the united states congress views of representation

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The United States Congress Views of Representation

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Page 1: The United States Congress Views of Representation

The United States

Congress

Views of Representation

Page 2: The United States Congress Views of Representation

Qualities of the Ideal Representative

• Name three qualities you would like your representative to have.

• Does your own representative possess these qualities? Why or why not?

Page 3: The United States Congress Views of Representation

Popular Attitudes about Congress

• The “Two Congresses”– Most polls show Americans have a negative attitude

towards Congress– Most polls show Americans have a neutral to positive

attitude towards their own representatives.

• Congressional Power underestimated– Slow to decide?– Diffuse?– Less significant than other branches?

Page 4: The United States Congress Views of Representation

The Federalist on Representatives

• Federalist #57– Representatives are Provincial

• “They will enter into the public service under circumstances which cannot fail to produce a temporary affection at least to their constituents”

– Representatives are Ambitious• “His pride and vanity attach him to a form of government

which favors his pretensions and gives him a share in its honors and distinctions”

– Representatives are Factious• Care must be taken that Congress “can make no law which

will not have its full operations on themselves and their friends, as well as the great mass of society.”

Page 5: The United States Congress Views of Representation

The Congressman’s View of Representation

• Trustee– The duty of the legislator is to use info and deliberation to “enlarge and

refine the public will”– From Edmund Burke—the representative hails from the people, but is

not necessarily dependent on their will– John Calhoun—Have the people of this country snatched the power of

deliberation from this body? Are we a body of agents and not a deliberate one?

• Delegate– The duty of the legislator is to act in accordance with the will of his

constituents– Delegates answer “Yes” to Calhoun—the voters give “marching orders”– Elbridge Gerry—To say the sovereignty rests in the people and that

they have not a right to instruct and control their representatives, is absurd to the last degree.

Page 6: The United States Congress Views of Representation

The Congressman’s View of Representation

• Politico– A legislator may follow his own sense of what is appropriate until the

public becomes involved in the issue, where he may be instructed.– J. William Fullbright— “The average legislator early in his career

discovers there are certain interests or prejudices of his constituents which are dangerous to trifle with…”

• Conscience– A legislator follows the will of his constituents in most cases, until his

conscience dictates otherwise– Sherwood Boehlert’s “pillow test”

• Symbolic Representation– The claim that a group of citizens is best represented by a legislator who

belongs to that group– “When a member of an ethnic or racial group goes to Congress, it is a

badge of legitimacy for the entire grouping…Moreover, there can be tangible gains in the quality of representation.” Davidson & Oleszky, Congress & Its Members, 10th ed. (2004)