Representation in Congress
Are Representatives
“Representative”?
Category
Senate
House
Avg. Age
62
57
Women
20
80
Afr-Amer
2
43
Lawyers
55
156
Business
27
187
Education- 1 (Mark
21
H.S. Only Begich-AK)
How Wealthy Are They?
– Nearly 200 are millionaires
– 21 Senators are worth at least 3.1
million. (Mark Warner-VA. Worth
$96 mil
– 29 House members worth that
much. (Darrell Issa-CA. worth $330
mil.)
Are Representatives
“Representative”?
• Representatives are better educated and
wealthier than public.
• Who is interested in serving?
– Most are “self-starters”
– Fewer are “reluctants” – people urged by their
friends and family
OREGON REPS
Senators
Sen. Ron Wyden [D] (Lawyer)
Sen. Jeff Merkley [D] (National Security Analyst/OR. World Affairs
Council)
Representatives
1st — Rep. Suzanne Bonamici [D] (Lawyer)
2nd — Rep. Greg Walden [R] (Radio Station Owner in Gorge)
3rd — Rep. Earl Blumenauer [D] (Multnomah Co. Commissioner,
Portland City Councilman)
4th — Rep. Peter DeFazio [D] (Gerontologist)
5th — Rep. Kurt Schrader [D] (Veterinarian)
Three Roles of Representatives
• Delegate: a representative is a vessel, filled with the
views of their constituents (ie. Ron Wyden pushing
legislation allowing for more logging on federal
land)
• Trustee : a representative elected to make decisions
for people, in their best interest, regardless how they
feel (“Net Neutrality” or “CIA Investigation”)
• Politico: A person who acts as both, depending on
the situation
The Nature and Style of Representation
The Delegate Model of Representation
Legislators must “act in the same manner as the whole
body would act, were they present.”
–Thomas Paine (1776)
“To say the sovereignty rests in
the people, and that they have not a right to instruct and control
their representatives, is absurd to the last degree.”
Elbridge Gerry
The Trustee Model of Representation
The legislator should consider the will of the people, but
then should do what he or she thinks is best for the nation
as a whole and in the long term.
-Edmund Burke (1774) "his unbiased opinion, his mature judgment,
his enlightened conscience, he ought not to sacrifice to you, to any
man, or to any set of men living. ...”
Politico Model
The legislator should be a
trustee and vote how he sees
fit until the public gets
involved, at which point he
should return to the
delegate mode.
Conscience Model
The legislator is a delegate
most of the time, but if an issue
keeps her head off the pillow at
night, she turns into a trustee.
The Delegate
• For the delegate theory to work, representatives
must have some idea of what their constituents
want, which they do through…
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Polling
Questionnaires
Election returns
Constituent profile
Mail and phone calls to office
Home style
“Squeaky wheel gets the grease” (most visible
problems; ie health care’s impact on business)
The Trustee
• Representatives must act as a trustee when they
vote on arcane issues that the public does not
follow (ie., research and development subsidies,
aid to foreign nations)
• These are perhaps the most difficult votes to
make for a delegate-minded representative, who
is afraid that a vote will unexpectedly activate a
group in the district against the representative