Government: United States House of Representatives and Senate Essay

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Exam 2 Redo
Article 1 of the constitution organizes the Legislative branch. The Legislative branch is a bicameral system, which means 2 chambers. The House of Representatives is one chamber and the Senate is another chamber. The House of Representatives is made up of 435 members, and the Senate is made up of 100 members. There are also 3 members from DC making a total of 538 members in the Legislative branch. We have a bicameral system because during the Constitutional Convention there were 2 plans that were drawn up “The Virginia Plan” and “The New Jersey Plan.” The Virginia Plan wanted representation based on population because they were a bigger state. The New Jersey plan wanted equal representation for all states since they are a smaller state. The Great Compromise or the Connecticut Compromise is what set up the bicameral legislation giving 2 branches the House and the Senate. In order to run for The House of Representatives you must be at least 25 years or older, be a citizen of the US for the past 7 years, and live in the state you are representing at the time of the election. To be a member in the Senate you must be at least 30 years or older, be a citizen of the US for at least 9 years, and you must live in the state at the time of the election. Senators serve terms of 6 years, and Representatives serve terms of 2 years. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate members can serve an unlimited amount of terms. District magnitude is number of legislative seats assigned to a district. The House of Representatives goes through reapportionment and redistricting every 10 years after the census. Reapportionment gives new seats in the House of Representatives. Redistricting gives district new boundaries. Therefore after every census some states may lose or gain seats in the House based on population change. Senators have election processes known as “staggered elections.” Staggered elections are done in the Senate where only a third of senators are up for re-election every 2 years. Representatives are up fore re-election every 2 years as well. In the House of Representatives the Speaker of the House is the leader. After the Speaker comes the Majority Leader, Majority Whip, Republican Conference Chairman, and Republican Policy Committee Chairman for the majority party. Then you have
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