Exam 3 POLS 206 Notes I 11 1 The Representatives and Senators a The Members i ii There are attractions to the job 1 Most important power 2 Salary 174 000 There are 535 members 1 100 Senators a Must be 30 years old and American citizens for 9 years 2 435 Representatives a Must be 25 years old and American citizens for 7 years 3 All members of Congress must reside in the state they are elected to serve iii Members of Congress are not Average Americans 1 High proportion of millionaires 2 Less proportions of women blacks and Hispanics a Women are the most underrepresented 3 Business and Law are the dominant prior occupations 4 Law especially attracts persons interested in politics and provides the flexibility to wage election campaigns 5 How important are personal characteristics of Congress a The backgrounds of representatives and senators can be important if they influence how they prioritize and vote on issues 6 Obviously members of Congress don t do descriptive representations that is proportionally representing the face of America through equal demographics a They can claim substantive representation though i Representing the interests of groups of which they themselves are not members of 7 If they do not share their constituents perspectives they may find it difficult to keep their seats come elections b Why Aren t There More Women In Congress i ii v Part of the reason for women s underrepresentation is that fewer women than men become major part nominees for office It is suggested that women s decisions to run are more sensitive than men s are to their perceptions of the odds of winning women are less likely that are men to run when they perceive their odds to be poor however they are more likely than are men to run when they detect a political opportunity iii Women candidates usually rank higher than males with voters on non policy characteristics such as integrity competence collaboration and problem solving skills iv Male independents voters on average have a small bias toward male candidates and against female candidates Female independents voters on average do not exhibit a corresponding affinity for their female candidates 1 Thus to win women must be more qualified on average than their male opponents 11 2 Congressional Elections II a Who Wins Elections Incumbents individuals who already hold office i ii Most decide to run for reelection iii iv v Incumbents usually win In the case of the House more than 90 of incumbents win with a 60 40 margin In the case of the Senate the odds of reelection are often not as handsome as for House incumbents senators typically win by narrower margins One reason is that an entire state is almost always more diverse than a district senators also have less personal contact with constituents Senators also receive more coverage in the media and are more likely to be held accountable on controversial issues Senators tend to draw more skilled visible challengers Incumbents still feel vulnerable 1 They have been raising and spending more campaign funds sending more mal to their constituents visiting their states and districts more often and staffing more local offices than ever before There are several possible explanations for the success of incumbents One is that voters know how their elected representatives vote on important policy issues and agree with their stands Another possibility is that voter assessments of presidential candidates influence their voting for Congress 1 Most stories of coattails seem to be just stories 2 The turnover might be some but it is not large Journalists claim voters vote based on their pocket book not many incumbents lose when the economy is down v What accounts for the success of congressional incumbents vi Members of Congress engage in three primary activities that increase the vi vii viii ix i ii iii iv b The Advantages of Incumbency probability of their reelection 1 Advertising Credit Claiming and Position Taking 2 Advertising a Most congressional advertising takes place between elections in the form of contact with constituents i The goal is visibility b Members use the franking privilege to mail shit to constituents c More recently they have used technology to bring franking to the digital age d Using taxpayers money legislators employ a new technology that allows them to call thousands of households simultaneously with a recorded message b a Congressperson also engage in credit claiming which involves enhancing their standing with constituents through service to individuals and the district It is argued that members of Congress can go to the voters and stress their policymaking record and their stands on new policy issues on the agenda but that the problem with this is that policy positions make enemies as well as friends 3 Credit Claiming c A congressperson can almost never show that he or she alone was d One thing always wins friends and almost never makes enemies responsible for a major policy servicing the constituency e Members of Congress can do this in two ways through casework and through the pork barrel Casework is helping constituents as individuals cutting through some bureaucratic red tape to give people what they think they have a right to get f g Pork Barrel is composed of federal projects grants and contracts available to state and local governments businesses colleges and other institutions i Winning federal funds for the state and districts h As a result of the advantages of incumbency in advertising and credit claiming incumbents are usually much better known than their opponents 4 Position Taking a Even if in establishing their public images members of Congress emphasize their experience hard work trustworthiness and service to their constituencies qualities unrelated to partisan or programmatic content they must take positions on policies when they vote and when they respond to constituents questions and the positions they take may affect the outcome of an election particularly if the issues are on matters salient to voters and the positions are not well aligned with those of a majority of constituents 5 Weak Opponents a Another advantage for incumbents particularly in the House is that b they are likely to face weak opponents In part because the advantages of incumbency scare off potentially effective opponents c The lack of adequate campaign funds is a special burden because challengers need money to compensate for the free recognition that incumbents receive 6 Campaign Spending a
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