Although approval ratings in Congress are consistently low, incumbents are continuously being re-elected at high rates. There are several reasons to explain why this phenomenon is taking place; this is taking place due to the lack of citizen knowledge in a democracy as well as the incumbent bias.
Many Americans, lack basic citizen knowledge of democracy. Constituents make the conscious effort to not be informed in politics. When they are uninformed it’s hard to make a political decision, therefore they are left voting for someone they’ve heard about in the news.
Name recognition is a big part of why incumbents tend to be reelected.
Due to the lack of American citizen knowledge in democracy there is also an incumbency bias. According to, Congress
Many Americans, lack basic citizen knowledge of democracy. Constituents make the conscious effort to not be informed in politics. When they are uninformed it’s hard to make a political decision, therefore they are left voting for someone they’ve heard about in the news.
Name recognition is a big part of why incumbents tend to be reelected.
Due to the lack of American citizen knowledge in democracy there is also an incumbency bias. According to, Congress