POLS 1101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 12: Pocket Veto, Congressional Research Service, Perjury
24 Dec 2020
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A delegate acts in the best interests of their constituents. A trustee is less bound to this and makes the decisions they think best. Sociological representation - when representatives have similar backgrounds to their constituents. Agency representation - when constituents have hire and fire power over their representatives. Congress is not socially representative of the population. The idea of a representative as an agent is similar to a lawyer and client. The advantage of incumbency decreases chances of congress becoming more diverse. But because some members retire each year, turnover is greater than incumbency rates predict. Gerrymandering - using redistricting to the advantage of a party. Due to this, some states let commissions do redistricting. The supreme court had previously declined to rule on this. The supreme court had ruled that race cannot be the predominant factor in redistricting. Pork-barrel legislation - direct patronage - specifies a project to be funded for a particular district.
