stupid question

[freedomonk]

i am new to politics, so i am just curious how long are the terms for senators and congressmen? and is the election for senate and house held at the same time? and when are the next ones?

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

1. I think 2006 is the next big Congressional year elections eom

[freedomonk]

2. lol

that doesn't answer any of my questions. and why do we have two houses in congress anyway, if they pass the same thing one after another, why not just have a senate?

[immoderate]

7. Google "great compromise" for the answer.

No offense but where did you go to school?

--IMM

[kikiek]

9. Checks and balances.

[Fight_n_back]

10. Are you from another land?

A bi cameral house was originally patterned after the House of Lords and the House of Commons in England.

Senators serve longer terms and therefore are "safer" and can supposedly think longer term. Because there are so few Senators they tend to be more moderate, There are 440 Representatives so they hit a broader spectrum of the political landscape.

[DieboldMustDie]

17. 435...

but who's counting. ;)

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

11. LOL back atcha

you asked when the next elections are, so I DID answer that question.

How did I not answer it? 2006

[Fight_n_back]

13. except that the next election is about 120 days away nt

[Trajan]

12. The two chambers ...

Represents both the people, and the states ...

The house is formed by representatives who are voted by groups of 60,000 or so people in what are called districts: ... These districts are what are created every decade after the national census is taken.

This also explains why California, Texas and New York have so many, and why Wyoming and Montana have so few ...

The Senate, on the other hand, is represented by TWO senators from each state, no matter HOW many people live in those states: hence: NY AND Wyoming BOTH have an equal voice in the Senate, and they represent the desires and wishes of the people of their respective states ...

[DieboldMustDie]

21. Congressional districts have more like 600,000 citizens each.

:shrug:

[Trajan]

25. Are you sure ? ...

Damn ..... from : http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0884841.html

The average size of a congressional district based on the Census 2000 apportionment population will be 646,952, more than triple the average district size of 193,167 based on the 1900 census apportionment, and about 74,486 more than the average size of 572,466 based on the 1990 census.

[havocmom]

14. Senate term is 6 years and every state has two senators

House of Representatives term is 2 years and states are alloted reps to the House of Representatives based on population. It was a compromise to allow a voice for populous states and yet a voice for states with smaller populations.

Here is a page with a thumbnail explanation
http://www.indiana.edu/~ssdc/congdig.htm

[shockingelk]

16. Answers and more

Senators serve six years members of the House serve 2.

Here's an overview of congress:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congress

Here's a good list of terms congress uses:
http://www.c-span.org/guide/congress/glossary/alphalist.htm

[kikiek]

18. Makes ya wanna ask another question I bet ! Good question

and good for you to find out. I don't know many things about government either. It is very complicated and was oh so boring in the school years.

[tritsofme]

24. Try November 2

435 House races, and about a third of the Senate faces reelection every 2 years.

[immoderate]

3. the entire congress (house) is elected every two years

The Senate term is six years and they are staggered so one third of the senate stands for election every two years.

This is all neatly summed up in a document called the Constitution.

--IMM

[AlFrankenFan]

4. Here:

Senators: six years
Congressman: two years

Next ones for congress are this year, some senatorial are this year, some 2006, 2008 depends on your state.

Welcome to politics, and welcome to DU :hi:

[Fight_n_back]

5. All politics is local

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0873866.html


The House of Representatives are elected every two years.

Senators have terms of six years.

Presidents four years.

Presidents are elected each leap year. (The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of a leap year.)

[kikiek]

6. Varies..but terms are 6 years for Senate and 2 for House

but the 2 senate races are not at the same time in a state. Must suck to have to run every 2 years, but it gives citizens opportunity to correct imbalances. Which of course is way out of wack now.

[unkachuck]

8. Hey, I'm stupid....

....let me answer....Senator term is 6 years, Congressman is 2 years...elections held every 2 years with 1/3 of the Senate up at that time...I think....

[mom cat]

15. Welcome to DU. There are no stupid questions. I asked what I thought

was a stupid question just yesterday and got a lot of helpful answers. Keep on asking. Its how we all learned.

[freedomonk]

19. damn

i guess i better find out who is running in my state

p.s. can the minority fillibuster in both houses?

[Fight_n_back]

20. There is no filibuter in the house

Each speaker only has 15 minutes.


How can you know about filibusters but not know when the election is?

[freedomonk]

22. cause

i've read tons of stuff about politics recently, but i guess everybody assumes that you already know the basics.

[BattyDem]

23. There are no stupid questions, only stupid people who refuse ...

to ask questions. Besides, if more people paid attention to politics and educated themselves on how our government works, we wouldn't be in the mess we're in now.

Welcome to DU!


edited ... typo :eyes: