Institutional Analysis

1. Institutional Analysis Lecture 3: The Changing Nature of Congressional Elections

2. Representative Democracy • Key: • Create electoral process that ensured no one faction always dominated. • Institutional Mechanisms: • Popular Elections • Different constituency base • Different tenures

3. Nature of Politics • Power to the states • In early years, most of the power lay with the state governments. • A stint in Washington, or the swamp, was a means of moving up the state political latter. People were mostly rotated in and out of office. • As late as 1879, more than half of the Hose members at any given moment were freshmen.

4. Rise of Careerism: • In the latter half of the 19th Century politicians began to view office seeking and holding as a career. • By the end of the century, the proportion of newcomers had fallen to 30 percent and the average House tenure reached 3 terms. • See picture…

5. Causes of the Rise of Careerism • Proliferation of one-party states and districts • After the Civil War, the entrenchment of the Democratic party in the South and cities made it easier to reelect a dominant parties candidate. • Increasing power of the federal government • As the role of federal government grows, a career in Washington, DC becomes more attractive. • Physical environment of Washington DC • Some argue with the advent of air conditioning, Congress could stay in session over the summer, making it a viable legislative entity.

6. Question: Wither Democracy? • As turnover drops and careerisms increases, the concern is how representative are members of Congress to constituents. • As the tenure of members of Congress rise, do members become more insulated from electoral demands?