The National Legislature

1. The National Legislature

2. Bicameral Legislature • Why a bicameral legislature? • The British system has a Bicameral legislature and the founders were familiar with this system. • The Constitution establishes a bicameral legislature, one that is made up of two houses. • The House • Representatives determined by population • 435 members • The Senate • Equal number of representatives per state • 100 senators.

3. Term • Lasts 2 years and each term is numbered consecutively. • The first term began on March 4, 1789 • What term of Congress are we in? • 114th Congress • New terms of congress begin on January 3rd following an election year.

4. Session • Is the period of during which, each year, Congress assembles and conducts business. • Adjourns • Suspends until the next session, each regular session as it sees fit. • Prorogue • Presidential power to end a session of congress but only when the two houses cannot agree on a date to adjourn. • Special Session • a meeting to deal with some emergency situation

5. The House of Representatives • House members are elected to Congress every other year. • When is the next time the House members are up for election? • 2016 • No limit on the number of terms a Representative may serve.

6. Apportioned • Distributed among the States on the basis of population. • Each state is guaranteed one seat in the House, no mater what its population. • States with one representative • Alaska • North Dakota • South Dakota • Montana • Wyoming • Delaware • Vermont • Which state has the most representatives? • California

7. Reapportion • The redistribution of the seats in the House after each census. • How often are the censuses held? • 10 years • 1929 Reapportionment Act • Set the permanent size of the house to 435 members. Each member represents 700,000 constituents today. • After each census, the Census Bureau determines the number of seats each State should have. • The President sends the Bureau’s plan to Congress • If within the next 60 days neither house rejects the plan, it becomes effective.

8. Off-year elections • Elections that are held during non presidential years. • Also known as mid-term elections • More often then not, the party in power loses seats in the mid-terms. • When was the last mid-term election? • Nov 2014

9. Single-member district • Where the voters in each district elect one of the State’s representatives from among a field of candidates running for a seat in the House from that district. • At-large • When a candidate is elected from the State as a whole rather than from a particular district.

10. Gerrymandering • The district lines have been drawn to the advantage of the political party that controls the State legislature? • How often do states redraw district lines? • Usually following a census, every 10 years. • Why do politicians gerrymander? • To concentrate the opposition's voters in one or few districts, making it easier to win the other districts. • To spread the opposition as thinly as possible among the other districts.

12. Qualifications for House Members • Must be at least 25 years of age. • Must have been a citizen of the United States for at least seven years. • Must be an inhabitant of the state from which he or she is elected.

13. p 263 • How does the distribution of senate seats among the States illustrate the principle of federalism? • It shows that each State is an equal partner in the union.

14. How long does a term in Congress last? • Two years

15. Who has the power to prorogue a session of Congress? • The President

16. p 268 • What general trend in population growth around the country does this map show? • Most of the States that gained seats were located in the South and Southwest, indicating regional population shifts.

17. p 269 • In which two election years above did the President’s party lose the most seats in the House? • 1974 and 1994

18. p 270 • Why does the redrawing of district lines regularly produce sharp political conflicts in a State? • Because neither party would want to lose seats in Congress as a result of the combining of districts.

19. p 272 • Why do House members debate most bills in committees before bringing them to the House floor? • The house is too big to debate all bills on the floor of the House.

20. How are the seats in the House of Representatives apportioned? • Apportionment is based on the population of each State.

21. Why do politicians gerrymander districts? • To create districts that their party is almost certain to win in an election.

22. Quick Write • Is Gerrymandering fair? What should be done about it?