Title: Congress: The Electoral Connection
1Congress The Electoral Connection
2Parties as Teams
- Example, hot dog carts on the beach
Hungry People on the Beach!!
3Parties as Teams
- Example, hot dog carts on the beach
Hungry People on the Beach!!
4Parties as Teams
- Example, hot dog carts on the beach
Hungry People on the Beach!!
5Parties as Teams
- Example, hot dog carts on the beach
Hungry People on the Beach!! Each Cart Gets ½ of
the Beach
6Parties as Teams
- Example, hot dog carts on the beach
Hungry People on the Beach!! Green Moves to the R
ight
7Parties as Teams
- Example, hot dog carts on the beach
New Midpoint
Hungry People on the Beach!! Green Gets More Cust
omers by moving right
8Parties as Teams
- Example, hot dog carts on the beach
Old Midpoint
Hungry People on the Beach!! White Moves to the L
eft
They Each get ½ again
9Parties as Teams
- Example, hot dog carts on the beach
Old Midpoint
Hungry People on the Beach!! Both move to the cen
ter
(or median)
10Parties as Teams
- Example, hot dog carts on the beach
Old Midpoint
Hungry People on the Beach!! Each end up at the m
edian and share ½ of the beach
11Parties as Teams
- Dont Believe it, why are gas stations across
from each other?
- Applies elsewhere as well
- TV News
- Time and Newsweek
- What about political parties?
12Parties as Teams Anthony Downs
- Assume Two parties
- Liberal (Democrats)
- Conservative (Republicans)
- Voters Pick the Team closest to them
- The further away the team is, the more the voter
does not like that team
- Direction does not matter
- This is called a single peaked preference
13Median Voter
Liberal
Conservative
Voter 1
Median
14Median Voter
Liberal
Conservative
Voter 1
Median
15Median Voter
Is voter 1s Ideal point. She wants the
candidate to be at but will vote for the
closest party anyway
Liberal
Conservative
Voter 1
Median
16Median Voter
- Instead of One voter, there are lots of them
Liberal
Conservative
Lots of Voters
Median
17Median Voter
- Converge to the median
- 50/50 tie
- Coin flip
Voters
Liberal
Conservative
18Median Voter
- What can a third party do?
Voters
Liberal
Conservative
19Median Voter
- What can a third party do?
- Blue and Green Split votes, Red wins
- 2000 Election, opposite in 1992
Voters
Liberal
Conservative
20Median Voter
- What about primary elections?
- Voters from the candidates party choose who gets
to run in the general election
- Voters are generally more extreme
Liberal
Conservative
Primary Median
Primary Median
General Election Median
21Median Voter
- What about primary elections?
- Voters from the candidates party choose who gets
to run in the general election
- Voters are generally more extreme
Liberal
Conservative
Primary Median
Primary Median
General Election Median
22Mayhew
- First Premise
- Think like an economist, not like a sociologist
- Sociologist norms, folkways
- Squishy
- Economics purposive behavior
- Rational Choice chose behavior to maximize
goals
23Mayhew
- What are members goals according to Mayhew?
- Reelection, Reelection and Reelection
- What kinds of activity does the goal imply?
(First section)
- How do they design the Congress to achieve these
goals (Second section)
24Why reelection?
- Fits reality well
- Spotlight on individuals
- This is how democracy is supposed to work
(Madison)
25Electoral Incentives?
- Easy Question - Is the Congress a place where
members wish to stay?
- 1971 20 percent served 10 terms
- Hard Question Is reelection the only goal?
- Power within the institution, good public policy,
ambition, maintaining the majority
- Mayhew says reelection is the proximate goal
26Alternative View
- Parties are the prime movers in electoral
politics
- Downss Economic Theory of Democracy
- Individuals join a team or party
- Parties bid for favor from the public by offering
policy
- Voters cast votes based on the expected party
differential
27Which is correct?
- Are members of Congress part of a team or are
they individuals?
- Do they choose, or are they forced, to act in
similar ways?
- Can a team have mavericks and be successful?
28Evidence for Individuals
- Nomination system
- Direct Primary
- Heterogeneous states
- Resources
- Mobilize own resources, and labor
- Lack of a cabinet
29Answer
- No theoretical treatment of the United States
Congress that posits parties as analytic units
will go very far.
30How to secure reelection
- What influences elections?
- Economy, presidential popularity, war
- Can individual members influence these things?
- Solution ignore them
31How to secure reelection
- All members are vulnerable at some point in their
careers
- ½ of variance in outcome is local
- Incumbents can influence their results
- Members are unbeatable because they are good at
what they do.
32How to secure reelection
- Need to keep resource balance in their favor
- How do they do this?
- Advertising
- Credit Claiming
- Position Taking
33Advertising
- Any effort to disseminate ones name among
constituents in such a fashion as to create a
favorable image but in messages that having
little or no issue content - Brand name
- Experience, knowledge, responsiveness, concern,
sincerity, independence etc.
- Home-style, speeches, congratulations, baby
books, etc.
34Credit Claiming
- Acting so as to generate a belief in a relevant
political actor that one is personally
responsible for causing the government, or some
unit thereof, to do something that the actor
considers desirable - Individual accomplishment (not party)
35Credit Claiming
- Particularized benefit
- Given out to a specific group, individual or
geographic unit
- Given out in an ad hoc fashion
- Get the district their piece of the pie
- Shiny construction projects
- Casework
36Position Taking
- Public enunciation of a judgmental statement on
anything likely to be of interest to political
actors
- Ex, War, health care, steroids, etc.
- Speaker not a doer
- Speeches, articles, tv, books, petitions
- Winning ideas hunger, communism
37Roll Call vs. Speech
- Speech can be vague
- Roll call recorded vote on the floor of the
chamber
- Cant be vague
- Watched by interest groups
- Dont make votes that will hurt you
- Dont have to win, just be on the right side
38When to act
- Senators position taking/access to media
- Machine Cities credit claiming
- Upper class position taking
- Ambitious advertising, position taking
39Summary
- Parties acting as teams vs. individual actors
- Mayhew individuals are important
- Advertising
- Credit Claiming
- Position Taking