US Government; Congress - Legislative Branch; Voting factors

Question 1

What factors affect the way members vote in Congress?

Answer 1

1. Political parties
2. Constituents
3. The administration
4. Pressure groups
5. Colleagues and Staff
6. Personal Beliefs

Question 2

Political parties - voting in Congress

Answer 2

• For some members, this is the most important factor in voting, but it is not as influential as in Britain
• In Britain, there are ‘stick and carrot’ methods, far less centralised and ideological parties
• Constituents also control the selection of candidates through congressional primaries, so House and Senate members have to be more watchful of constituents’ views than of the party view
• House members are subject to elections every 2 years, increasing their reliance on the views of constituents and the executive branch does not depend for its existence on policies getting through the legislature, making their influence smaller than other factors
• A party vote is a vote in which the majority of one party votes against the majority of the other
• Examples; a vote on 9/11 recommendations implementation bill was taken in 2004; the majority of republicans voted yes; 213-8, and the majority of democrats voted no; 69-125
• In recent years only around 50-60% of votes in each chamber have been party votes; a more typical vote in the House or the Senate is one in which the majority of members in both parties vote the same way e.g. A vote taken in the House in 2004 on the intelligence reform and terrorism prevention bill; Republicans voted 152-67 and Democrats voted 183-8

Question 3

Constituents - Congress voting

Answer 3

• Have an influence, particularly in the House as they have more of an opportunity to understand what the ‘folks back home’ want from them, and as they are usually from the district they represent it is easier to understand their views on issues
• They have to be careful and aware of their constituents as they get re-elected every 2 years - they have to show they care and be involved in the local politics
• The following methods are used to find out the wishes of the constituents from Washington DC; visits from constituents, phone calls, letters, faxes and emails and social media, keeping in constant touch with their offices in the state / district and reading local journalism from the area
• House and senate members use similar methods to find out what is happening in their constituency whilst there - holding party meetings, holding town hall meetings, conduct ‘surgeries’ with individual constituents, make visits around the district, appear on local newspapers and radio stations, be interviewed by representatives of local media, address various groups as chambers of commerce and visiting local schools, hospitals and businesses
• On voting, they have to consider the division on local opinion on issues that aren’t exceptional, and that they may only hear from the discontented over contented - they may also not be able to fulfil the wishes of their constituents and may have to balance other factors such as the national good
• Example - in 2008, Senator Elizabeth Dole lost her re-election bid for failing to be attentive enough to the wishes of the voters in North Carolina and paying too few visit to the state; her opponents reminded voters that she had only visited North Carolina 13 times in 2006
• Example - in 2010, the Republican party promised to repeal the ACA in accordance to wishes of their constituents when they gained a House majority; it wasn’t important that they failed, but it was important that they tried, as it showed that they cared about the wishes of their constituents

Question 4

The Administration - Congress voting

Answer 4

• Members of the executive branch; members of the administration from the departments and agencies, as well as the white house itself, will keep in contact with members of Congress and will attempt to persuade them to cast their votes in certain ways
• They will do this through home calls as well as visits and they talk to members of relevant committees, with staff members working in the Washington offices of the House and Senate members
• The White House will often get involved, done either through the Congressional Liaison office or directly from the President
• This persuasion will be regular and bipartisan; it is important that Congress members are regularly approached, not only before an important vote, and that those persuading are willing to do favours in return to get members to vote with the President - provide mutual cooperation, with members of both parties
• By talking to only their own party, they fail to achieve the advantage of a bipartisan coalition on issues

Question 5

Pressure Groups - Congress voting

Answer 5

• Use a number of different methods to influence the way votes are cast - these include contacts with members and staff in Congress, as well as generating public support favourable to their position
• They make visits and phone calls, provide evidence to support their position, organise rallies, demonstrations, and petition drives both in Washington and around the country as well as engaging in significant fundraising
• Money raised will be used to fund politicians who support their cause and to seek to defeat those who do not; certain policy areas have seen significant pressure group activity, including the environment, abortion, gun control, health care, welfare reform and international trade

Question 6

Colleagues and Staff - Congress voting

Answer 6

• Members of congress have to cast hundreds of votes a year, and so do not know all the details of ever vote, causing them to rely on their staff for help on how to vote
• Many Senate and House members check with the following people before voting:
  1. Their senior legislative staff
  2. Fellow members of their own party who share their philosophy and views, especially senior, respected members who may also become their mentors
  3. Members from the same state and, in the house, members from neighbouring districts
  4. Members from relevant standing committees who considered the legislation at the committee stage

Question 7

Personal Beliefs - Congress voting

Answer 7

• On certain votes, a House or Senate member may vote in a certain way because of their own personal beliefs
• Issues upon which this factor is likely to be important is on votes regarding matters like abortion, capital punishment, tax increases, federal subsidies or defence spending
• There are, for example, members of Congress who, because of their own personal beliefs, will never vote for federal subsidies to an industry or group, even if that means going against party lines, the administration of their own constituents

Question 8

Representation theories

Answer 8

Political theorists use different models to explain the way representatives see themselves representing the public in different legislatures:

• Trustee Model - advocated by Burke and Stuart Mill; the representative is expected to base their decisions on mature judgement on behalf of their constituencies (use their own judgment because they have been selected by the people to trust their judgement)
• Delegate Model - A person elected by others on the basis of clear guidance and instructions and who therefore exercises very little private judgement, an idea linked to popular sovereignty and the holding of elections
• Mandate Model - The candidate has been chosen by the people for their allegiance to a particular political party and must therefore vote in support of that particular party (whipping system)
• Resemblance Model - This focuses on the makeup of the legislature along social terms of race, gender, sexuality and religion. It is more important in looking at who rather than how people are represented in legislatives

Question 9

Strengths of representative function

Answer 9

1. Separate Elections for President and Congress
   - Maximises voter choice, allows electorate to select a Congress member based on their ability to respond to wishes of constituents, and the prevalence of split-ticket voting shows that Americans value this. The lack of executive influence over members of Congress ensures accountability to the public, not the President.
2. 2 elected chambers - complementary representation -
   Congress maximises representation of two different types; delegates in the House and trustees in the Senate. Different term lengths mean that each is a different type of representative and responds to legislation differently, and so compliment each other (provide checks)
3. Frequent elections and short house terms -
   - Means high levels of representation and swit reflection of changes to public attitudes, with the high level of sensitivity to public opinion pushing Congress(wo)mento take a lot of account of constituency views.
4. Contact with constituents
   - Many Congress members of Congress make a lot of effort to stay in regular contact with their constituents and often have high approval ratings
   - This is evidenced by the high level of incumbency

Question 10

Weaknesses of representative function

Answer 10

1. Concern over frequent re-election
   - leads to gerrymandering and pork barrel politics,where they are more concerned with maintaining positions than they are acting in the best interests of people
   - Have become an unrepresentative elite due to a lack of limit on how many terms they can have
2. Composition not representative - does not reflect society
3. Influence of lobbyists and interest groups
   - This distorts the wishes of the public, particularly true of richer interest groups - iron triangle relationships and the Washington ‘revolving door’ syndrome further reinforce this weakness
4. FPTP distorts democracy
   - Makes it difficult for third parties to win any representation and therefore limits the electoral choice of the US public