9/1/26 Congress Quiz

What are the three models of representation discussed by Miller & Stokes?

The Burkean: The representative uses their own judgment to decide what is best, rather than simply following constituent opinion.

instructed-delegate: The representative should follow the preferences of their constituents when making policy decisions.

responsible-party models: Voters choose between political parties with different policy programs, and elected representatives generally follow their party’s positions.

Do Miller and Stokes think one model explains all congressional representation?

No. “No single tradition of representation” fully fits American legislative politics.

The policy domain, or issue involved.

What does representation depend heavily on?

Civil rights

Which issue comes closest to the instructed-delegate model?

Social welfare

Which issue comes closest to the responsible-party model?

Foreign involvement, because congressmen look elsewhere than their districts when making decisions.

Which issue comes closest to the Burkean model?

Two main paths of constituency control?

The representative can share the district's views, or follow their perception of district attitude to win reelection.

What affects a representative's roll-call behavior?

Both the representative's own policy views and their perceptions of constituents' views.

How knowledgeable were voters about congressional candidates?

Very little. Almost half of voters had heard or read nothing about either candidate.

Party identification

What was the primary basis of voting in congressional elections?

Yes. Members respond to the possibility of potential sanctions at the polls.

Can constituents influence members even without constantly punishing them?

What is the main question of the canes-wrone,brady, cogan article?

Whether House members are electorally accountable for their legislative voting.

What is roll call ideological extremity?

Voting more toward the ideological extreme of one's party.

What happens when incumbent supports extremes of their party?

They receive lower vote share

What do wrone, etc predict for dems and repubs

they lose electoral support for voting more lib/con, controlling for district ideology

Is the effect of legislative voting important compared with other election factors?

Yes. it is comparable to factors such as campaign spending and challenger quality.

Does ideological extremity affect only marginal incumbents?

No. It affects both marginal and safe members.

Why aren't “safe” members actually immune?

Because safety itself can depend on the member's prior voting record.

Do voters need complete knowledge of roll-call votes for accountability to work?

No. Voters may take cues from elites or learn about an incumbent's positions from challengers.

What happened to incumbents' average vote margins during the 1960s?

They increased sharply.

Did larger vote margins make House incumbents safer?

No. House incumbents were no safer than they were in the 1950s.

What does Jacobson say happened to the “marginals”?

“The marginals, properly defined, have not vanished.”

Did competition for incumbent House seats decline?

No. Competition did not decline.

What is the most important measure of incumbent safety?

The probability of losing, not simply the size of the previous victory.

Why can a big victory fail to guarantee future safety?

An easy victory one year does not guarantee reelection next time.

An easy victory one year does not guarantee reelection next time.

Differences among challengers' skills, resources, and campaign messages.

Which incumbents actually become safer?

First-term incumbents

What happened to senior incumbents?

They were no safer than freshmen and were more vulnerable than senior incumbents had been in the 1950s.

Berkman argument?

Type of prior experience matters.

What are “experienced” or “quality” candidates?

Candidates with political experience who tend to compete more successfully for votes and money.

How do experienced candidates choose races?

They are more risk averse and run when conditions are more favorable.

opportunity costs

The benefits of staying in the current office and the costs of giving it up.

What happens when a candidate has higher opportunity costs?

They should require a higher probability of winning before running.

Who is especially risk averse?

State legislators serving in professionalized legislatures

What is legislative professionalism based on?

Time in session, salary, and staff assistance.

What kind of races do experienced candidates run in more often?

Open-seat races, where the chances of losing are lower.

What fundraising difference do state legislators show?

hey raise more of their money from PACs.

What happens to PAC reliance as legislative professionalism increases?

State legislators from more professional legislatures rely more on PACs.

Why should we be careful calling professional legislators “better” candidates?

They usually enter the races they are most likely to win, so their strategic selection can make them appear especially high quality.

What two decisions does Carson study together?

Experienced challengers' decisions to enter and incumbents' decisions to seek reelection or retire.

• Why should these decisions be studied together?
  A: Because challengers and incumbents are involved in strategic interaction

When are experienced candidates more likely to run?

When an incumbent retires, is involved in scandal, or previously won by a narrow margin.

What does a larger incumbent vote margin do to challenger entry?

It makes an experienced challenger less likely to run.

What type of districts do strategic politicians prefer

More competitive districts.

How can redistricting affect incumbents?

uncertaintly makes them more likely to retire

Political recruitment and representation are related HOW?

They are complementary: factors affecting recruitment can help explain legislative behavior.

What does Snowiss say congressional recruitment is essentially a problem of?

Organization.

System of recruitment

A system organizing constituency power in a way that produces identifiable types of legislators.

What tends to characterize organizations based on material incentives?

They tend to be hierarchic, with centralized leadership, discipline, and unity.

• emphasize bargaining and compromise

What do issue-oriented party organizations emphasize?

ideological commitment

When do party organizations lose control over recruitment?

When they are faction-ridden or face organized nonparty opposition in primaries

What happens when recruitment comes from outside party organizations?

The character of nonparty elites becomes more important.

What is Snowiss's overall point about recruitment?

Different recruitment systems affect what kinds of people enter public life and what policies they support.