Presentation Of Partisanship : Constituency Connections And Partisan Congressional Activity

After the American states drafted the Constitution, there were conflicting ideas concerning how the states should be governed. Some believed that a strong federal government should wield most of the governing powers, but there was another group that opposed a strong federal government. This group, known as the Republicans, believed that the majority of governing powers should reside in state legislatures. Republicans felt that the powers of the federal government should be limited, and the Republicans believed that the Constitution supported this idea.

In Political Parties and Party Systems, Alan Ware summarizes the two main competing theories that attempt to explain party systems. First, the Sociological approach and then the Institutional approach. In order to comprehend his analysis it is necessary to realize that party systems are in a constant state of evolution, they do not remain stagnant. This evolution may, at times, be imperceptible and at others very noticeable, such as during a revolution; but the change is undoubtedly occurring. It is much easier to understand these theories if you view these two theories from a flexible standpoint as opposed to having a concrete beginning and end with exact delineations in between.

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.

US parties are often described as organisationally weak because they are essentially ‘broad coalitions’. For example they contain moderates like McCain republican) and Obama democrat), while also having a more conservative wing. Therefore stronger party organisation would give parties a narrower appeal and potentially alienate large ‘voting blocs’ or proportions of the electorate. This is a reason why it is argued that having ‘organisationally weak’ parties is a necessity in the US political system. It has therefore been argued that symptoms of weak organisation e.g issue centred or candidate-centered election campaigns are deliberate as parties attempt to gain a maximum

The political system of America is very different from other developed and developing democracies. Most notable is the increased power bestowed on the upper house of the parliament, the extensive power held by the Supreme Court and the dominance demonstrated by only two major parties. In the United States, third parties have the least influence on the world’s most developed democracy’s political structure. In this democracy, people are under the US Constitution of the governmental system as well as state government and other units of local government. Local government entails counties, districts and municipalities. The evolution of the American political party system has come a long way; with Hamilton and Jefferson being regarded as the founder fathers of the modern party system. These were heads of the Federalist and Anti-Federalist groups in the 18th century of American politics. Ever since, the country has maintained a party system that has two main parties that are relatively stable. These are Democrats and Republicans and have remained in contest for election every time since the 1860 presidential elections. Initially, the Republican Party was the dominant party but the Democrats later gained dominance. However, the two parties became closely competitive and neither of them has been notably dominant since the 1970s (O'Connor & Sabato, n.d).

In 2013, Rep. Peter DeFazio’s (D, OR-4) party unity score was 94% (Weyl, 183). Party unity as defined in the textbook, Congress and Its Members, are votes in which the majority of voting Republicans oppose a majority of voting Democrats. In other words, average votes Peter DeFazio casted with the Democratic majority against the Republican majority. Furthermore, party affiliation as well as ideological positions, and the constituency pressure are strongly correlated with congressmen’s voting decisions (Davidson, Oleskek, & Lee 2014, 255).

Sometimes this takes the form of wooing legislators, including legislators of another political party or ideological persuasion. When polarization and partisanship make such wooing hard if not impossible, that same ambition is likely to take the form of aiding the election of candidates who can be counted on to support one's

The English Civil War in the 1600’s was fought between two parties in the government, the Tories and the Whigs, that either supported the king or disapproved of him. This violent show of political partisanship may have warned the Founding Fathers that political parties had the power to divide governments and lead to tyranny. Aside from the possibility of leading to a violent power struggle, political parties have the potential to draw away politicians’ loyalty from the American population as a whole to the benefit of their political group. Thomas Jefferson wrote that he never wanted to adhere to a group when he was capable of thinking on his own. He called submitting a whole opinion to a party, “the last degradation for a free and moral agent.” (Hatzenbuehler 32) Arduous bipartisanship also leads to a stalemate in Congress. According to a study by the Brookings Institute, in Congress seventy-five percent of salient issues in 2014 were in gridlock. (Binder 2016) Attitudes become increasingly sharp in politics as the political sides compete, each trying to prove the other a radical. If there were no political parties every member would most likely treat their fellow members with civility in the hopes that they would choose to support mutual

Throughout the book Congress: The Electoral Connection there is a common theme that the author, David Mayhew, brings to our attention. He argues that the members of Congress have one exclusive goal, to get reelected; because of this goal, it effects their behavior and actions during their time in office. There are four reasons that Mayhew puts an emphasis on the goal of reelection, those being political reality, the lack of focus on parties but rather on individuals, the constant struggle for power and, in his opinion, most importantly it establishes an accountability relationship with an electorate. As the book progresses Mayhew provides an abundance of evidence as to why he believes this is the primary goal of the members of Congress.

Over the past three decades, the distance between parties has continued to grow steadily. As their distances increase it has become harder for presidents to receive votes from both parties.

John H. Aldrich explains the importance of political parties. John H. Aldrich states that partisanship has continued to be as stable and enduring for most adults after erosion of party loyalties, as it did before it. Because of the better economy and advances in technology, party organizations are stronger, better funded, and more professional. The political party also provides candidates more electoral support than any other group. Officeholders continues to be loyal to parties in Congress. Lastly, association among branches in government are heavily partisan.

Fiorina argues that strong parties are not in the interest of individual politicians from the point of view of individual politicians, although Fiorina believes they should be. Individual politicians seek to be reelected, and therefore place a greater emphasis on performing constituent services. Some reasons why members of Congress would agree to strong parties are that it controls nominations, elections, and the agenda, and it collectively realizes that small minorities are small minorities no matter how intense they are. They have control over campaigns, and have the loyalty of voters. When there are strong parties, it becomes easier for members of Congress to take stances and to work together to achieve a common goal, since a change of opinion or distancing from party opinion would result in a decrease in party support. It is also more difficult for voters to attribute responsibility for government performance when there are not strong parties. This results in lessened collective responsibility in the political system. When there are strong parties, it is also easier for constituents to predict where their congressman will stand on an issue, or his stance on policy or

According to the Gulati “prominent theories of American political parties imply that higher levels of competition cause lawmakers to be more responsive to the center of public opinion. However, there are multiple problems of the moderation theory. First, the data from the article suggests that the opposite occurs. Moreover, the studies conducted in the article suggest that highly competitive districts influence candidates to appeal more to their partisan base rather than the center, and this is even more apparent in marginal states that lack political clout. Gulati states that “parties and candidates pursue a mobilization rather than the moderation strategy”. Competitive districts foster diverse constituencies and the politician takes a more

A party caucus is a meeting of the members of a party in a legislative chamber to select party leaders and develop party policy. Party unity is found in states with two party systems and helps party members to vote similarly. The political caucus aids in how members vote. Legislatures with single party has had long standing dominance or control parties are less important is shaping legislatures. A rebirth of partisanship and

The Congress of the 1950s, known as the “textbook Congress”, is quite different than the Congress of the today. Our Author notes six legislative folkways that were noted by political scientist