Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Jones, David R
• McDermott, Monika L

Titel

Americans, Congress, and Democratic Responsiveness: Public Evaluations of Congress and Electoral Consequences

Erscheinungsjahr

2010

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

PAIS Index

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Voters may not know the details of specific policies, but they have a general sense of how well Congress serves their own interests and how closely politicians pay attention to public approval ratings. This volume seeks to demonstrate that both politicians and voters take a hand in reconfiguring the House and Senate when the majority party is unpopular, as was the case during the 2008 elections. Candidates who continue to run under the party banner distance themselves from party ideology, while voters throw hard-line party members out of office. In this way, public approval and democratic responsibility directly affect policy shifts and turnovers at election time. Contrary to the common view of Congress as an insulated institution, Congress is indeed responsive to the people of the United States.