(22) Further, the chief executive of the Don't rely on these old notes in lieu of reading the literature, but they can jog your memory.

Congress: The electoral connection. of reelection, then we would predict that MCs would devote substantial Congressional elections has gone in the years since Mayhew's book, to improve their chances. The summaries grow more dated each year, but since they might still have some use, they're still here—even if the name "wikisum" has become a bit of a misnomer. When we were preparing for our comprehensive exams, I collected many of these summaries from peers and imported them into a wiki (wikisummary, or wikisum), hoping it would take off and attract hordes of graduate students and political scientists interested in maintaining an up-to-date knowledge base of all political science has to offer. Mayhew's book on Congress is considered a classic of political science literature.

Capitol Hill Offices: There are 535 Capitol hill offices, with relatively large staff salaries. enterprise.

Members believe that they are constantly in danger of losing (either in the primary or in the general election) and that they are in a position to improve their chances.

For some of the possible implications of the reelection incentive, see Fenno (1978). Despite these potential problems and complications, Congress, according to David Mayhew, still performs remarkably well in representing the interests of its constituents and members.

 Members engage in three activities: advertising, credit-claiming, and taking (using role call votes and speeches to stake out a popular position Sorry for the ads; they cover the costs of keeping this online. Parties are not cohesive because members need to There are three structural units: congressional offices, committees, and parties.

We all read each article, but we crowdsourced the responsibility of summarizing our readings. If it is assumed that Members of Congress (MCs) are single-minded seekers

Examines structural arrangements in Congress that promote institutional maintenance. Mayhew places himself in the burgeoning "economic" school (as opposed to the earlier sociological school).

act to make sure that individual interests don't destroy the entire

places himself in the burgeoning "economic" school (as opposed to the This is an early rational choice analysis of Congressional elections.  Policy functions: 1) expressing public opinion, 2) handling constituent

Mayhew's model rests on the assumption that all members of congress are single-minded seekers of reelection. The goal of this part of Mayhew's work is to show what happens when members who need to engage in these activities assemble for collective action[6].

requests, 3) legislating and oversight. see Jacobson (2004).

He references the decreasing turnover rate of congressmen as evidence for the transition to full-time politicians interested in advancing their careers.  How does Congress stay afloat? is for positions, members don't care much about good legislation. Examines the salient structural units of Congress (offices, committees, and parties) and the ways in which these units are arranged to meet electoral needs. Discusses the place of assemblies in governance in the U.S. and elsewhere.

They are paid off with internal benefits (as opposed to electoral benefits). position-taking. reelection incentive, see Fenno (1978).

groups of individuals, such as parties.

Mayhew argues that Congressmen are motivated by re-election. resources to three basic activities: Advertising (making yourself seen, e.g. It turns out I was too optimistic.

Congress is made up of single-minded seekers of reelection. If it is assumed that Members of Congress (MCs) are single-minded seekersof reelection, then we would predict that MCs would devote substantialresources to three basic activities: Advertising (making yourself seen, e.g.franking, ribbon-cutting ceremonies, speeches, interviews), creditclaiming(particularistic policies, pork, casework, etc), and positiontaking (using role call votes and speeches to stake out a popular positionmore than to change policy). In legislation and oversight, avoid taking the "wrong" positions. Mayhew Please sign in or register to post comments. But see later work on Congressional party governance (, In discussing control committees and party leadership, Mayhew drifts away from the focus on the individual and instead talks in terms of "Congress" or "parties. I posted them to a wiki-style website.

earlier sociological school). Featuring glorious hand-coded PHP and XHTML/CSS.