Congressional Behavior, Re-election Incentives, and the Committee System: Individual Responsibility versus Collective Action
Overview
This paper examines the goals and incentives that shape Congressional member behavior, particularly focusing on how re-election pressures create individual responsiveness but collective irresponsibility. It analyzes partisanship, divided government, and the role of the Congressional committee system, exploring both its benefits and limitations.
What this coursework covers
- Goals shaping Congressional behavior: partisanship, divided government, and re-election incentives
- How re-election priorities create individual versus collective responsibility paradox
- Benefits and downsides of the Congressional committee system and party advantage
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Assignment
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- a) What are the varying goals that shape the behavior of members of Congress? b) How does the incentive for re-election shape their behavior? c) How can it lead them to be both individually responsive but collectively irresponsible?
Several goals shape the behavior of the members of Congress. They include partisanship, divided Government, and the election process. Most of the Congress members seek their constituents to re-elect them, making them behave in a certain way while in office. Partisanship refers to a member of Congress having firm support for a particular political party. Partisan division in Congress may paralyze the legislative's functioning and may lead to compromise or extensive negotiations. Similarly, when the executive and the Government's legislative branches are divided, partisan standoffs like the Congress refuse to appoint candidates proposed by the president. Partisanship has a more significant effect in Congress as it may also lead to the members favoring a particular party (Davidson et al., 2013).
The primary shaper of the behavior, however, is the re-election into the office. Most scholars argue that members of Congress do not prioritize the interests of their constituents. Instead, they attend to their personal needs first. Similarly, most people prioritize party loyalty and only vote for the loyal members of their parties. Therefore, party loyalty shapes their behavior because it determines the fate of re-elections. In the same spirit, the Congress members follow what the majority of the people to be the course to gain public trust for re-elections.