House of Representatives

House of Representatives

A chamber of Congress where representatives are allocated based on state population.

Representative Diana Harshbarger

Current representative from Tennessee in the House of Representatives.

Tennessee's representatives

Tennessee has a total of 9 representatives in the House.

Formal Qualifications for House members

Must be at least 25 years old, a US citizen for at least seven years, and reside in the state represented.

Expulsion in the House

Members can be expelled for misconduct by a ⅔ vote.

Informal Qualifications

Factors such as party identification, name familiarity, gender, ethnicity, political experience, and residency in the district.

Apportioned

The process of distributing the number of seats in the House of Representatives based on state populations.

Census's role in apportionment

Census data is used to determine how many representatives each state receives.

Minimum representatives guaranteed

Every state is guaranteed at least one representative in the House.

Delegates in the House

DC, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa have delegates, but not full voting members.

Terms for House members

House representatives serve two-year terms with no term limits.

Reapportionment

The process of redistributing seats in the House of Representatives after each census.

First Congress seats

The first Congress had 65 seats, which increased to 106 after the first census.

House size by 1910

By 1910, the House had grown to 435 seats, deemed too large to be effective.

Reapportionment Act of 1929

An act that set the permanent size of the House to 435 members.

Gerrymandering

The practice of drawing electoral district boundaries to benefit a particular political party.

Concentrating opposition

A gerrymandering technique that involves consolidating the opposing party's voters into a few districts.

Spreading opposition thinly

A strategy in gerrymandering to dilute the opposing party's voters across many districts.

Tennessee District 3

A district designed to favor Republicans by excluding Knoxville.

Political advantage

Gerrymandering is used to create electoral advantages for the party controlling the state legislature.

Impact of 1920 census

After the 1920 census, Congress did not reapportion, affecting representation.

Current size of the House

The House of Representatives is currently fixed at 435 members.

Role of political experience

Political experience serves as an informal qualification for becoming a representative.