Congresspersons, Elections, and Congressional Apportionment

Congresspersons and the Citizenry: Older, because of constitutional age requirements and political experience is normally an advantage in running for national office From the baby boomer generation Most are white and lawyers Well paid, with salaries at $174, percent of the members of Congress are millionaires There are 76 women in the House of Representatives and there are 17 women in the Senate 17 percent of the seats in House are filled by minorities

Characteristics of the 112 th Congress, 2011 – 2013:

Congressional Elections: Conducted by individual state governments The number of seats awarded to each state is to be determined every 10 years by the results of the census Census not accurate could lead to states losing representation in Congress Each state has at least one representative Districts are around 650,000 people within it Only states can elect members of Congress, therefore, territories are not represented but they do elect nonvoting delegates who sit in the House D.C. is also represented only by a nonvoting delegate

How much does a representative make? How large is a congressional district?

$174,000 and 650,000

Congressional Elections: Several proposals have been made to give D.C. voting representation in Congress An amendment was passed by Congress in 1978 to give D.C. voting representation in Congress as if it were a state, including two senators, but was not ratified Democrats generally support it, while Republicans do not

Candidates for Congressional Elections: In congressional districts where one party dominates, it maybe hard to find a candidate from the other party Review eligibility requirements Generally, representatives reflect district in ethnicity or religion and were successful individuals who have been active in politics before Most think of the House as a stepping stone to future political office, such as senator, governor, or president Senators may have dreams of governorship or the presidency

Congressional Campaigns and Elections: Changed in the past two decades More expensive, with the average cost of winning a Senate campaign at $9.7 million and a winning House campaign costing $1.4 million Most candidates for Congress must win the nomination through a direct primary, During this direct primary, party identifiers vote for the candidate who will be on the party ticket in the general election To win the primary, candidates may take more liberal or more conservative positions to get votes In the general election, they may moderate their views to attract the votes of independents and voters from the other party

During primaries, who do candidates have to appeal to?

More liberal or conservative voters who participate in the primary

Presidential Effects: The coattail effect created by a strong presidential candidate Reality, this effect has been quit limited One way to measure the coattail effect is to look at the subsequent midterm elections Participation is low In the past, the party controlling the White House normally loses seats in Congress, because the coattail effect failed to apply

Presidential Effects:

The Power of Incumbency: Once members are elected and survive the second election, they build up considerable loyalty among their constituents They are frequently reelected as long as they wish to serve 90% of representatives and a slightly smaller proportion of senators who decide to run for reelection are successful Pursuit of reelection is the strongest motivation behind activities of members of Congress They do the following Use mass media, make personal appearances with constituents, and send newsletters to produce positive image and make their name a household word

The Power of Incumbency: They do the following Use mass media, make personal appearances with constituents, and send newsletters to produce positive image and make their name a household word Present themselves as informed, experienced, and responsive Point to things they have done for their constituents Refer to voting records in Congress

The Power of Incumbency:

What percentage of incumbents win re-election in 2012?

90% in the House and 95% in the Senate

Congressional Apportionment: Two of the most complicated aspects of congressional elections are Apportionment issues Reapportionment (the allocation of seats in the House to each state after each census) Redistricting (the redrawing of the boundaries of the districts within each state) In a landmark 6-2 vote in 1962, the Supreme Court made the apportionment of state legislative districts a justiciable question Can be reviewed by the courts Did so by using the 14 th Amendment saying no state can deny to any person the “the equal protection of the laws”

Congressional Apportionment: All districts must be equal in population Before 1964, some districts contained two or three times the populations of other districts in the same state, thus, diluting the vote of more populated districts Usually, benefited the more suburban/rural, conservative areas, while hurting the more liberal cities

Gerrymandering: Gerrymandering The drawing of legislative district boundary lines to obtain partisan or factional advantage A district is said to be gerrymander when its shape is manipulated by the dominant party in the state legislature to maximize electoral strength at the expense of the minority party The gerrymandering issue has not be resolved The term comes from the legislative boundary-drawing tactics that were used by Elbridge Gerry, the governor of Massachusetts

Gerrymandering: Davis v. Bandemer In 1986, the Court heard a case that challenged gerrymandering congressional districts in Indiana The Court ruled for the first time that redistricting for the political benefit of one group could be challenged on constitutional grounds The Court did not agree that the districts were drawn unfairly Because it could not be proved that a group of voters would consistently be deprived of influence at the polls as a result of the new districts

Gerrymandering:

What is gerrymandering?

The drawing of legislative district boundary lines to obtain partisan or factional advantage A district is said to be gerrymander when its shape is manipulated by the dominant party in the state legislature to maximize electoral strength at the expense of the minority party