Dec. 12, 2016 1. Vocab. Quiz 2. Article 3. Chapter 11 Vocab. 4. Congress Notes 5. Congress Quiz Friday, Dec. 16

Students will be able to: Describe the members of Congress Gerrymandering and what Congress does.

Who is the speaker of the House? Who has the power in the Senate? Who is currently the President of the Senate?

What Congress Does Create and approve policies/laws/regulations Provide funding for government programs and policies Oversight function – make sure the agencies are working effectively and not going over budget

Who are constituents? Who are incumbents? The people a member of Congress represents Who are incumbents? The members of Congress who are already seated in the HOUSE or SENATE The advantages of incumbency are Name recognition Access to the media Easier fund raising 

Reapportionment of the HOUSE 1911 – Congress set the House seats at 435 435 seats = 435 districts Most states have more than one district Elections are either single-member district or at-large (WHO votes for the reps?) Alaska, Vermont, Montana, Wyoming, SD, ND, & Delaware have only ONE district

Gerrymandering Drawing district lines to give an advantage to a particular political party Two ways to gerrymander: concentrate the opposition in one district OR spread the opposition in all districts https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/v irginia-politics/satirical-campaign-ad- seeks-to-raise-awareness-about- gerrymandering/2016/01/18/4c742466- bdf6-11e5-83d4- 42e3bceea902_story.html

Wesberry v. Sanders (1964) Malapportionment – districts within a state had different populations District 1 Rep – 500,000 people District 2 Rep– 100,000 people Who has more political power? Conclusion – One person, one vote OR districts have to be equal in population

WHO do Representatives listen to when making decisions? 4 Options TRUSTEE – rep should use his/her best judgment DELEGATE – rep should vote for whatever his/her constituents want PARTISAN – rep should vote how his/her political party wants POLITICO – rep votes differently on different issues (mixture)

Who is in Congress? How are they different from the average American? Members of Congress tend to be older, wealthier, and better educated than those they represent. Nearly half of them are lawyers, and a large number come from business, banking, and education. Most of them are married with children, and about 60% are Protestants. Nearly all went to college, and many have advanced degrees as well.

Average American 30% have a college degree 11% have a graduate degree Median age is 32.9 Many different religions Many different ethnicities