are defeated in primary
elections & < 7% lose general elections
• Rates a little lower for Senate members
 Why
do incumbents have the advantage?
• Are highly visible
• Cable & C-SPAN broadcast proceedings of
Congress
• Representatives have free franking (sending of mail)
privileges
• HoR members
 Pride themselves in close constituent relationships
 Co-sponsor legislation
 Quick to take credit for obtaining earmarks (pork barrel)
 Campaign fundraising - $$ advantage over competitors
 Results in many weak opponents being nominated – why spend $
in a district your party won’t win?
 Average age:
• HoR: 57
• Senate: 63
 Majority religion: Protestant
 95 women in Congress
• 78 in HoR
• 17 in Senate
 42 African Americans
• 41 in HoR
• 1 in Senate
 30 Hispanics
• 27 in HoR
• 3 in Senate
(a record)
 Minorities
& women have always been
underrepresented in Congress & state
legislatures
• Reason for Voting Rights Act of 1965 to encourage
states to take measures to increase minority
representation in Congress
 After
1990 census: states redrew districts
• Led to increasing African American representation
by 50%, Hispanic representation by 70%
 Population
shifts in last 20 years has given
more seats to Southern states, meaning
other regions losing seats
 Suburban representation has increased at
expense of rural & urban areas
 Draws members primarily from legal &
business professions
• Almost ½ of HoR & > ½ of Senate have legal
background
 Reason: lawyers have many prerequisites needed for
successful run for Congress:
 Interest & experience in law
 Prominence w/in community
 Personal wealth to at least partially fund election campaign