How the US Congress works

What motivates congressional behaviour? How do members of the US Congress make decisions? These are the questions that have persistently failed to yield a consensus among scholars of American politics.

Despite a large body of scholarly literature on congressional decision-making, we still do not have an adequate understanding of voting behaviour within the US Congress. Different scholars have assigned different goals to congressmen. One view is that congressmen want to get re-elected so that they can achieve influence within Congress and make good public policies.

However, a dominant explanation in the literature on congressional behaviour is that American congressmen are only interested in getting re-elected and nothing else. This argument rests on the assumption that public opinion is central to political accountability, representation and decision-making. In other words, if you want to predict how a congressman would behave in a particular situation, you just need to figure out what kind of behaviour would improve his or her chances of getting reelected.

Taking a more balanced, realistic approach, it can be argued that re-election is certainly the most important goal since congressmen need to get re-elected before they are in a position to accomplish any other policy goals. However, once re-elected, members of Congress also pursue other goals of influence and power. There are also a number of activities congressmen engage in, which cannot be explained by the re-election incentives. The influence that candidates acquire after getting re-elected is later used to pursue other goals. Representatives who go against the interests of their constituents are punished in the polls and turned out of office.

In order to get re-elected, congressmen pursue a number of strategies, such as advertising, credit-claiming and position-taking. Mayhew defines ‘advertising’ as an opportunity to gain popularity among voters and create a positive image without engaging on any specific issue. During this process, congressmen highlight their knowledge, experience and the ability to be responsive to the voters’ needs. Political candidates get involved in a number of activities: television appearances, sending out letters and visiting constituencies, etc. Advertising through TV appearances not only helps candidates in getting themselves known among people for the purpose of re-election, but also spreads their names far beyond their constituencies if they want to run for higher offices, such the Senate or the presidency.

Secondly, congressmen claim credit for different government accomplishments. They take responsibility for making the government or Congress institutions that do what is desirable for their constituents. Taking responsibility for “particularised governmental benefits” will allow congressmen to claim credit and be recognised for their positive role. Congressmen get involved in credit-claiming because it helps them build the impression that they are doing a good job and their constituents should therefore keep them in office.

Thirdly, congressmen also get involved in position-taking by taking a clear stand on issues that are of particular interests to their constituents. Position-taking is done in the form of issuing a policy statement or a roll call vote. Television appearances, press releases, campaigning on various issues and speeches on the floor are among some of the ways in which congressmen make their positions known among people. Representatives, in this situation, act only as speakers and not doers. Their ultimate goal is not to get things done but only to make ‘judgemental statements’. Congressmen take positions on certain issues only to shore up their support among the voters and interest groups as well.

These three elements make up the majority of congressional activity and, ultimately, help congressmen get re-elected. The idea of electoral connection has more relevance in today’s candidate-centered politics, in which political candidates have become more prominent in the process of raising money and running election campaigns. However, Mayhew argues that the way congressmen organise themselves even within Congress helps them with the goal of re-election. Congress, as an institution, has also been designed to fulfil the needs of congressmen and one member’s gain is not another’s loss. There are two different ways in which Congress facilitates its members. First, every congressman gets staff and privileges as an organisational source of incumbency advantage. Second, the decentralisation of power to committees allows every member their share of benefits. In addition, congressmen can get things done more easily in committees.

The structural units of Congress – committees, staff, and parties – also serve the electoral needs of congressmen. All congressmen are allotted an official budget which provides them enough resources to hire staff both in their districts and Washington DC. These resources assist congressmen in their efforts to be more accessible to people. In addition, congressmen receive allowances for travel between their districts and Washington DC as well as for trips within their constituencies. Congressmen also get the perks to send postage-free letters to their voters on a regular basis.

As sitting members of Congress, public representatives are also in a better position to raise money in comparison with their challengers. Congressmen subsequently use this money on advertisements to make themselves more visible in their districts. An added advantage is that, as opposed to their challengers, congressmen are frequently mentioned in newspapers and they have easy access to the electronic media. These resources provide congressmen with a significant advantage over their challengers – which, in turn, explains ‘incumbency advantage’ in American politics. In the 2004 election, 401 members of the House of Representatives sought re-election and all but five were re-elected.

The premise which has guided a vast amount of scholarship on congressional behavior over the past few decades grows out of the idea that the structure and behaviour of Congress can be understood as a consequence of legislators solely focused on re-election. Congressmen are in a position to improve their chances of getting re-elected as they have access to a diverse amount of resources. It is becoming increasingly difficult to beat sitting members of Congress because they have a large campaign bank account and also enjoy the privileges of public office.

Email: rizwanasghar5@unm.edu