TOPIC #20 — CONGRESS AS A REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY:

THE CONCEPT OF REPRESENTATION

Q1.     Congress is intended to be both a representative and a legislative assembly. Do you see some contradictions between these two characteristics? For example, how would the imposition of term limits affect the representative character of Congress? How would the imposition of term limits affect the legislative effectiveness of Congress?

Q2.     In what different ways might we judge whether Congress as a whole is representative of the American people as a whole? Or whether an individual member of Congress is representative of his or her constituents (the people in the member’s district)? Does representativeness at the national level also achieve representativeness at the local level and vice versa?

Q3.     How does the demographic profile of Congress compare and contrast with the demographic profile of the American electorate?

Q4.     Suppose we really wanted Congress to be a “representative cross-section” of the American electorate. How then should members of Congress be selected?

Q5.     Remember that in the case of Gideon v. Wainwright, the Supreme Court held that criminal defendants are entitled to “representation” by counsel. What does the word “representation” mean in this context.?

representation vs. legislation

national vs. local (constituency) representation

representation as similarity (descriptive representation)

          demographic / personality / experiential / preferential characteristics

          term limits

          sample assembly (election by lot)

representation as agency

          distributive (or pork-barrel) politics

          casework

Edmund Burke, Speech to the Electors of Bristol

          delegate vs. trustee

          “Burkean dilemma”

          “delegate’s dilemma”