House of Representatives
Membership
The United States has 435 members in the House of Representatives. Members are elected every two years, and terms begin on January 3rd of the year following elections.
Leadership
The presiding officer and most powerful leader of the House is the Speaker of the House. The majority party chooses the House Speaker, and the entire House membership approves the choice. Next to the Speaker, the second highest position is the majority leader. The majority leader is elected by the majority party and receives assitance from the majority whips and deputy whips, which serve as assistant flor leaders in the House.
Calendars
The House organizes proposed bills by scheduling them on different calendars. Bills having to do with money are placed on the Union Calendar, while most other public bilils are sent to the House Calendar. Matters dealing with individuals are placed on the Private Calendar. Bills that receive the House's unanimous consent fly straight to the Consent Calendar, and the Discharge Calendar is used to discharge a bill.
Qualifications
Members must be at least 25 years old, U.S. Citizens for at least seven years, and be legal residents of the state that elects them.
Districts
The 435 available positions are distributed among the states according to population. Every state is assigned a certain number of voting districts according to how many representatives it will have. Often times, state legislatures form their own state's districts to create odd shapes in order to tailor the voting population, giving a particular party an advantage. This scheme is known as gerrymandering. In other cases, congressional districts will be created with vastly unequal populations, lowering the value of larger districts to equal that of their smaller counterparts. This method was popular in the 1960s.