In accordance with Mayhew’s view Carson and Jenkins added four conditions said to be the building blocks of the electoral connection: ambition, autonomy, responsiveness and accountability. Ambition is feasibly the most important aspect of the electoral connection, congressmen must have the desire and ambition to be reelected and have a career in Congress supporting Mayhew’s main thesis. (Carson and Jenkins, 29) There has been a significant rise of congressional careerism, Carson and Jenkins focused on congressional careerism started during the 1890-1910 era. Ambition goes hand in hand with autonomy, which basically means if a member of Congress is ambitious about reelection he needs to be in the position to make it happen and to do it on his
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He notes, “… members of congress care intensively about reelection. Although they are not single-minded seekers of reelection, reelection is their dominant goal. This means simply that legislators’ will do nothing to advance their other goals if such activities threaten their principal goal. If reelection is not at risk, they are free to pursue other goals, including enacting their own visions of good public policy or achieving influence within congress.” (Arnold, 5) In other words, congressmen will do anything they need to do to stay in office. That may be making policy or not, deciding who to benefit general, group or geographic on the basis of who will bring more success in reelection. I consider Arnold’s theory to be the most accurate, members of Congress main goal is reelection, but they do in most instances get the job done, after all that is how the secure reelection. When making decisions legislators ask themselves which choice will bring them the most success in reelection. If there is a compelling difference, then they go for the one that will bring more success in reelection if not, then they will vote based on other aspects. They know some decisions will have some sort of consequence once he or she is associated with it. The legislators worry and change positions to satisfy their constituents back home, but the connection is weak …show more content…
Members of Congress have their hands full when making decisions because they have plenty of alternatives to choose from. Mayhew, Carson, Jenkins and Arnold analyze and clarify why members of Congress act the way they do and why the public disapproves of their job in Congress. They are single-minded seeker of reelection using tactics such as advertising, credit-claiming and position-taking which help the legislators get reelected. However, members of Congress have to think about who they want their bill to benefit so they can get reelected. They are concerned with opponents going through their records and using it against them as well. They acknowledge the theory components when determining a policy or interest. Its safe to say congressmen don’t have it easy, but 75% of the population is displeased with their work. A greater emphasis has to be assigned to the voters along with advocating their needs and interest because after all they are the ones who have the power to reelect
He notes, “… members of congress care intensively about reelection. Although they are not single-minded seekers of reelection, reelection is their dominant goal. This means simply that legislators’ will do nothing to advance their other goals if such activities threaten their principal goal. If reelection is not at risk, they are free to pursue other goals, including enacting their own visions of good public policy or achieving influence within congress.” (Arnold, 5) In other words, congressmen will do anything they need to do to stay in office. That may be making policy or not, deciding who to benefit general, group or geographic on the basis of who will bring more success in reelection. I consider Arnold’s theory to be the most accurate, members of Congress main goal is reelection, but they do in most instances get the job done, after all that is how the secure reelection. When making decisions legislators ask themselves which choice will bring them the most success in reelection. If there is a compelling difference, then they go for the one that will bring more success in reelection if not, then they will vote based on other aspects. They know some decisions will have some sort of consequence once he or she is associated with it. The legislators worry and change positions to satisfy their constituents back home, but the connection is weak …show more content…
Members of Congress have their hands full when making decisions because they have plenty of alternatives to choose from. Mayhew, Carson, Jenkins and Arnold analyze and clarify why members of Congress act the way they do and why the public disapproves of their job in Congress. They are single-minded seeker of reelection using tactics such as advertising, credit-claiming and position-taking which help the legislators get reelected. However, members of Congress have to think about who they want their bill to benefit so they can get reelected. They are concerned with opponents going through their records and using it against them as well. They acknowledge the theory components when determining a policy or interest. Its safe to say congressmen don’t have it easy, but 75% of the population is displeased with their work. A greater emphasis has to be assigned to the voters along with advocating their needs and interest because after all they are the ones who have the power to reelect