The House of Representatives Chapter 10 Section 2

What are the terms and size of the House of Representatives? The House of Representatives has 435 elected officials Each is elected for a two-year term House is based on population States with more people living in them get more representation Each state is divided into districts Leader of the House of Representatives is called the Speaker of the House Speaker is elected by the majority party in the House

Terms and size (cont’d) Speaker runs the House’s business Speaker of the House becomes President of the U.S. if the President and VP cannot serve Speaker leads sessions, decides who may speak, calls for votes, and sees that rules are followed Speaker also places member of the House into committees Speaker can influence laws the House passes

The Speaker of the House has a very limited role. True False

The speaker of the house has a very limited role. True False

What is reapportionment? Every 10 years, according to the Constitution, a census is taken Census – a count of the population As the population of the country grew, more seats were added to the House of Representatives This continued until 1920 = 435 After each census, the Census Bureau decides how to distribute the number of seats for each states Congress must approve this

The number of seats in the House of representatives is limited to 435 regardless of states’ populations. True False

Reapportionment (cont’d) Constitution says that congressional elections are held on the same day in every state Half of congressional elections are held in the years when there is no presidential election – off-year elections

What are congressional districts? Each member of the House is elected from a district Seven states have only one district that covers the whole state These states are allowed to elect their representatives at-large At-large means that people can choose their representatives from the whole state

What is it called when an election takes place in a year when there is no presidential election? Off-year election At-large election Primary election

What is gerrymandering? By law, each district should have similar populations and district boundaries should touch one another In the past, many states drew boundaries that put more voters in some districts than others Supreme Court ruled against practice Court ruled that one’s man vote should be worth the same as another’s Many states still draw boundaries to favor one party over another Term for this unfair practice – gerrymandering http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Gerry-Mander_Edit.png

Gerrymandering is illegal. True False

What are the Formal qualifications for House members? Representatives must be 25 years old Must have been a citizen of U.S. for at least 7 years Must be residents of the state they represent The Constitution allows the House to judge the qualifications and election results of its own members 1861 – House dismissed 3 members for “rebellion” against the country 2003 – dismissed a member convicted of a crime

Informal Qualifications These can vary over time Name Political experience Educational background