House of Representatives

The House of Representatives

• The number or representatives for each state is based on the population of that state

• Representative: Diana Harshbarger (R)

• Tennessee has 9 representatives

Formal Qualifications

1. Must be at least 25 years old

2. Must have been a citizen of the US for at least seven years

3. Must live in the state from which elected

4. Members can be expelled for misconduct with a ⅔ vote

Informal Qualifications

1. Party identification - Northeast Tennessee will pretty much always vote Republican

2. Name familiarity - If the name is known, more likely to be recognized and voted

3. Gender

4. Ethnicity

5. Political Experience

6. Live in the district represented

Size and Terms

• The number of seats in the House of Reps is apportioned

• Apportioned - Distributed among the states on the oasis of their respective population (Comes from a Census)

• Every state is guaranteed at least one representative

• DC, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa have delegates in the House

• Two-year terms

• No term limits

Reapportionment

• Congress must reapportion after each census

• Reapportion - redistribute seats in the House after each census

• 65 seats in the first Congress, after the first census it went up to 106

A Growing Nation

• By 1910 there were 435 seats, and Congress was to large to be effective

• After the 1920 census, there was no reapportionment

The Reapportionment Act of 1929

• Because of the upcoming 1930 census, Congress passed this Act

• It called for:

1. The permanent size of the House is 435 members

Gerrymandering

• Gerrymandering - drawing a district to the political advantage of the party who controls the state legislature

• It’s done in two ways

1. Concentrating the opposition in one or few states 

2. Spreading the opposition as thinly as possible

• Tennessee District 3 has Chattanooga and would have Knoxville, so is made so that the district is Republican and not have Knoxville