The political theorists David R. Mayhew, Gary W. Cox, and Matthew D. McCubbins argue on how the US Congress functions. They focus on the members of Congress and their actions. The basis of disagreement between the theorists lies in what Congress members find of importance. Mayhew argues that members of Congress, primarily concern themselves with reelection, as such, any action taken only benefits that. Cox and McCubbins’, however, formulate that Congress functions on the basis of majority party control and unity. These arguments present different perspectives, however, they do have agreements amongst them. Overall, Mayhew presents an argument that is believable and shows the truth of members of the US Congress.
In 1995, the Supreme Court decided the landmark case U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton. The court ruled that states cannot impose qualifications for prospective members of the U.S. Congress stricter than those specified in the Constitution. After the recent ballot measure adding an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution that denied ballot access to any federal Congressional candidate having already served three terms in the U.S. House or two terms in the U.S. Senate, was challenged on the grounds that the new restrictions amounted to an unwarranted expansion of the specific qualifications for membership in Congress enumerated in the U.S. Constitution: “No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five
Political Parties serve a crucial role in congressional campaigns, especially for candidate recruitment. One significant role political parties serve is the state law of redistricting, “Because the composition of House districts can make the difference between winning and losing, the two major parties and individual politicians, particularly incumbents, often fight fierce battles in state legislatures over the alignment of districts.” (Smith, et al., 2007).
The article is written by Richard Fenno in 1978, summarizing the dilemma of congressmen in the contemporary time. The author was specifically discussing about members of the House, who always seek for reelection during his legislative career, as stated in the initial part of the paper. Fenno went on to propose the conflict in incumbent congressmen 's career: more attention for the Washington career leads to less attention for the congressmen 's home state. The Washington career required commitment to build up support within the House. However, focusing on Washington rendered the congressman homeless, or losing his home 's supportive forces. Thus, there were two solutions. Firstly, the congressman can change the expectations of his
Through reading the Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge and pondering over its contents, I have come to love the ideals this president once foreign to me. I am able to identify with many family, educational, political, and life values exhibited in the book, and take great pride in the comparison of qualities with this historical figure.
When Billy Long campaigns during election season, as a politician, he listens to his constituents as they voice their concern with the issues and policies that are damaging to his district. It is his responsibility to then help the citizens and ensure that he is able to do everything within his jurisdiction to mitigate these very difficulties his constituents face. If he is successful, there are two parties whom benefit. His constituents benefit by having their problems resolved and the less obvious, but perhaps more concentrated benefit goes to Representative Long himself because he is now in a position to claim credit. Passing certain legislation that he promised to his district, gives Billy Long leverage in the next election cycle because he would possess the ability to boast a successful track record and claim credit for bettering the lives of individuals within his district. This again, all goes back to Mayhew’s theory of how members of Congress seek
The act of influencing legislation in government is called “lobbying”. The right to lobby is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. It states “Congress shall make no law abridging the right of the people to petition the government for a redress of grievances” (APUS, n.d). Besides, this is considered to be part of the Freedom of Assembly and Petition Clause in the First Amendment. This essay will discuss the impact of lobbyist on legislation in Washington, DC and the amount of dollars spent to influence federal policies.
Mike Huckabee was the 44th Governor of Arkansas. He was governor from 1996 until 2007. He has gone down in Arkansas’s history as the longest serving governor. When Huckabee left office he left tax cuts, job creation, reconstruction of his state’s road system, K-16 education reform, and a health plan that took a less expensive approach than the government’s approach to healthcare. He has changed Arkansas it a positive way. Lindsey Graham started his career in politics in 1994 when he was elected as a representative. Graham was elected to the United States Senate in 2002, reelected in 2008, and in 2014. He generated the most votes in South Carolina for senate. In 2008’s election he generated over one million votes. Graham has experience with
Fenno traveled with each of them in their districts, as he has done with many others (though it all began with Conable in 1964). The questions Fenno always poses are: What’s he like? What’s she like? How does each member relate to his/her constituency? And how does the member balance life on Capitol Hill and in the district? The contrasts are familiar. Barber Conable, conservative in policy but moderate in temperament, is an old school politician. He is, in Fenno’s words, a “local boy,” someone far more interested in his rural constituency than in the power politics of Capitol Hill. He is amiable and driven to be the best constituency representative possible. His focus was the one-on-one personal touch. He did not come to Washington to be a
One of the obstacles this senator would face is the fact that he is from Delaware. Delaware is such a small state that not many people really care about. Delaware being a small state it only gets one seat in the House of Representatives, and as all states do, gets two seats in the senate. The senator would not
Two hundred and two years, seven months, and twelve days is what it took our twenty-seventh amendment to be ratified onto our constitution. Was this a very sensitive and complex amendment that needed meticulous studying and logistics planing? No, the twenty-seventh amendment simply states that no Senators or Representatives can alter their pay during their tenure and only can it be changed when their term is up. In the constitution it states "No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened". While this seems so simple, there seems to be some inherent complexity to it. Maybe one of the reasons why it took so long is the human’s
This is important for future campaigns and shows the need for candidates to focus on healthcare as a major issue. Exit polling found that healthcare was the most important priority for Virginia voters. Thirty-nine percent of voters responded that healthcare was the most important issue for them. Seventy-seven percent of these respondents voted for Northam. Healthcare was more important than gun policy, abortion, immigration and taxes (Exit Polling Results). Another important thing shown from polling is that Gillespie’s support of repealing the Affordable Care Act caused him more harm than good with voters. In an article for CNBC Dan Mangan, who analyzed polling results, writes “More than twice as many people said Gillespie's support of Obamacare repeal made it less likely they would vote for him than said his support would make it likely he would win their vote. This has major implications for national politics and help shows the trend of the countries citizens towards more healthcare coverage and
Many people have often wondered how politicians would organize legislative activity if given the chance to start anew and make things the way they want them. The Progressive takeover of governmental activities in California in 1910 presented a unique opportunity to study such a phenomenon in its natural occurring state. The Progressives made it as hard as they could to crush the party system and to keep it from returning. In particular, “they made it nearly impossible for party activists outside government to organize, coordinate actions, keep informed about legislative activities, or, perhaps most importantly, influence party nominations to office.” (Masket 2011, 54) It was under these conditions that Masket says California politicians
Senator Ronald Lee Wyden is one of the two current U.S. Senators representing the state of Oregon. With a background in law as well as sociology, Senator Wyden has reached a high ranking position in the U.S. government. Belonging to the democratic party, Wyden puts forth a large part of his time pushing for the democratic vote. His experience ranges from leading the Oregon chapter of an elder rights organization, to being a loud-speaking member of the U.S. senate. This experience combined with his own personal experience based in his early life as well as recent years give him the perspectives he uses to maintain his positions on pressing issues such as the Iran Nuclear Deal, and the current immigration policies being developed.
Richard Fenno begins Home style, stating that an important perception shared by the house members is their constituents within the bounds of their districts. It is important for the house members to understand the composition of their districts constituency. These important factors that compose their constituency are socioeconomic structure, ideology, ethnic, residential patters, religion, partisanship, stability, and diversity. Every district in the United States is composed of different variables,