Institutional Analysis
Lecture 4: The electoral connection
and the organization of Congress
Mayhew’s Central Argument
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Hypothesis
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Mayhew are that members of Congress
spend the bulk of their time enagaged in
reelection activities.
Moreover, the institutional arrangements of
Congress—weak parties, strong
committees, reflect members’ reelection
goals.
Assumptions
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Members want reelection
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They may be interested in other things like
making good policy, prestige, power or
fame.
But they first have to get elected.
Constituents homogeneous

Can clearly define a single preference
across issues.
Activities
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Advertising—
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Creating a favorable image of self
Emphasis is place on personal qualities
Credit Claiming
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Member can personally claim responsibility for
government action
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Policy is divisible
Members actively intervene on the behalf of
constituents—I.e. social security check, veterans
benefits.
Position Taking
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Public statements on policies, like roll call votes
Legislative organization
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Offices
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Mailings
Other office resources
Committees
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Staff members
Franking Privileges
Good platform for position taking
Particularized benefits
Allows for a division of labor among members
Political Parties
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Parties help overcome collective action Problem
they help build coalitions
Predictions
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Policy should be universalistic
Deference to committees
Political parties weak; they only
facilitate logrolling.
Members maximize reelection by
catering to the median voter in district
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by picking policies, advertising and claiming
credit to ensure a majority of votes.
Test predictions
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Maximize reelection by catering to
median voter
Problem
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What if members of Congress do not have
a single set of constituents but many as
suggested by Fenno
Would this prediction still hold?
Median Voter
_
X
Median Voter
Tension between general and
primary elections
Median primary
Voter
Median Voter
_
Xp
_
X
What happens to members’
election strategies?
How will they seek reelection?
 How will they organize
Congress to pass laws
 What will policies look like?
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