1. The House of Representatives
St. 9

2. The House of Representatives
Terms of Office
Members of Congress serve two year terms
They are up for re-election every two years.
There are no limits on how many two year terms members can serve.
Each state hold elections in November of even-numbered years.
Congressional Elections
Elections held in nonpresidential years are called off-year elections.
Usually the party that holds the presidency loses seats in an off year election.

3. The House of Representatives
Congressional Districts
Representatives are elected from single member congressional districts.
Voters in each district can elect 1 representative to the House.
High population states have more districts than less populated states.
7 states have 1 representative, so their district consists of the entire state.
People who live in a district represented by Congress are called constituents.
Westberry v. Sanders
Supreme Court ruling in 1964 which requires each district in a state to have similar sized populations.

4. The House of Representatives
Size of the House
Beginning in 1789, the House was very small, including only representatives from the original 13 colonies.
The populations of those states at the time were small.
As the U.S. has grown geographically & included more states, the House has grown.
Reapportionment*
The process of setting up new congressional districts after reapportionment is known as redisticting*
Reapportionment Act of 1929
Fixed the size of the House at 435 members.
Congress can change this number if it wishes.

5. The House of Representatives
The Census
Every 10 years the Census Bureau counts the national population.
The Census figures are then used to decide how many representatives each state will have until the next Census.
Currently, each seat in the House represents about 700,000 people.

6. The House of Representatives
Gerrymandering
Drawing the borders of districts to favor one political party.
Tactics include clustering the opposing party’s voters in a few districts or spreading them out thinly over many districts.
Due to gerrymandering, only a few congressional districts in any election are actually at risk to switch their support from one party to another.

7. Packing
A district which has been drawn unfairly by filling it with voters from one specific political party.

8. The House of Representatives
Formal Qualifications
Representatives have to live in the district they represent
Must be at least 25 years old.
Must have been a U.S. citizen for at least 7 years.
Must be an inhabitant of the state from which he or she is elected.
Must be elected by U.S. citizens.*

9. The House of Representatives
Informal Qualifications
Personal Factors
Gender- Male or female
Ethnicity- Race
Political Experience- Has the individual ever worked in government before?
Name Recognition- Is the individual famous or well noted for other achievements.
Party Affiliation- Democrat, Republican, or other?
The Incumbent
Person running for re-election
Being incumbent can be important as more than 90% of those seeking re-election to the House win.
Raising Money
In 2008 the average cost of running a winning campaign for a seat in the House was over $1 Million dollars.

10. Exclusion
Occurs when Congress refuses to seat a new Representative or Senator because of some question about their qualifications for office.

11. Organization of Congress
A meeting of Congress is called a session.
Quorum
Minimum number of individuals needed for a session of Congress.