1. I. The two houses of Congress II. Congressional elections III. The organization of Congress a. leadership positions b. the committee system c. congressional staff

2.  I. The two houses of Congress -divided government -House: 435 members since 1913 (law in 1929) -CA: 53, TX 36, NY & FL 27; MT, WY, SD, ND, DE & VT only 1

3.  Capitol Hill

4.  II. Congressional elections -“mid-term elections” -1 st Congress: “second constitutional convention”

5.  Congressional districts  “redistricting”  “gerrymandering”

6.  1964: Wesberry v. Sanders  incumbent/incumbency  2010: average: $1.5M for a House seat, $9M for a Senate seat  “straight-ticket voting”

7.  III. The organization of Congress a. leadership positions

8.  Speaker of the House (John Boehner, Rep - OH)

9.  House Majority Leader (Kevin McCarthy, Rep - CA)

10.  Senate Majority Leader (Mitch McConnell, Rep – KY)

11.  House Minority Leader (Nancy Pelosi, Dem – CA)

12.  Senate Minority Leader (Harry Reid, Dem – NV)

13.  party whips  caucus  Mitch McConnell: “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”

14.  b. the committee system -Congress: a “collection of committees” -“committee of the whole” -“floor action”

15.  3 types of committees: -standing committees -select/“ad hoc” committees -joint committees, including the conference committee

16.  Ways and Means committee (tax legislation)

17.  c. congressional staff -Library of Congress (Congressional Research Service) -General Accounting Office for financial matters -Congressional Budget Office: help with technical advice

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