The Look and Feel of Congress

1. Membership and Representation Chapter 11: Wilson AP Government and Politics The Look and Feel of Congress Homework Assignment: Read Wilson, Chapter 11 (297-320) and take notes Read Woll, “Congressional Government” (330-334) and take notes

2. The Basics As we get started, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page… • Reason for/purpose of bicameral legislature? • Membership of each house? • Term length? • Representational information? • Can a legislature that represents constituents within single-member districts really work for the “national interest?” How do the differences in terms of membership, time for debate and representational interests affect the structure of debate and the topics/focus of those debates? • What factors contribute to make the Senate more of a “deliberative” body, whereas the House is considered more of a passionate, populist forum?

3. What Does “Representation” Mean? • “Represent”: to act in place of or on behalf of someone else • “Constituency”: the group on whose behalf the legislator acts

4. Who Represents Us? • Race and Gender • Most members are white, male, lawyers • This is changing, slowly, especially in the House. • Does Congress look like America? Should it? • Consider the idea of “descriptive representation.” What does this mean to you? • Does this idea hold any water, in your opinion? • Does the preponderance of a particular demographic group compromise the quality of representation provided by the US Congress?

5. Sticking around… • Incumbents • Why have Senate races historically been more competitive than House races? • What factors would limit the incumbency advantage of Senators? • Since Senators have a six-year term to prepare for re-elections, shouldn’t Senators expect greater electoral success? • Should the number of terms served by members of Congress be limited, as they are for the President?

6. Representation in Congress • A historical question in US history since 1789: is the primary concern of a representative the interests of the whole nation or those of his/her constituency? • In traditional political science, two models of representative function of Congress have been offered: • Trusteemodel – elected representatives are obligated to act in accordance with their judgment as to what policies are in the best interests of society • Delegatemodel: elected reps are obligated to carry out the wishes of those who elected them to office.

7. Representation in Congress • Later political research offers at least 3 theories why MoCs vote the way they do: • Representational view • Members want to get re-elected and therefore vote to please their constituents • In what situations might this view be most likely? • What might make this view weak or less reliable? • Organizational view • Members respond to cues provided by their fellow members; party is the single most important of these cues, but ideological organizations may also be important • In what situations might this view be most likely? • From which group in Congress do members often take cues on how to vote on bills? Why? • Attitudinal view • Position that ideology impacts a members vote; members are more ideological in their thinking • Because there are conflicting pressures, members are free to vote their ideologies. • On which type of issues will this be most strong? Most weak?

8. Questions to Consider • Which of the three theories above (Rep, Org, Att) do you believe is practiced by most members during campaign season? • Would you expect the longer term of Senators to result in their practicing a different theory? • Which of the three theories do you most endorse? • Which would you endorse as an MoC? Why might this be different? • If you wanted an MoC to choose the representational model, how could you make that happen? • If representatives are voting with their party, does this necessarily mean they are less likely to be representing their constituents’ attitudes?