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HOR/Con. Elections

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Question
Answer
Did the Constitution set the exact size of the HOR?   No, it only says it's size must be distributied proportionaly according to states' population.  
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How many representatives are guaranteed to each state by the Constitution?   At least one.  
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How many states have one seat currently in the HOR?   Seven  
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Reapportionment?   Direction by the Constitution to reapportion House seats after each Census. (10 years)  
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Reapportionment Act? (1929)   Set the maximum number of representatives in the House to 435.  
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About how many citizens does each seat in the House represent?   700,000  
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Why is reapportionment important?   It changes the number of seats a state has and the number of votes in the Electoral College.  
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Does the Constitution define congressional districts?   No.  
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In what year did Congress stipulate that all seats in the HOR would be filled from single-menber districts?   1842  
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What law gave each state the power to draw it's own boundary lines for congressional districts?   The 1842 Law  
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Gerrymandering?   Drawing congressional district lines to benefit one's own party  
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What is one effect of gerrymandering?   It protects imcumbents and discourages challengers  
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Another effect of gerrymandering?   Strengthens the majority party and weakens the opposition  
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Yet another effect of gerrymandering?   Can increase or decrease minority representation.  
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What type of area dominated many state legislatures?   Rural  
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What case put forth "one person, one vote"?   Wesberry v. Sanders (1964)  
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What did Wesberry v. Sanders cause?   Wide redistricting that favored cities and suburbs.  
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What is one restiction the Supreme Court has placed on redistricting?   Equally populated  
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What is one restiction the Supreme Court has placed on redistricting?   Districts must be compact.  
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What is one restiction the Supreme Court has placed on redistricting?   Lines must be contiguous or connected.  
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What is one restiction the Supreme Court has placed on redistricting?   Cannot dilute minority voting power.  
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What is one restiction the Supreme Court has placed on redistricting?   Cannot be drawn solely on race. can be a factor.  
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What has the Supreme Court not eliminated? Why?   Gerrymandering. Partisan reasons.  
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What has the most important factor in congressional elections over the past 50 years?   Incumbancy  
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What percent of House incumbents win?   90 percent  
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What percent of Senate incumbents win?   75 percent  
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What is the main reason incumbants usually win?   Money  
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What is the ratio incumbents outspend challengers by?   More than 2:1  
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2nd reason incumbents win?   Visibility  
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Visibility?   Better known to the voters.  
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3rd reason incumbents win?   Constituent service  
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What do members of Congress do to gain support?   Casework for their district (money and jobs)  
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What is "pork"?   legislation the allows reps to bring money and jobs to their districts.  
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4th reason incumbents win?   the franking privilege  
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The franking privilege?   The right of members of Congress to mail newsletters to their constituents at the gov's expense.  
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What has Congress recently added to the franking privilege?   Emails and recorded phone calls  
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5th reason incumbents win?   Gerrymandering  
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What do members of the House often represent?   heavily gerrymandered districts that support incumbents  
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What do gerrymandered districts discourage?   Strong challengers from trying to compete with incumbents  
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What is one consequence of the Incumbent Advantage?   Experienced leaders in Congress  
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What is one consequence of the Incumbent Advantage?   discourages radical change, but encourages close relationships with intrest groups  
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What is one consequence of the Incumbent Advantage?   They benefit from existing campaign finance laws, therefore they have no motivation to reform them.  
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What do incumbents have opprotunites to participate in?   Highly visible activites covered by local radio stations and newspapers.  
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