1. Homework: Assignment 3 for Tuesday Consider: Does Congress “look” like America? Should it?

2. Membership in Congress AP Government and Politics

3. Let’s make sure we’re all on the same page…  Reason for/purpose of bicameral legislature?  Membership of each house?  Qualifications?  Term length?  Representational information?

7. 6.2

8.  Better educated than general population Two-thirds of members hold advanced degrees  Wealthier than general population Senate “Millionaires Club”  Recent increases in minority representation 6.2

12.  Does Congress look like America? Should it?  Consider the idea of “descriptive representation.”  What does this mean to you?  Does this idea hold any water, in your opinion?  Does the preponderance of a particular demographic group compromise the quality of representation provided by the US Congress?

13. Who are the nonvoting members representing Washington, D.C.? 6.2

14. TABLE 6.4: What are the advantages to incumbency? 6.2

15.  Incumbents  Why have Senate races historically been more competitive than House races? ▪ Why do they have a slightly lower incumbency rate? ▪ Since Senators have a six-year term to prepare for re-elections, shouldn’t Senators expect greater electoral success?  Should the number of terms served by members of Congress be limited, as they are for the President? ▪ Why or why not?

17. Homework: Assignment 3 for tomorrow Consider: Is gerrymandering fair? Is there anything positive about it? "Nearly 70 percent of Americans said a Trump presidency would make them 'anxious.' And 30 percent said a Trump presidency would make them 'Canadian.'" – Conan O'Brien "Trump said that he's not going to the Fox News debate, because moderator Megyn Kelly is biased against him. And Trump has a right to be scared, because usually when a younger, attractive woman disagrees with him, she ends up taking half his stuff." –Jimmy Fallon "An analyst for Time magazine says the key to the survival of the Republican Party is bringing in young women. When told this, Bill Clinton said, 'Hey man, that's the key to every party.'" –Conan O'Brien "In New Hampshire, somebody broke into Rand Paul's campaign headquarters. Police became suspicious when they noticed someone in Rand Paul's campaign headquarters." –Conan O'Brien

18. a.Congress b.State legislatures c.Political parties d.Independent commissions 6.2

20.  Follows census State Legislatures redraw districts  Often political in nature Party in power controls the process  Gerrymandering Drawing a district to favor a party or candidate 6.2

22.  Though the Supreme Court, through its decisions, has laid down some principles regarding redistricting, often it is the lack of following “traditional districting principles” which the Court will address.  Traditional principles include: ▪ “Compact and contiguous” ▪ Nearly equal in population as possible ▪ Respect communities, and political boundaries as much as possible

25.  Baker vs. Carr (1962)  Redistricting cases present “justiciable” questions; can be ruled on by courts  Wesberry vs. Sanders (1964)  “one man, one vote”  Districts must be as nearly equal in population as possible  Shaw vs. Reno (1993)  Race can be used to draw districts, but it can’t be the “predominate” factor  Majority-minority districts are ok, though…

26.  Congressional district or inkblot test?

35.  The Illinois 4th Congressional District is a Hispanic majority district in parts of the North Side and the southwest side of Chicago.  It surrounds a black majority district, the 7th district.  It is ten miles wide, and runs along railroad tracks, forest preserves, and cemeteries.  The Supreme Court declined to hear a suit about constitutionality of the 4th district.

38.  Recently, some states have tried to set up “independent commissions” to avoid the political nature of redistricting that often plagues state legislatures  In 2015, Arizona’s power to establish an independent commission was challenged in court.  Who challenged it? The political parties in that state who wanted to be able to draw the boundaries themselves…