Congressperson Roles

The representatives would be the voices of their constituents, leaving them with the responsibility of making decisions for the public good.

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.

D.C constituents do not have any representation the U.S Senate and only has a delegate that is not allowed to vote on the House floor,

Congress can borrow money if needed, they can regulate trade and money from foreign nations, they grant the right to scientists and writers to have a copyright,

The Texas Constitution was a product of the Reconstruction era, the tumultuous period that preceded the Civil War. The document reflects the fears and hopes of its framers. They were fearful of an oppressive state after living under the oppressive scrutiny of the Reconstruction Era. They hoped to prevent that from happening again by putting strong restraints on the government. Most of those restraints have followed Texas into the modern era.

They work hard to pass laws and bills. Many of these laws and bills help to better the lives of the people, but most of these laws and bills are likely unknown to the people. Congress also helps with things like roads, highways, and transportation. Recently, DOT, the Department of Transportation, signed an agreement for a light-rail line to be built in Maryland. It will improve transportation between traffic-congested areas.

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.

For an example she has passed the air pollution, public works, environmental policies etc. I think that these committees do reflect local constituent interest. The article “Accomplishments” from Senator Barbara Boxer page states, “Boxer passed bill to help eliminate lead in drinking water. Boxer and Senator Inhofe along with nine additional bipartisan co-sponsors introduced a bill (S. 3874) to strengthen standards to protect people from toxic lead in drinking water by uniformly reducing the allowable lead content

The third component and the one I believe is lacking making a lot of the public is unhappy is responsiveness. In support of the Mayhewian view Carson and Jenkins state that congressmen must be able to fulfill the needs and provide the benefits that his/her constituents need and care about. As previously mentioned, credit claiming, position taking and advertising make up the activities that congressmen use in order to insure reelection. However, I believe the public reelects them with the hope that the job will get done and most of the time that is not the case, therefore causing the majority to be unpleased with the congressman’s performance. The fourth and final component is accountability.

Meaning they will do anything as long as it doesn 't threaten their principal goal which is reelection.” (Arnold, 5). Reelection is the main goal but members of Congress will do other things that are beneficial to their constituency unlike the theory that Mayhew brings up. Although, congressmen have to watch out for what they say and how they act since there will always be an opponent who will attempt to bring all those things to light to use them as an advantage and most of the time is decisions and conditions that the public hasn 't even noticed and wouldn 't at all if it wasn 't for the robo-challenger. In addition to that reasoning congressmen are extremely unpopular with the public because they have to take into consideration the input of experts, generalist and ordinary people.

Both the House and the Senate are integral for passing legislation, but both have their own ways of operating. These differences between each body helps ensure that legislatures can focus on different issues, and hold different roles in the legislative process. However, these differences also limit legislators in their abilities to accurately represent their constituencies and could potentially widen the democracy gap, or the gap between legislators and the

There are many differing views on the powers congress holds, and congress itself, one such point of view is on whether or not congressmen should have a limited number of terms they are capable of serving, similar to how the president is only capable of serving two terms, and whether or not it would benefit both the people and the government. Congress itself is the legislative branch of the federal government, and as such holds a large amount of authority and power, including putting laws into effect, declaring war, taxing, impeachment, and many other important duties that can be carries out only by congress. Furthermore, members of congress do not have limits on the amount of terms they are allowed to serve, only limits on the length of each term, for those in the house of representatives each term is two years, while in the senate, each term is six years long. I find this to be a matter of public concern because many

Researching Congress for my research topic was important to me because using the link provided (https://www.congress.gov/quick-search/legislation-text) allowed me to look for myself and read about how people in congress feel by considering what they agree to. It is important that I have a clear understanding of who decides what in congress, so I can further make better choices when siding with certain people on different issues. Chapter nine was very interesting for me, I enjoyed reading about how congress works. The website is amazing, and I love how you can go year by year to view legislation. The site relates to the chapter by giving us examples and clearly showing some of the things congress members agree too.

The Senate and House of Representatives comprise the two chambers of the United States Congress. While both houses are representative bodies and jointly oversee the executive branch, both must approve all bills before the president, but both chambers have different roles according to the Constitution. The House of Representatives has 435 members apportioned to the house from across the United States. States with larger populations receive more seats within the house.

1. They are important source of information. A member who is part of congress has to evolve themselves with many policy areas. But a lobbyists can confine themselves to one area and can by providing specialized expertise. If the information is powerful, then the lobbyist can be an allies. 2.