Answer to Question 1
An ideal response will:
1, Address the gender, race, and ethnic inequalities in Congress today.
2, Outline the income levels and occupations of members of Congress in relation to the American public.
3, Discuss whether redistricting and the creation of majority-minority districts can change the level of representation of Congress.
4, Argue whether reapportionment can be successful in light of the controversy over the actual population of each state.
5, Conclude with a short summation.
Answer to Question 2
An ideal response will:
1, Critically analyze the impact of the 1961 Supreme Court decision. Note that the Constitution was silent with respect to numerical proportionality between districts. Baker v. Carr addressed this aspect of malapportionment. Ensuring that districts had equal numbers became a priority.
2, Expand upon the topic of representation, demonstrating a nuanced understanding of the difficulty of creating equally populated districts while meeting the requirements of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which intended to expand suffrage for African Americans
3, Address the issue of states losing and gaining seats after each census, particularly how states lose federal dollars as population diminishes relative to other states. Answer may describe other pertinent issues of reapportionment.
4, Provide a compelling argument on the pros and cons of the Supreme Court decision and its efficacy, the reapportionment process generally.
American Staffordshire Terrier
Painting of a Colonial American boy holding a pet squirrel.
American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)
Variations in the extent of dendritic branching.
North America American Dagger Moth Caterpillar
North American temperate deciduous forest. Forest soil profile at right.