Members Of Congress Help Constituents example essay topic

In recent years, there has been a push for term limits, as a means of getting "new blood" into Congress. However, at the same time that a number of states have seen referendums pass demanding term limits on local and state public officials and members of Congress, incumbent members of Congress from those same states have easily won reelection. And while the public has been pushing to limit members of the House of Representatives to no more than six terms (or twelve years in office), and members of the U.S. Senate to no more than two terms (or twelve years in office), the average length of tenure for members of Congress has been about twelve years, without term limits! Still, it is important to understand why it is that incumbents win, and why the public seems to think that their own member in Congress is doing a good job, and should be reelected again and again, in spite of the low approval ratings for Congress as an institution that have persisted for several decades. We often see Democrats voting for Republican members of the House, and Republicans voting for Democratic members of the House, if the candidate they are voting for is the incumbent.

Incumbency seems to be more of a factor in influencing voter choice than is party identification. The question becomes, why is there this party defection? That is, why do loyal party supporters vote for the incumbent of the opposite party when faced with such a choice in the voting booth? At the most basic level, the public hesitates to vote for a candidate they know nothing about. One of the most consistent findings over the years in looking at voting in congressional elections is that simply knowing who the candidate is has a striking impact in voting for that candidate. When presented with the names of two candidates on the ballot, the fact that the voter recognizes one of those names will lead to a likely vote for that individual.

Familiarity adds comfort to the voting decision. For a number of reasons outlined below, incumbents tend to be better known than their opponents. This familiarity leads to increased voter support. In addition to being better known than challengers, incumbents tend to be better liked. Why is it that incumbents are better known and liked than their opponents? The answer lies in the contacts the voter has with the congressional candidates.

Voters tend to have had far more contact with incumbents than with their challengers in the election. For the most part, that contact is favorable. For example, in looking at candidates running for the House of Representatives in 1990, when comparing the type of contact voters had with the incumbent and challenger, we find that voters appear to have had far more contact and familiarity with the incumbent than with the challenger. In addition, the nature of the contact that the voter has with the incumbent is important. Voters may have received some kind of mailing from the incumbent (e. g., a newsletter, letter in response to a particular question or problem), and a significant number have had personal contact with the incumbent and / or the incumbent's staff; 20 percent had personally met the incumbent, and 15 percent had talked with a member of the staff. For the most part, that personal interaction comes in the form of casework, that is, staff of a member of Congress helping constituents resolve some problem in dealing with the government bureaucracy (e. g., getting a Social Security check, or information from the IRS on how to obtain and complete tax forms).

To help with this casework, members of Congress have greatly expanded the size of their personal staffs over the last few decades. As the size of government has increased, with the creation of new federal programs and responsibilities, there has been a corresponding increase in the size of congressional staffs to help members of Congress help constituents in dealing with the federal bureaucracy. Increasingly, members of Congress have also established multiple offices in their district, which are open year round. Representatives are able to keep a constant presence in the district, with staff available to assist constituents in their dealings with the federal government.

In rural states, with districts extending over many miles, representatives have established mobile offices to perform outreach activities to constituents. These mobile vans travel around the district, stopping in many small towns, on a biweekly or monthly schedule, and thus bring the representative and his or her office directly to constituents and their problems. Casework is a non-partisan activity. Members of Congress and their staffs do not ask a constituent "What is your political party identification?" before listening to their question or concern. And the response of a congressional office in helping the constituent is not going to be determined on the basis of whether the constituent is a registered Republican or Democrat.

Even though only a limited proportion of citizens in a congressional district may have been helped directly by a member of Congress and their staff, a far greater number of constituents (i. e., the family, friends, or coworkers of the constituent helped) learn of this service. Even if the Representative wasn't successful in their efforts to help, the fact that they cared enough to listen, and tried to offer assistance, creates a positive image of the incumbent. In addition, the longer representatives serve in Washington, the more seniority they gain. Their and their staff's familiarity with the Washington community increases. As a result, they become more and more effective in dealing with the problems constituents have.

It makes sense for constituents to vote their incumbent back into office, and so they do, again and again. Many members also serve on committees of help to their constituents back home. For example, if there is a military base or naval shipyard in the district a member may seek to serve on the National Security Committee. Service on that committee can assist a member in representing the interests of the district by fighting to expand the mission of a base, or ensure that the navy continues to add destroyers to its fleet at a certain rate in the future. Looking out for the district's interests in such a way helps to ensure that the electorate will view the incumbent as a necessary political leader to retain in Washington at the next election.

Finally, members of the House of Representatives tend to get favorable local press coverage, and can take advantage of television and radio studios in the Capitol which help give them live feeds to local stations back home. Reporters from papers back in the district need access to Washington policy-makers, and by providing more favorable coverage are likely to get that access in the future. And since members of Congress need press coverage, they do what they can to assist the local press in getting the stories they need for their editors or producers. This symbiotic relationship helps incumbents to be viewed favorably back home, leading to their easily winning reelection, at the same time that Congress as an institution may be viewed quite unfavorably..