1. February 9, 2005 Who’s here? JFK in Nashville in 1963
Representation Readings
Congress as an institution for Representation
Mayhew
Fenno
Poole/Rosenthal

2. What is Representation?

3. Conceptions of Representation
Policy/Issue
Collective
Service/ Allocational
Symbolic/ Descriptive
Yes No
High
Low
District-Based Conception
Policy Content

4. Policy/Issues Style Focus Delegate: follow the mandate of constituents
Trustee: exercise independent judgment
“Politico”: switches roles or may engage be a delegate and trustee at same time
Focus
The constituency that is being represented

5. Policy/Issue Studies
Wahlke et al (1952): divide members into trustee, delegate, and “politico”
Miller & Stokes (1958): attempt to link constituent opinions to legislator’s behavior
Social Welfare: Vote by Party
Civil Rights: Delegate Role
Foreign Affairs: Deference to Executive
Fenno (1977): “home style”; members convince constituents that they represent them regardless of the extent of agreement

6. Policy/Issue Studies Continued
Browne (1995): constituents influence vote on agricultural legislation
Hall (1987, 1996): district influences legislator membership on committees

7. “Perceptions of the Constituency” Richard F. Fenno, Jr.

8. Concentric Constituencies
Geographic
Reelection
Primary
Personal

9. Geographical Constituency
“The District”
Physical: specified by boundaries
Internal Demographic and Political Variables: socioeconomic status, ethnicity, ideology, partisanship, religion, diversity, etc.
Heterogeneity v. Homogeneity: variable that seems to determine members’ perceptions of their districts

10. Reelection Constituency
“The Supporters”
Who she thinks will vote for her
Reference points in determining reelection constituency
Cross-Sectional
Longitudinal
Partisans, Cross-Party, Least-Likely
“Last Time” v. “This Time”
Challenger has greatest potential for altering the size and composition of reelection constituency
Issues can alter reelection constituency

11. Primary Constituency “The Strongest Supporters”
Weak supporters: follow routines (straight party) or are temporary (waiting for alternative)
Strong supporters: more political activity, will not support any challenger
Difficult to delineate primary constituency in some cases, members who recently emerged from a primary election can determine their primary constituency

12. Personal Constituency
“The Intimates”
Few individuals: closest advisors and confidants, sometimes a spouse (“Kitchen Cabinet”)
Usually the people who have been by an official since their first race
Thought of as “friends”

13. “The Electoral Connection and Congress” David R. Mayhew

14. Proximate Goal Reelection Universal
Cannot achieve other goals if member is not reelected
“All members of Congress have a primary interest in getting re-elected. Some members have no other interest.”

15. Activities Useful for Reelection
Advertising
visiting constituency, non-political speeches to home audiences, letters of condolence and congratulation, newsletters, opinion editorials
Franking Privilege

16. Activities Useful for Reelection
Credit Claiming: generating belief that the legislator is personally responsible for a government change
Particularized Benefits
Given to specific individual or group that allows the single legislator to be recognized
Done in an ad hoc fashion

17. Activities Useful for Reelection
Position-taking: “public enunciation of a judgmental statement on anything likely to be of interest to political actors”
roll call vote, floor addresses, speeches, television appearances, letters, press releases, interviews, etc.

18. Institution Meets Electoral Needs
Benefits Associated with the Office
Staff, casework capabilities, franking privilege
Seniority
Committee Structure
Platform for position-taking, particularized benefits, allows division of labor among members
Parties
Majority party could cut off particularized benefits from minority party, but this has not happened

19. “Member Goals” Richard F. Fenno, Jr.

20. Basic Goals of a Legislator
1. Reelection
2. Influence within the House
3. Good Public Policy
X. (career beyond house, private gain)
Committee membership reflects the goal of a legislators

21. Appropriations, Ways & Means
“Power,” “Prestige,” “Importance”
Reflects desire to have influence within the House

22. Interior, Post Office
“District Interests,” “Projects,” “Political Help”
Reflects goal of reelection by helping constituents

23. Education, Labor, Foreign Affairs
“Interesting,” “Exciting,” “Controversial,” “Important”
Reflects goal of making good public policy

24. Congress: A Political-Economic History of Roll Call Voting Keith T
Congress: A Political-Economic History of Roll Call Voting Keith T. Poole, Howard Rosenthal et al
LIBERAL
CONSERVATIVE

25. Motivation of Legislator
Ideology
Liberal to Conservative Spectrum
Constraint Hypothesis: issues tend to be mapped onto a fixed ordering or placement of legislators
Voting tends to be highly consistent over a member’s time in office.
History:

26. Service/Allocational
Obtaining projects that help the district (“pork) or interceding in the bureacracy (“cutting through red tape)
Motives
Sense of duty
Grateful constituents = Reelection
Studies on impact of pork for reelection mixed
Issues: necessary for constituents to have help?, votes for district at expense of nation?

27. Symbolic/Descriptive
Legislator as “symbol” that represents public
Representation may extend beyond geographic boundaries of the district
Individual Examples: female legislator as advocate for women nationally, minority legislator as advocate for minorities nationally
Group Example: legislative caucuses

28. Collective Represent constituents with a more collective view
political parties
Congress as representative of the nation as a whole
May lead to conflict with district constituents

29. The Great Divide Trustee Representation (Burkean)
Delegate Representation

30. Congressional Procedures and the Policy Process
Walter J. Oleszek

31. The Constitutional Context
Limited Government
Separation of Powers
Checks and Balances
Federalism

32. Functions of Rules and Procedures
• Stability (and predictability)
• Legitimacy
• Division of Labor
• Protection of Minority Rights
• Conflict Resolution
• Distribution of Power

33. Rules and Policy Making in Congress
• Procedure and Policy
Procedures affect outcomes.
Procedural moves express policy decisions.
The nature of policy determines the use of procedure.
Procedural expertise helps members impact policy.
• Conventional versus Unconventional Lawmaking
“I’m just a bill…”
• Precedents and Folkways
Precedents:
“…the accumulated past decisions on matters of procedure…”
Folkways:
“…unwritten norms of behavior that members are expected to observe.”

34. Congressional Decision Making
• Decentralized Power Structure
Political and structural realities
More than 200 committees and subcommittees
Parties can provide cohesion.
• Multiple Decision Points
• Bargaining and Coalition Building
Logrolling
Compromise
Nonlegislative Favors
• The Congressional Cycle
Two-Year Deadline

35. House versus Senate • The Big Three • Complexity of Rules House Senate
Size of Body
Size of District
Length of Term
• Complexity of Rules
House
More rules and precedent constrict members
“Subordination of the individual
to the necessities of the whole…”
Key members impact legislation.
Majority rule
Senate
“…Rules maximize freedom of expression...”
“…More personal and individualistic
All Senators participate actively.
Often slower
Supermajoritarian

36. House versus Senate continued
• Policy Incubation
• Specialists versus Generalists
• Distribution of Power
More even in Senate
• Similarities
Equal power
Lawmaking, oversight and representation
Heavy workloads
Decentralized committee and party structures
Dependence on staff

37. Pressures on Members • President & Executive Branch
• The Fourth Estate
• Constituent Pressures
• Washington Lobbyists

38. Credits Adrian Rodriguez & Alex Theodoridis
Presentation based on: Weisberg, Herbert F., Eric S. Heberlig and Lisa M. Campoli, Classics in Congressional Politics “What is Representation?”, Weisberg et al eds. (Glenview: Longman 1999) pp
Image on Cover from: The Architect of the Capitol
Concepts of Representation slide based on: Table 5.1 in Weisberg et al, p. 74.
Presentation based on: Fenno, Jr., Richard F., Home Style: House Members in their Districts (Glenview: Little, Brown & Company 1978), “Perceptions of the Constituency”, pp
Image on Cover from: US Environmental Protection Agency