congress #3 power of incumbents. 1.gerrymandering 2. malapportionment a.1 congressional district has...
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Congress #3Power of Incumbents
1. Gerrymandering 2. Malapportionment
A. 1 Congressional district has 500,000 people, a nearby Congressional district has 750,000 people
B. 1 Congressional district is primarily Republicans, a nearby congressional district has primarily Democrats
C. A state specifically creates a district to give Asians a majority in the district.
Incumbents: person in office • Get reelected over 90% of the time yet
Congress tends to have very low approval rates
Constituents• Voters tend to like their Congressperson
while disapproving of Congress as a whole
• WHY?
Incumbents usually win b/c…1. Name recognition: since they’ve run
before, ppl know who they are
2. MONEY: PACs give majority of $ to incumbents
3. Experience: they have “on the job” knowledge
4. Franking privilege: free mail to their constituents
5. Staffs: staffs are paid for• Service Strategy: use staffs to
answer phone calls, emails, etc – appeal to constituents
7. Credit for projects: Congress ppl can use gov money to create projects (road etc) in their home district / state
– Known as earmarks or pork barrel projects if they are considered wasteful
8. Districts?
– Do districts that are gerrymandered to safeguard a party also safeguard the incumbent?
– Safe seat: seats in Congress that are not competitive
Open Seat• No incumbent
• These tend to be competitive races
Incumbents aren’t always safe
• Coattails: Pres approval ratings affect Congress members– Since Obama’s approval is
low, many D’s in Congress got the boot!
• Midterm Elections: tend to be more about Pres approval and the Pres party tends to lose seats
• Scandals • S seats are more competitive since it’s
a larger area – more ppl to run & more powerful position
• HR seats are less competitive (and less expensive)