Video Paper

Krista Mehl
Pol Sci 411
Prof Browning
11/5/2011

Representation in Congress



The United States Congress is defined as “the highest lawmaking body in the United States. [It was] established under the terms of the U.S. Constitution in 1789, the House of Representatives and the Senate have for over 200 years created the federal laws governing the United States to ensure that the administration of government is carried out according to the laws it establishes” (freedictionary.com). Despite being a complex institution of rules, norms, and ever changing goals, one concept that Congress is built upon is the representation given by its members. The representatives in the House and Senate are what makes Congress work, but how do 541 elected citizens successfully represent all 307,006,550 people living in the United States? Representation is presented in many different ways by the members of Congress and involves the issue of membership goals. Decisions and attitudes are formed with personal, party, or constituent goals in mind and a member’s representation of each are susceptible to change.

Members of Congress are supposed to act in ways that represent the issues of their nation, states, and districts, but sometimes this becomes a very difficult task. Politics and especially the workings of Congress can be viewed as confusing for many Americans. Most citizens need low information cues in order to understand what laws and bills are being passed and if they are important to them. Because of this complexity and the fact that constituents under the same member may have conflicting opinions on issues, members have to act more like trustees in Congress. Trustees are defined in The American Congress as “representing his or her constituents by exercising independent judgment about the interests of district, state, or nation.” (Smith, 30). Trustees are given more freedom to process information and vote on the floor for reasons of their own. This does not mean that constituents are not part of the equation he uses to make decisions. There is also the chance that a member acts like a trustee only on certain issues or maybe at only one part of his time spent in Congress. The debate about voting on one’s opinions versus their constituencies’ is an old debate. It has been an issue of responsible representation since Edmund Burke, a political philosopher, discussed it in his “Speech to the Electors of Bristol”. In Federalist Paper #10, James Madison believed a trustee type representation would be more beneficial in the U.S Congress than a delegate. He argued a trustee had the ability to “. . . refine and enlarge the public views by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country and whose patriotism and love of justice will be least likely to sacrifice it to temporary or partial considerations. Under such a regulation it may well happen that the public voice, pronounced by the representatives of the people, will be more consonant to the public good than if pronounced by the people themselves, convened for the same purpose.” (Madison).

An example from the C-Span Video Library for trustee representation is a news conference with single payer activists for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) from November 25th, 2009.




The speaker, Russel Mokhiber, president of the single payer action non-profit organization, references New York 29th district Representative Eric Massa and his stance on the health care reform. He praises Representative Eric Massa for “courageously stood up earlier this month and voted against president Obama and against Nancy Pelosi and against Denny Hoyer and against Democratic leadership in the Congress. [..] Massa said ‘the bill would enshrine in law the monopolistic powers of the private health insurance industry.’” (Single Payer Activists’ News Conference).

Before the health reform bill vote took place, The Washington Times’ issued an article quoting Massa as saying, “I will vote adamantly against the interests of my district if I actually think what I am doing is going to be helpful.” (Picket). With Eric Massa’s single minded support of single payer action on the health bill, he was willing to vote against his constituents’ polled opinions. This becomes a perfect example of a representative acting as a trustee and making a vote based on his opinion of what is best rather than listen to the will of the people he is supposed to be representing.

Sometimes it appears that people in America are represented by political parties or other groups. Every candidate belongs to one of the parties; he is a Democrat, Republican, or an Independent. Party identification is a long term force that allows voters to identify candidates with low information clues. A person with conservative ideals will more than likely choose a Republican representative who will share the same views on bills as policies as they would. Just as a constituent votes for a candidate based on party platforms, Congress representatives and senators vote based on their party’s legislature ideals. The research department of the Congressional Quarterly defines the party vote as “a vote on which a majority of Democrats oppose a majority of Republicans. [..] An individual member’s overall level of support for his or her party is usually determined by the percentage of times he or she has supported the party’s position on party votes.” (Smith, pg 266). According to the Washington Post, Congressmen vote for their own party on average over 90% of the time (Washington Post).

To secure the party vote, House and Senate whips are elected to collect information for party leaders and persuade their colleagues to support the party positions. This form of national representation trumps voting to the benefit of constituents for the sole purpose of keeping party control and the majority in Congress. When a party has the majority and can get others to support them, they can more easily pass and block legislation. This can lead to a trade off of votes between members. Reciprocity can help members get support for their own projects by agreeing to help someone with theirs. Some examples are pork projects and committees such as foreign affairs or appropriations where partisanship plays a role.

The Senate floor debate of S.1769 Rebuild American Jobs Act is a recent example of one party blocking the other’s legislation.



Democrats were supporting President Obama’s “A bill to put workers back on the job while rebuilding and modernizing America” (gov.track.us). The Democratic senator from California, Barbara Boxer said in her speech, “If ever there was a difference between the parties in evidence, this is it. If one person comes up to me and says ‘Is there really a difference between Democrats and Republicans?’ I will point them to this debate.”



The democrats needed 60 votes to pass the bill and only received 51. All 47 republicans voted “nay”, along with one democrat and one independent (Senate Session). This example shows how partisanship in Congress can make it very difficult to pass any type of legislation.
The last form of representation is being a delegate. A delegate would see his position in Congress as a “job to faithfully present the views of his or her district or state” (Smith, pg30). Two other types of representation go along with working directly for the constituents; these forms are called descriptive and substantive. While each is concerned with successfully representing in the best interest of the voters, they describe the difference between how members are matched with who they represent. Descriptive representation occurs when characteristics of the elected body match with the constituents. Examples would be race, gender, and occupation. Some believe distrust and cynicisms occur when representatives do not look like their voters, especially the minority groups. Substantive representation is the opposite. It is when representatives purposefully advocate for constituents that they have little in common with. These types of representatives must work extra hard at creating policies that benefit their voters. If they are able to work in the best interests of their constituents despite being so different, they may continue to be reelected.

Most Congressmen’s main goal is to be reelected. Most senators and House representatives are successful at it too, and able to make a career in Congress. A member’s power, seniority, and perks increase the longer one serves, many use these advantages to keep their incumbency. But along with and including these perks, the best way to stay in office is to keep your constituents happy. To do this Congressmen spend their time in activities servicing their voters. They will allocate projects that directly benefit their districts or states. And they will do symbolic things such as make tributes, write letters, and attend parades, just to show their constituents they care. Many times representatives get local projects for their districts passed by trading votes with other members in a term called “pork barrels”. This is a way for the representative to claim credit acting as a delegate to get issues and funding for his constituents. These projects, with others called “ear marks” are usually nonpartisan public works that everyone can benefit and appreciate. Every year hundreds of these projects are approved by Congress which creates happy voters and increased reelection rates for members.
In 2009, Congress attempted to start cutting down on these projects by trying to pass the Senate Omnibus Spending Bill.




Republican Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina brought attention to the earmark spending that was happening in Congress during one of this bill’s debates (Senate Omnibus Spending Debate). Due to recessions, projects such as Kay Bailey Hutchinson (D-Texas) request for $500,000 on a Manned Space Flight Education Foundation in Houston. Chris Shays (R- Conn) got $1.0 billion to start up a water taxi service at the Pleasure Beach Theme Park in his home state. Or Representative Howard Berman, a Democrat from California who wanted $200,000 to give his district a tattoo removal violence prevention program (Roff). When the country headed into an economic downturn more of these projects were questioned and denied, despite being beneficial to a small minority of the whole population. Today, Congressmen still push for pork projects to feed their districts back home and raise their chances of spending another year in Washington.

Congressmen have many ways of doing their jobs in representing their constituents. Due to Americans' dissimilar views on issues and politics, it is almost impossible to be a perfect delegate. And if a member was a perfect trustee or voted only on his party line, many voters would feel neglected. The Congressman would not have listened or accomplished anything for his district or state and lose his next election. For the American Congressmen to succeed, he must compromise and trade-off between these different models of representation.








Bibliography

Gov.trak.us."S.1769 Summary: Rebuild Americas Jobs Act." Gov.trak.us. Civic Impulse,LLC, 31 Oct. 2011. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. .

Madison, James. "The Federalist #10." Constitution.org. Jon Roland of the Constitution Society, 18 Oct. 1998. Web. 14 Nov. 2011.

Roff, Peter. "Pork Barrel Projects Rampant In Congress's Spending for 2009 Fiscal Year." Usnews.com. U.S. News & World Report LP, 23 Apr. 2009. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. .

Picket, Kerry. "Rep. Massa:I Will Vote against the Interests of My District." Washingtontimes.com. The Washington Times, 16 Aug. 2009. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. .

Senate Omnibus Spending Debate. Perf. Jim DeMint. C-Span, 2009. C-Span Video Library. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. .

Senate Session. Perf. Barbara Boxer and U.S. Senate. C-Span, 2011. C-Span Video Library. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. .

Single Payer Activists’ News Conference. Perf. Russel Mokhiber. C-Span, 2009. C-Span Video Library. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. < http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/290273-1&start=395>.

Smith, Steven S., Jason M. Roberts, and Ryan J. Vander Wielen. The American Congress. 7th ed. New York, NY: Cambridge UP, 2011. Print.
"United States Congress." Freedictionary.com: The Leading Free Dictionary Site on the Net. Farlex, 2011. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. .

Washington Post. "The U.S. Congress Votes Database." Projects.washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post, 2011. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. .