Members Of Congress Are Out Of Touch With People That Elect Them Discuss

When looking how effectively a country represents its citizens, it is important to take into account the manner in which they are represented. The two main types of representation are descriptive and agency representation. Descriptive representation is the concept that those who represent the American people should not only have the same political interest, but should also mirror the demographic makeup of the people. Agency representation, which is what the United States congress looks like, is when the representation does not reflect the demographic, but they speak for their constituents’ interests in congress. The constituents are able to hold the representatives accountable and can choose not to elect them in the next term, so the representatives

Is congress a dysfunctional institution? Columnist Ezra Klein contends that institutional deadlock and partisan rancor have paralyzed congress, causing it to lose power to the president and the bureaucracy. Former Massachusetts Senator Mo Cowan describes he has to come view the work of congress along with fellow members after fulfilling the remainder of John Kerry’s term upon the nomination of Governor Deval Patrick.

Congress due to their political party affiliation, the demand of the constituents, or the desire of

When the United States was founded, the theme behind the new government was to establish an efficient system without doling out too much power to any one person. The Founders intended to prevent a rebirth of tyranny, which they had just escaped by breaking away from England. However, when members of Congress such as Tom Foley, who served as a Representative from 1964 through 1995, and Jack Brooks, who served as a Representative from 1952 through 1994, remain in the legislative system for over forty years, it is evident that tyranny has not necessarily been eradicated from the United States (Vance, 1994, p. 429). Term limits are a necessity to uphold the Founders’ intentions, to prevent unfair advantages given to incumbents, and to

However, statistics show that currently there is a ninety-four percent re-election rate in the House and eighty-three percent in the Senate. Because of name recognition and the advantage of money, it can be easy to stay in office. Representative John Dingell, Jr. of Michigan is an example of a long-serving politician. He is now eighty-seven years of age and has been serving continuously in the House of Representatives for more than fifty-seven years. Obviously, Representative Dingell has the experience. However, age may have impaired some of the effectiveness he exhibited earlier in his career. More than likely, he would not have the stamina required for the non-stop debates that we witnessed prior to the recent government shut-down. Representative Dingell certainly has had no effective campaign competition during his almost fifty-eight years in office. Without legitimate competition, there are not a lot of incentives for a member of Congress to serve the public. Furthermore, it is almost impossible for the average citizen to try to campaign against current members of Congress. 3

This point is backed up even more by the time members have before they face re-elections, as in the Senate this period is every six years but only every two in the house. Consequently displaying the implication of House members being less important than that of Senators who have a longer period to make themselves known to their people and carry out their work without the hindrance of elections.

and congress have in our democracy. The people elect members of the House while members off the senate are chosen by state legislators and how members are the house serve a term of two years while members of the senate have a term of 6 years. How congress have the power to rise and regulate the army and the navy, and declare war while the power of the senate can only ratified treaties, accept or reject presidential nominations. The congress and the house of representatives are significant in our democracy and how they continue to play a significant role in our democracy.

If we go back in time Congress was doing good job. According to the book “The Broken Branch How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track” By Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein, earlys of 1820s, House and Senate were working together to process legislation. Most of 19th century, the Congress dominated policymaking maintain their privilege. I believe it in the late of 1950s the Congress was being controlled by independent people. By then there were not

Members of Congress are voted to office by their electorate as their representatives at the congress level of democracy. In their capacity, they may decide to exercise their powers by the will of the people or according to their personal judgment. When the members of Congress opt to be the people’s delegate, their actions in the House and other congressional engagements are a reflection of the will of their district. As such, the delegate representative does not have or exercise the autonomy to represent and decide for their district. Instead, a strenuous consultation process is required to keep the people in control of all relevant decisions.

In his book, Tyranny of the Minority, Benjamin Bishin refers to this occurrence through his very own proposed concept called the Subconstituency Politics Theory of Representation. Centered on social psychology and reinforced by multifaceted studies on the behavior pattern illustrated in legislators’ voting, the subconstituency theory is able to effectively explain how candidates ' behavior in campaigns and legislators ' behavior in Congress are affected by the degree of knowledge and participation harbored in the average citizen. According to Bishin, a candidate’s career depends on their ability to “transform passive citizens into active

In 1787, one of the most debated issues was the size of the House of Representatives. During the Constitutional Convention, the delegates proposed that 40,000 citizens should be represented by one congressional district. However, George Washington intervened and argued that 40,000 was too high, and reasoned that 30,000 was more reasonable and allow people to be represented adequately Washington’s proposal was incorporated in Article One, Section Two of the Constitution which states “representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State.” While the number of representatives did increase throughout the history of the United States, the number has been set at 435 members since 1929. Congress in 1929 passed the Permanent Apportionment Act that set the number of representatives at 435, which was set after a 1910 census. Currently each representative represents 700,000 citizens and congressional seats are redistricted around the nation based on population changes. But the currently number of representatives does not adequately represent the present population and a single district cannot represent a huge number of people. Therefore, the current number of representatives must be increased.

In my opinion, I feel that constituents have power over congress members because they have the power to vote them in or out of office. On the other hand, I feel that voting constituents have the least amount of influence over congress members, who strive for money contributions in order to, run their political campaigns, compared to donors and PACs.

     In conclusion, there are many factors that influence Congress’s decisions of certain operations throughout history. Some of those factors include the committee system, seniority, and the public opinion. Most of the factors have to do with making sure that there are no corrupt congressmen, or unfit

Being a part of Congress is one of the most powerful political positions in America. Congress is made up of the House of Representative and Senate for a grand total of 535 members. While that may not give give an individual power, it gives the large group so much power to do many things and even override the president on certain occasions. Most decisions they make need a ⅔ vote from the group. Congress many other powers, maybe too much power. Congress has too much power because of its expressed powers, implied/inherent powers, and its “voting powers”.

This written report is appertaining to the book How Congress Works and Why You Should Care, written by Lee H. Hamilton. This book is published by Indiana University Press in Bloomington, IL, it was copyrighted in 2004 by the publisher.