Who do you want reppin you? What makes a good officeholder? Who would you vote for? What would you take into consideration? Age? Race? Gender? Experience? Personal characteristics? Nice? Smart? Caring? Cunning? Gets the Job done?

Name your: President: Vice President: US Representative: Senator (2): Extra Bonus Question: Name of US Rep running for Senate: Obama Joe Biden Adam Kinzinger Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk Tammy Duckworth

Congress!

Structure and basics: __________– meaning? Why? (Historical, practical, theoretical) When does Congress meet? ________of Congress lasts 2 years– “Noon on the 3 rd day of January” of _____numbered years Each term has ___________– today Congress is in session (doing business) most of the year Special session can be called by President for Congress to deal with specific issue Bicameral Term odd two sessions

Label term and session! Term Session

Elections! Tuesday following the 1 st Monday in November of even-numbered years. …..simple to remember, right? So the last federal election was in? Next federal election will be in? When will 115 th Congress begin? Off-year or mid-term elections – congressional elections in non- presidential years

Number set by Congress, not fixed in the Constitution Process of ____________________ All States get at least one Representative, leaving 385 seats Remainder divided among States __________________ One seat = about 680,000 people States divided into districts (Representative represent a district) Decennial census (every 10 yrs)  _____________ redraw the House district borders within State = _________________ If 435 Representative for 50 Sates, how divided? (House of Reps) Reapportionment proportionate to population State legislature REDISTRICTING

House and Senate 435 members of the House; 2 yr terms 100 members of the Senate; 6 yr terms James Madison – believed the Senate was a necessary fence against the fickleness and passion of the House

House of Reps – Members rep. districts Senators – Represent the entire State

Gerry what? Gerrymandering! Districts that have been drawn to the advantage of the political party that controls the State legislature Often either drawn: 1.To concentrate the opposition’s voters in one or few districts, thus leaving the other districts comfortably safe for the dominant party 2.To spread the opposition as thinly as possible among several districts, limiting the opposition’s ability to win anywhere in the region Want as many “safe” districts as possible (how do they know? Voter behavior/demographics/party id) most-gerrymandered-congressional-districts/

Gerrymandering cont…. Wesberry v. Sanders, 1964 – est. that districts need to be substantially equal populations “One person, one vote” _______________– crafted to include a majority or African Americans and/or Latinos More likely to send African Americans and Latinos to Congress SCOTUS – race cannot be the controlling factor for determining factor, it can be one of the factors Minority-Majority Districts

Illinois’s 4 th Congressional District - Rep. Luis Gutiérrez atch?v=EX9KIIM6xRg atch?v=EX9KIIM6xRg bc2/watch/gutierrez-urges- obama-to--be-bold--on- immigration bc2/watch/gutierrez-urges- obama-to--be-bold--on- immigration

A Day in the Life of Congressman Rodney Davis (13 dist) - ?v=GVMZ2EkyYic ?v=GVMZ2EkyYic

Do you have what it takes? Qualifications House of Reps At least _____yrs old Has been a citizen of the US for at least _____yrs Inhabitant of the State from which he/she is elected (informal/custom) live in the district that they rep Senate At least _____old Have been a citizen for at least ___yrs An inhabitant of the State from which he/she is elected yrs 9

Informal Qualifications House of Rep and Senate Vote getting ability Party id Name familiarity Gender Ethics characteristics Political experience Incumbent (90% of House members that run for reelection are successful)

The Senate (The Upper House) Size – _____members (2 per State/50 States) Originally selected by State legislatures; 17 th Amendment est. direct election of Senate Only 1 Senator is elected from a State in any given election ________– terms are staged – 1/3 of seats expire every 2 years; “continuous” body – all of its seats never up at the same time 100 6yr term

Senate cont… Longer term than House Rep = greater job security (don’t have to deal with political turbulence, more insulated) Larger size and geographical scope of constituents “big picture”