2.  Basis of Constitutional Authority in Article I  House member must be 25 years old American citizen for 7 years Inhabitant of state the representative represents  Senator must be 30 years old American citizen for 9 years Resident of state the senator represents  Common powers to Congress listed Article I, Section 8 Power to tax Coin $ Declare war Regulate foreign & interstate commerce  Implied powers come from “necessary & proper clause” (aka “elastic clause”)

3.  HoR has power to Begin revenue bills Select president if no electoral college majority Initiate impeachment proceedings  Senate has power to Approve presidential appointments Ratify treaties Try impeachment proceedings  Congress may overrule presidential veto by 2/3 vote of each house

4.  Bicameral House of Representatives, 435 members  # of seats established in 1910 Senate, 100 members  Originally chosen by state legislatures  Changed to election by the people by 17 th Amendment

5.  Reapportionment Act of 1929 Provides for permanent size of HoR & number of seats each state should have based on the census  Each seat represents average of 650,000 people Individual states determine make-up of each congressional district based upon census changes  leads to charges of gerrymandering, or drawing of congressional districts that favor either the political party that controls the state legislature or the incumbent  To isolate minorities in a district = packing; to divide them across many districts = cracking  … can end up with oddly shaped & created unfair representation patterns…

7. S Court cases have defined manner in which states create representation patterns  Smith v Allwright (1944): denying African Americans the right to vote in primary elections was found to be a violation of the 15h Amendment  Baker v Carr (1962): established 1 man, 1 vote  Wesberry v Sanders (1964): dictated population differences in GA were so unequal, they were unconstitutional  Buckley v Valeo (1976): giving $ to political campaign was a form of free speech & threw out some stringent federal regulations on fundraising & election spending  Shaw v Reno (1993) & Miller v Johnson (1995): race cannot be sole or predominant factor in redrawing legislative district boundaries

8.  US Term Limits v Thornton (1995): States cannot set term limits on members of Congress  Bush v Gore (2000): the FL recount for the 2000 election was a violation of the 14 th Amendment’s equal protection  Both Wesberry & Baker decisions furthered minority representation  But… doctrines modified by S Court in 1990s  Decisions have struck down oddly shaped congressional districts which guarantee minority representation  1995: S Court ruled a district in GA which was apportioned to create representation for African Americans was unconstitutional

10.  Success of Senate incumbents not = to those of HoR incumbents But it’s obvious a sitting representative has an advantage  Exceptions: scandal, unpopular sitting president during mid- term elections  1992: HoR members abusing checking & post office privileges, many incumbents decided to not seek reelection or lost  1994: mid-term elections reflected disapproval of Clinton’s performance (first time had Republican HoR & Senate in 40 years)  The stats: Only 2 members lost in 1986, 1 in 1988 On average fewer than 2% are defeated in primary elections & < 7% lose general elections Rates a little lower for Senate members

11.  Why do incumbents have the advantage? Are highly visible Cable & C-SPAN broadcast proceedings of Congress Representatives have free franking (sending of mail) privileges HoR members  Pride themselves in close constituent relationships  Co-sponsor legislation  Quick to take credit for obtaining earmarks (pork barrel)  Campaign fundraising - $$ advantage over competitors  Results in many weak opponents being nominated – why spend $ in a district your party won’t win?

12.  Average age: HoR: 57 Senate: 63  Majority religion: Protestant  95 women in Congress (a record) 78 in HoR 17 in Senate  42 African Americans 41 in HoR 1 in Senate  30 Hispanics 27 in HoR 3 in Senate

13.  Minorities & women have always been underrepresented in Congress & state legislatures Reason for Voting Rights Act of 1965 to encourage states to take measures to increase minority representation in Congress  After 1990 census: states redrew districts Led to increasing African American representation by 50%, Hispanic representation by 70%

14.  Population shifts in last 20 years has given more seats to Southern states, meaning other regions losing seats  Suburban representation has increased at expense of rural & urban areas  Draws members primarily from legal & business professions Almost ½ of HoR & > ½ of Senate have legal background  Reason: lawyers have many prerequisites needed for successful run for Congress:  Interest & experience in law  Prominence w/in community  Personal wealth to at least partially fund election campaign