Pathologies of Congressional Elections

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Pathologies of Congressional Elections

• Large districts
• Solution? Increase number of members in House
• Benefit more responsiveness/more contact
• Costs More collective action problems
• Incumbency advantage
• Solution term limits
• Benefit more turnover
• Costs lose experience/expertise official would
  have little incentive to be responsive during
  last term
• Pork Barrel Politics
• Special Interest Influence

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Redistricting
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Are there better ways to elect Congress?

• Nebraska Model
• Team Ticket
• Term Limits
• Proportional Representation
• Increasing the size of the U.S. House

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• Nebraska Model
• Unicameral Legislature
• Why have a bicameral legislature?
• County Representation?
• Gridlock

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• Team Ticket
• -Vote for Party, not candidate
• -Party/Issue centered campaigns
• -Easier to vote, less information required
• -Women and Minorities may find it easier to get
  elected

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• Term Limits
• -Creates more open seats, therefore increases
  electoral competitions
• -Women and Minorities have found it easier to
  get elected (more open seats)
• -Legislators more likely to support policies for
  the good of their state, not just their district
• -Only wealthy people can take time off of career
  and server for 2 terms.
• -Do we want to make popular, hard working
  legislators leave?
• -If you know you have to find a job next year,
  do you support legislation helpful to
  corporations hoping you will get a job?
• -Weakens Parties, who becomes the party leader
  if you only stay on for 2, 3 terms. No one with
  institutional history of how things are done.
  Strengthens bureaucracy

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• Proportional Representation
• What is it?
• What would need to be done? Multiple members per
  district (at least 3)
• Types of PR
• Mixed Member Proportional (SMPD PR seats)
• Single Transferable Vote (rank order)
• Cumulative voting (multiple votes)

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• More Parties (oh no!!!)
• Higher voter turnout
• More perspectives included
• More distinctive parties
• Party/Issue centered elections/campaigns
• More descriptive representation
• Citizens more satisfied
• More polarized
• MORE GRIDLOCK
• Give smaller parties too much influence
• Unstable Coalitions

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Increase of members in U.S. House

• Germany, Brazil, Russia, Japan, Mexico, Fance,
  Italy, UK, Poland, all have more members even
  though they have smaller populations
• Prior to 1915, the House grew in tandem with the
  population
• Only India (a nation of over 1 billion people)
  has more constituents per representative than the
  U.S.
• Has the U.S. become the second most
  under-representative democracy in the world?

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• Why did the U.S. House stop growing?
• House stopped growing in order to dilute the
  growing influence of immigrant voters (so new
  districts wouldnt be created that might contain
  a majority of immigrants)
• Members felt they would have less influence if
  the House kept growing. Better to be one voice
  in a group of 435 then a voice in a group of
  650.
• Must divide the pie into more pieces

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Types of Reforms

• Transparency Disclosure of sources of money and
  information
• Public Subsidies to parties
• Limits on expenditures and contributions
• Force networks to give reduced cost/free TV time

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Transparency

• Citizens need to know the source of money and
  info to judge the legitimacy of information or
  policies (Quality information)
• Non-profit groups (527 groups) not required to
  follow disclosure requirements. (this may be
  changing)
• Issue ads Republicans for Clean Air, Coalition
  for Student Loan Reform

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Public Subsidies

• Benefit Reduce dependence on large contributions
  to individuals
• Costs Makes parties creatures of the state?
• Example Minnesota
• 53 of publicly funded candidates win
• Citizen control (50 rebate)
• Helpful to third parties (Jesse the body
  Ventura)

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Limits on Spending and Expenditures

• Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act
• No issue ads within 60 days of election
• Disclosure of source of funds for ads
• Limits contributions from certain PACs to
  candidates and parties
• Enforcement? 1974 Federal Election Campaign Act
• Benefits

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Free TV ads

• Networks made almost 1 billion in 2000
• Charge candidates more than then the standard
  rates
• So? supply demand or Airwaves belong to the
  people.
• Senator Torecelli (D-NY) proposal approved by
  Senate
• Broadcasters donated over 1.5 million and the
  House kills the proposal.

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• The American Policy Context
• A. Separation of Powers
• B. Limits to Popular Sovereignty
• - Electoral College
• - Indirect election of Senators
• - Difficult to Amend Constitution
• - Supreme Court appointed/life term
• C. Judicial Review

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• Decentralization vs. Centralization of Power
• Separation of Executive/Legislature
• Federalism
• Independent Courts

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• Separation of Power
• A. Fragmentation of power
• -Legislature, executive, judicial branches
• -Most western democracies have a more
  centralized form of government
• -Presidential vs. Parliamentary system
• -Judicial Review
• B. Federalism
• -Powers are also shared with the state and
  local governments
• -In contrast Unitary system (e.g. Germany)
• -Fed. Govt. has enumerated or delegated
  powers
• -What does that mean (heart of political debate)

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Who do you trust?

• National
• State
• Local
• Elected/Unelected
• Reform/Changes?

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• ANALYIZING FEDERALISM
• A. Alexis de Tocqueville (1831-2)
• - nations need centralized power
• - people prefer one central government
• - too complicated to understand
• - Majority of the Tyranny
• - Reduces Military capacity
• - Government too weak to intervene in
  internal conflicts (almost right)
• -Incapable of adapting to growing diverse
  population

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• B. Ramifications of Federalism
• - could increase representation
• - reverse could be true (lower govt. captured)
• - less quality/visible information on lower
  govts.
• - less accountability
• - lack of national standards inequality
• - Laboratory of Democracy
• - Dispersed Costs/Concentrated Benefits
• - Multiple Access Points enhance democracy?

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• C. Federalism and Modern Politics
• - Eisenhower and the dictatorial centralization
• - Johnsons Great Society
• - Nixons New Federalism
• - Carter new agencies (Energy Education)
• - Reagan and General Revenue Sharing
• - Clinton National Health Care
• - Centralized solutions to problems v.
  Devolution