THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
Chapter 10, Section 2
SIZE
435 members
• Number set by Congress, not fixed by Constitution
• Seats apportioned (distributed) among States according to their
respective populations
• Each State is guaranteed at least one seat
• DC, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa send delegates;
Puerto Rico sends a commissioner (these are not full-fledged
members of House)
TERM OF OFFICE
Representatives are elected by popular vote and serve two year
terms
• Because election is always just around the corner, members of the
House typically pay close attention to “the folks back home.”
No limits on number of terms
REAPPORTIONMENT
Constitution requires Congress to reapportion seats in the House
after each census
• Until 1912, the size of the House grew in proportion to US
population
• The Reapportionment Act of 1929
• Fixed the size of the House at 435 members
• Directs Census Bureau to determine the number of seats each
state should have following a new census
• Provides that the Bureau’s plan is to be submitted to the President,
who then forwards it to Congress
• Gives Congress 60 days to reject the plan
CONGRESSIONAL
ELECTIONS
Congressional elections are held on the same day in each state:
Tuesday following the first Monday in November of each evennumbered year
Off-year elections occur between presidential elections
• Typically, the party that holds the presidency loses seats in off-year
elections
CONGRESSIONAL
DISTRICTS
For more than half a century, Congress allowed states to choose from two
options for congressional elections:
• General ticket system – every voter could vote for a candidate for each one of
the State’s seats in the House
• Single-member districts – voters in each district elect one of the State’s
representatives from a slate of candidates running from that district
In 1842, Congress did away with the general ticket system because it proved
grossly unfair
• The 1842 law made each state legislature responsible for drawing congressional
districts
• Districts must be contiguous and comparatively small with roughly equal
populations
GERRYMANDERING
Drawing congressional districts to the
advantage of the political party that controls
the State’s legislature
Named for Governor Elbridge Gerry of
Massachusetts
•
Wesberry v. Sanders, 1964 – supported the
idea of “One person, One vote” by
ensuring that congressional districts
would include roughly the same number
of people
Today, computer-driven map-making
have made it easier to create gerrymandered
districts
FORMAL QUALIFICATIONS
The Constitution requires that House members must be at least 25
years old
Citizen of the United States for at least seven years
Must live in the State from which elected
• House has power to judge qualifications of members-elect; it may
refuse to seat a member elect by majority vote
INFORMAL
QUALIFICATIONS
Have to do with a candidate’s
vote-getting abilities (e.g., name
familiarity)
A candidate’s fundraising
abilities also figure into the mix.