Civics_Ch4_webquest-House

=**United States Congress**= Follow the web quest on our national/federal level legislative body...the branch that makes the laws. =**House of Representatives**= 1. The Congress is made up of 2 parts: the House of Representatives and the Senate. The **House of Representatives** is based on the Virginia Plan proposal at the Constitutional Convention, which means that the number of representatives in the House of Representatives is based on population. There are 435 members of the House. The House of Representatives is broken down into leadership positions within the House. Members of each political party in the House chooses its leadership.
 * The **Speaker of the House** presides over the House and therefore decides on the legislation to be discussed. The Speaker of the House is the most powerful person in the House and is a member of the political party that has a majority. Who is the current Speaker of the House? [|Click here to find out]


 * The **House Majority Leader** is from the political party that has a majority in the House of Representatives. Currently, the Republican Party has the majority in the House and therefore the House Majority Leader is Republican. The House Majority Leader is the second most powerful representative from the majority party (the Speaker of the House is the most powerful member of the majority party). Who is the current House Majority Leader? [|Click here to find out]


 * The **House Majority Whip** is the assistant to the majority leader. A "whip" is an assistant to the floor leaders. The House Majority Whip is the third most powerful member of the party with the majority in the House (behind the Speaker and the majority leader). Who is the current House Minority Whip? [|Click here to find out]


 * The **House Minority Leader** is from the political party that does not have the majority of representatives in the House and is currently the Democrat Party. The House Minority Leader is the most powerful representative from the minority party. If in the next election, the minority political party gains more seats than the majority, then they become the majority party, which means the Minority Leader would most likely become the Speaker of the House. Who is the current House Minority Leader (the link will list the minority leader as the Democratic leader since the Democrat Party is currently the minority party in the House)? [|Click here to find out]


 * The **House Minority Whip** is the assistant to the minority leader. The House Minority Whip is the second most powerful member of the party that is the minority party. Who is the current House Minority Whip (the link will list the minority leader as the Democratic leader since the Democrat Party is currently the minority party in the House)? [|Click here to find out]

2. Each state is broken into **Congressional Districts** with each member of the House having a district in which he or she represents. The number of districts is based on population (just like the number of members in the House is based on population). Who is your representative in the U.S. House? [|Click here to find out]. Why do you think it's important to know who your representative is?

3. Below is a map of how many congressional districts a.k.a. number of representatives from each state there will be starting after the 2012 election as a result of the census taken in 2010.
 * ON YOUR INTERNET GUIDE: Every 10 years a census is taken to determine the number of representatives from each state. What is this called? It's called r (look at your Internet guide for help).
 * How many representatives will PA have? How many congressional districts will PA have? Do you realize both mean the same thing?
 * PA lost a seat (last decade they had 19). Why did PA lose a representative? It's because PA is losing p_....why do you think this is happening (opinion)?

4. Currently, the House of Representatives is controlled by the Republican Party. There are a total of 435 seats. The Republican Party holds 242 seats. The Democrat Party holds 193 seats. The chart below shows the structure. Republicans are in red, Democrats in blue.
 * With the Republican Party holding the majority in the House, which party is the Speaker of the House a part of?
 * How would this change in terms of party majority (something that is done every 2 years)?

Continue the web quest by moving on to the Senate