POLS 1113 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Richard Fenno
Document Summary
Richard fenno, an american political scientist, posed a question that has become known as fenno"s. Americans love their own representatives: reelection rates for house incumbents have increased steadily since the late 18th century, by the late 1970s, representatives served six terms on average. In 2001, rep. john dingell (d-mi) began serving his 23rd term in the house (the longest tenure for any current member), and sen. robert byrd (d-wv) was serving his eighth term in the senate. Americans hate congress as a whole: since 1974, approval ratings for congress have hovered around 30, during the best economic times, congress" approval rating is slightly above 50% Reelection rates: house members are currently reelected at rates of 90-95, senators are reelected at rates of 80-85% Lawmaking suffers from five weaknesses: inefficiency. Eighty to ninety percent of all bills die in committee: vulnerability to opposition. Those opposed to a bill can kill it at many points before it becomes a law.
