Congressional Interests

This written report is appertaining to the book How Congress Works and Why You Should Care, written by Lee H. Hamilton. This book is published by Indiana University Press in Bloomington, IL, it was copyrighted in 2004 by the publisher.

In agency representation the constituents give the politicians the ability to make decisions on their behalf when they don’t know the issue, the constituents expect them to work in their best interest. An issue that has recently been in the news is President Obama’s efforts to close Guantanamo Bay. Since the issue has not attracted the attention of a lot of people it is up to congress to vote in the public’s best interest. Yet, according to New York Times, congress has been blocking the president’s efforts to shut the prison down. The United States spends $2.5 million per detainee in Guantanamo and it currently holds 532 detainees. Acting as agencies on the behalf of the American people, Congress should work with President Obama because the money that the United States could save will be spent on issues that directly affect the public. This raises the question of how well does congress represent its

Interest groups have a lot of influence over decision that the government makes and has made. These groups, when formed right, are highly organized and have a definite agenda they are trying to push that is important to them. Interest groups will lobby in congress as well as other levels of government to get new laws and regulations passed.

Congress is a complex lawmaking function that runs the country. In other words is the legislative body of our country made up of a Senate and a House of Representatives. Difficulties that are involved by the representation function have to do with Congressmen wanting to be reelected, opposition between the two parties, and the lobbying that takes place. These three difficulties are what causes the conflict with the lawmaking function of Congress.

Throughout history, there have been many factors that seem to have influenced the operations of Congress. Some of these factors have been the committee system, seniority, and political parties. These are only a few of the factors that actually have an influence on Congress’s decisions of certain operations.

The inter workings of Congress have been studied extensively by Richard Fenno and David R. Mayhew. Mayhew’s study of Congress took place in Washington, while Richard Fenno conducted his research by following politicians within their congressional district. Mayhew attributes three primary goals to congressmen- getting reelected, achieving influence within Congress and making “good Policy”. Fenno also attributes three basic goals, having influence inside the House than other congressmen. Second, helping their constituents and thereby insuring their reelection, and lastly helping make good policy. The purpose of this paper is to research a member of Congress and to make a direct connection between his activity in Washington and his home district. The paper will answer whether the congressmen is a delegate or trustee. Are the actions a pursuit for reelection? Are the committee assignments a path for movement within the House or outside? What legislation has he/she sponsored or co-sponsored and does it directly reflect his/her districts political view. And finally, do major industries and interest groups within his/she district affect the way he/she votes.

Members of Congress are voted to office by their electorate as their representatives at the congress level of democracy. In their capacity, they may decide to exercise their powers by the will of the people or according to their personal judgment. When the members of Congress opt to be the people’s delegate, their actions in the House and other congressional engagements are a reflection of the will of their district. As such, the delegate representative does not have or exercise the autonomy to represent and decide for their district. Instead, a strenuous consultation process is required to keep the people in control of all relevant decisions.

The United States Congress is more than likely the most significant representative institution in the United States government. Each member of Congress has a primary obligation to the district, to his or her constituency. Though Congress is divided into two parts, called the House of Representatives and the Senate, they both play different roles in the legislature process. Senate is more deliberative and the House is the more centralized and organized. Congress is supposed to represent the American people but they will not always make the “right” decisions, according to some individuals. Obviously it is impossible to please everybody, but surely the laws that are being passed are because Congress views some sort of usefulness from it. There are two different types of representation that was spoken about in the chapter including sociological and agency representation. Sociological is based off of the idea that if two individuals have similar background, character, interests, and perspectives, then they can correctly represent others’ views. Agency is when a representative is held accountable to a constituency for when that constituency is represented poorly. The constituents have the power to hire and fire their representatives.

Stemming from a loose interpretation of the Constitution – and specifically the necessary and proper clause -- congressional oversight is one of many enumerated powers bestowed upon Congress per Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. As the legislative body, Congress is charged with overseeing the inner workings of the Executive Branch and its federal agencies as a part of a system of checks and balances. However, as previously mentioned, this power is one of the implied powers of Congress, thus making it very difficult for many to delineate rightful oversight from reckless meandering. In the Constitution, for example, there is no singular mention of a definitive power such as “congressional oversight.” Consequently, there is no

Indeed, James Madison observed in The Federalist No. 10 that the true test of a representative is his or her ability to make difficult decisions that promote the long-term best interests of the people back home. “A representative government”, he wrote, “ought to refine and enlarge the public views by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens whose wisdom may best discern the

As political scientists, we are aiming to dive deeper into understanding political behavior and the circumstances that sound it. Specifically whether political party affiliation, committee involvement, and donor contribution have a deep-rooted impact on political behavior within foreign policy of the representatives from New York, North Dakota, and Texas on H.R. 2393: Country of Origin Labeling Amendments Act of 2015.

“Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgement; and he betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion”, said the Irish political philosopher, Edmund Burke. Through time, the same question has popped up in the American minds: are representatives actually elected to represent us and our best interests, or on the contrary, to perform according to their concerns? In his “Letter to the Electors of Bristol”, Burke argues several controversial points; as an Irish vying for the American territories to continue with virtual representation, why would he also defend their rights as existing colonies? Members of congress (senators as well as representatives of the house) are chosen through a thoughtful process, by the legislature of the United States, or by the Constituency itself. Finally, if these are to break rules or not comply with their job duties, they may be expelled from Congress.

1. Analyzing the new intuitionalists’ claim that Congress uses procedural innovation to influence policy, it may give Congress great influence over foreign policy, in other situations moderate influence, sometimes, no influence at all.

One function of Congress is lawmaking. It is one of their main jobs to make rules for Americans, but they don’t initiate most of the bills they pass. Most are initiated in the Executive Branch or from interest groups and their political parties. Congress gets support for their bills by persuading other members to support

In “Political Representation,” Shapiro et al. (2009) say that “political representation lies at the core of modern politics.” Representation is usually linked to the concept of democracy (Shapiro et al. 2009). The concept of representation is explicitly mentioned in the U.S. Constitution (U.S. Const. art. I, § 1, 2). However, the meaning and appropriate form of “representation” have been debated by political theorists and philosophers for centuries. The definition of representation one chooses to use is influenced by the form of representation one finds most appropriate. Given the different forms of representation, legislators can be responsive in different ways. Representation also operates at two different levels – the national and local