Ramsey 1

Hunter Ramsey

Jackie Burr

English 1010, Section 5.

22 December 2017

Congress: Incumbency, Voter satisfaction, Changes for Improvement.

Utah Senator Orrin Hatch has been serving in the Senate for seven terms, or forty-two

years. He is the longest standing republican senator in United States history. Utahns have re-

elected him time and time again, but for what reasons?

The Legislative branch of the United States Government, the House of Representatives

and the Senate, has received a disapproval as of late from registered voters in the United States.

Yet, Incumbents running for office continue to have great success. Why is this so? Is this an

issue that causes congress to run less efficiently? Is problem solvable?

Problems in Congress

Congress has debated many issues over the past year and have not made much progress

in the eyes of the public. The New York Times writes about the problems congress has yet to

solve this year by saying:

Nine million children covered by the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP,

have been waiting since Sept. 30 for Congress to renew the program. States are struggling

to keep the program afloat; on Monday Colorado began sending letters to the families of

75,000 children and pregnant women, warning them that after Jan. 31 they're on their

own.About 700,000 young people born to undocumented immigrants and at risk of

deportation await a legislative alternative to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
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program, which, thanks to President Trump, is scheduled to end in March.Victims of

Western wildfires and Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria are still waiting for tens of

billions of dollars in additional federal aid promised weeks ago. As opioid addiction

continues to kill hundreds of Americans every week, Congress hasn't approved any

significant new money to fight the epidemic. (Congress)

With the new tax bill being pushed by President Trump, congress is almost forced into

setting these issues aside to please the president. These actions of Trump not only affect his

reputation but also affects Individual Congressmen’s reputation towards their constituents.

Congress is always arguing about issues that voters are taking interest in.

Incumbency

Discussing the reasons that incumbents have the advantage when running for re-election

starts with the perks of gaining office in the first place. One substantial perk includes that

“Members of Congress . . . have travel allowances for trips between Washington and their

constituencies as well as trips inside of their districts” (Mott). Compared to those who are

running against incumbents this perk is a substantial economic advantage. Another perk of being

an incumbent is that “Sitting members of congress are almost universally recognized in their

districts” (Mott). Being visible and having the reputation of the congressmen from your area is

hard for voters to give to someone else. This also helps incumbents improve their odds of re-

election.

Incumbents have the ability to spend more money. In the chart below, it puts into

perspective how staggering the difference in funding is between incumbents and people

challenging them. Incumbents spend about triple the amount of money in the U.S. Senate and
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quadruple in the House of Representatives. This raises the difficulty for any challenger to gain

the seat in congress. In total each the Senate and the House of Representatives spend over

$5,000,000 in their election campaigns.

Finance Stats for Election Campaigns in Congress

Candidate Status U.S. House U.S. Senate

Incumbents $456,859,509 $223,964,295

Challengers $112,498,172 $79,852,117

Open-Seat Candidates $127,051,491 $238,890,389

TOTAL $696,409,172 $542,706,801

Fig. 1 Data towards campaign spending from the Federal Election Commision.

Incumbents have also become well regarded inside of their areas of representation. This

should bring high reelection rates with it. Challengers are often deflected by the public

satisfaction for the incumbent (Stone, 183). Being highly respected by voters encourages

incumbents to continue to run for re-election. William A.McClenaghan, in Magruder’s American

Government, also implements the idea of the “Bandwagon effect”. A person joining the winning

team in sports other sports fans call them a bandwagon. This is also true for people who vote for

those who are winning elections (226). This also encourages voters to vote for people who have

won past elections which again raises the odds for incumbents.
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Public Opinion and Voter Satisfaction

Lawrence R. Jacobs, the chair of political studies at the university of Minnesota, in his

article Congressional leadership of public opinion defines public opinion and the effects it has on

their representatives by saying “public opinion appears to shape the collective behavior of

Congress, while its influence on the substantive policy decisions of individual members is quite

modest.” (21) McClenaghan describes public opinion by saying “public opinion can be described

in this way: those attitudes held by a significant number of people of matters of government and

politics” (Magruder, 215).

Sadly this graphic would not copy over. 

Fig. 2 Data for satisfaction of presidents in past elections.

In the past two presidential elections voter satisfaction has become dismal. This can also

be related towards satisfaction of congressmen which begs the question of why are voters

dissatisfied with congress or their congressmen but continue to re-elect incumbents with such a

high percentage? This question became known as Fenno’s paradox when Richard Fenno used his

book to discuss this idea that people have a general disapproval of congress but re-elect their

representatives.

On the flip side of public opinion and voter satisfaction, Jack Corbett explains the

viewpoint of politicians and their ideas of public opinion. This article struggles with the idea that

the american people are moving towards a “disenchantment” (Corbett, 468) of congresses
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elected officials. This disenchantment can also be linked towards the graphic above. Corbett

creates a response to those who voice their strong opinions of negativity towards elected

officials. “As politicians concede, decision-making creates winners and losers, and it is

impossible to make everybody happy, although many claim to try” (Corbett, 481). Politicians

face opposition, controversy, and resistance on a daily basis corbett argues they are people like

those who voted for them (473). But the true definition of public opinion can not be counted by

any polls, or figures. It is rather a personal question that is needed to be asked to every voter to

America (Mott).

Implementations for improvement

One of the most common ideas is that of term limits in the House of Representatives and

the Senate like the President has. It will help congressmen like Orrin Hatch be limited to only a

couple terms instead of a forty-two year length of being a senator. Justice Clarence Thomas,

author of the dissenting opinion, when wondered how term limits could be anti-democratic when

they were imposed by the people themselves, instructed "the constitution is simply silent on this

question." (Defending). When the constitution is silent, does it raise call to action to

anyone? This explains why term limits for congressmen have not happened.

In the USA today Interview, Cal Thomas, a conservative columnist, brings into view a

CNN poll that states “78% of the public think our system of government is broken” (Sickness).

The two interviewers continue in controversy until Bob, the interviewer, presents this idea from

Thomas’s suggestions, “So if a president is allowed to serve only eight years, members of

Congress should be similarly term-limited. Four two-year terms in the House and two six-year

terms in the Senate is plenty” (Sickness). This simple term-limits plan may be what congress
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needs to improve their reputation and public approval vision. The only way to find out is if a

congressmen is willing to humble themselves enough to plan his or her own limits to their job.
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Works Cited

"Congress, Time Is Running Out." New York Times, 3 Dec. 2017, p. 8(L). Global Issues in Context,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A517023536/GIC?u=pioneer&xid=1203a593. Accessed 10

Dec. 2017

Corbett, Jack. "Someone Has to Do It: Towards a Practical Defence of Politicians." Contemporary

Politics, vol. 21, no. 4, Dec. 2015, pp. 468-484. EBSCOhost, 1

`doi:10.1080/13569775.2015.1013290.

"Defending Democracy from the People." Alberta Report / Newsmagazine, vol. 22, no. 28, 26 June

1995, p. 13. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9507264564&site=ehost-live.

Jacobs, Lawrence R., et al. "Congressional Leadership of Public Opinion." Political Science Quarterly

(Academy of Political Science), vol. 113, no. 1, Spring98, p. 21. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=599360&site=ehost-live.

McClenagan, William A. “Magurder’s American Government.” Boston, Massachusetts: Pearson, 2010.

Print.

Mott, Ph.D. Jonathan D. “--Why Are Sitting Members of Congress Almost Always Reelected?”

ThisNation.com, N.p.; n.d.; Web. December 12, 2017.

"Sickness: Incumbency the Cure: Term Limits." USA Today, n.d. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=J0E030582157006&site=ehost-live.

Stone, Walter J., et al. "Incumbency Reconsidered: Prospects, Strategic Retirement, and Incumbent

Quality in U.S. House Elections." Journal of Politics, vol. 72, no. 1, Jan. 2010, pp. 178-190.

EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=47394185&site=ehost-live.
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"The Ups and Downs of Voter Satisfaction in U.S. Presidential Candidates, 1992 to 2016." Global

Issues in Context Online Collection, Gale, 2016. Global Issues in Context,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/KQUGXV694086355/GIC?u=pioneer&xid=68a419a2.

Accessed 12 Dec. 2017.