Journal ArticleDOI
Why Do Americans Love Their Congressmen so Much More than Their Congress
Reads0
Chats0
TLDR
In this paper, the authors provide evidence for answering the puzzle posed by Richard Fenno (1975, p. 286): "that we love our congressmen so much more than our Congress." The data come from two public opinion surveys dealing with attitudes and perceptions of Congress, conducted in 1968 and 1977.Abstract:
This paper provides some evidence for answering the puzzle posed by Richard Fenno (1975, p. 286): "that we love our congressmen so much more than our Congress." The data come from two national public opinion surveys dealing with attitudes and perceptions of Congress, conducted in 1968 and 1977. They show that Congress isjudged, increasingly in unfavorable terms, on the basis of its performance on domestic policy, legislative-executive relations, and the style and pace of the legislative process. Congressmen, on the other hand, are judged-usually favorably-primarily on the basis of their service to constituents and their personal characteristics.read more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Congressional Oversight Overlooked: Police Patrols versus Fire Alarms
TL;DR: The authors argue that Congress does not neglect its oversight responsibility, and that what appears to be a neglect of oversight really is the rational preference for one form of oversight over another form of police-patrol oversight.
Journal ArticleDOI
Politicians, scandals, and trust in government
Shaun Bowler,Jeffrey A. Karp +1 more
TL;DR: The authors examined the role that political scandals play in eroding regard for government and political institutions in general and found that scandals involving legislators can have a negative influence on their constituent's attitudes toward institutions and the political process.
Journal ArticleDOI
Neither the Purse Nor the Sword: Dynamics of Public Confidence in the Supreme Court
TL;DR: In this paper, the ebb and flow of public esteem for the U.S. Supreme Court across time has been studied, and it was found that apart from a relatively constant core of support, increases in judicial activism, inflation, and solicitude for the rights of the accused decreased confidence in the Court.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Separation of Powers, Court Curbing, and Judicial Legitimacy
TL;DR: This article developed a formal model of judicial-congressional relations that incorporates judicial preferences for institutional legitimacy and the role of public opinion in congressional hostility towards the Supreme Court, finding that public discontent with the Court, as mediated through congressional hostility, creates an incentive for the Court to exercise self-restraint.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Congressional Incumbency Effect: Is It Casework, Policy Compatibility, or Something Else? An Examination of the 1978 Election
John R. Johannes,John McAdams +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors estimate the effects of three strategies that incumbents may use to increase their vote totals and improve their reelection prospects: (1) the provision of particularized service to constituents-the casework hypothesis, (2) ideological positioning to represent the policy preferences of the district, and (3) legislative activism, defined as appearing on the floor and introducing bills.
References
More filters
Book
Congress, keystone of the Washington establishment
TL;DR: Fiorina as discussed by the authors made a strong case that a Washington establishment does exist and that members of Congress are responsible for it, and described the self-serving interconnections that have developed between Congress, bureaucrats, and citizens with special interests.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Ambivalent Social Status of the American Politician
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider the available evidence on the status of the American elective public official and to advance a theory for an adequate explanation of the data, which will, I believe, seriously counter or at least qualify that assumption.