What is Congress’s role in American democracy?
About this video
A scholar explains that Congress is meant to be the branch most responsive to voters. House members face re-election every two years, and senators are now directly elected, so both listen closely to their constituents. Congress is also 'messy' because it is where competing interests and ideas in a democracy get worked out.
You'll be able to
- explain why Congress is more responsive to voters than the president or the Supreme Court.
- describe how two-year House terms make members accountable to their districts.
- explain why the 'messiness' of Congress can be seen as democracy in action.
Key words
- electorate
- All the people who are allowed to vote in an election.
- constituency
- The voters a member of Congress represents, such as the people in a House district.
- insulated
- Protected from outside pressure; here, less affected by what voters want.
- faction
- A group of people with shared interests who compete with other groups for influence.
Transcript
Congress, in its ideal form, is an institution that is going to be responsive to the electorate on a relatively permanent basis. It's not as insulated as the president. It's certainly not as insulated as the Supreme Court. In the House of Representatives, the problem we often talk about is often of virtue. Members come up for re-election every two years, so they're going to listen to what their constituency has to say. They're going to listen to different interests in their district, and they're not going to feel total freedom to act without being accountable to the people who will bring them into office. The Senate, since we've shifted to a system of directly electing senators, has functioned in a similar way. I think that's one of the benefits. The second benefit I often talk to students about is it's messy.
It embodies and represents the messiness of our democracy, the different interests and factions and competing ideological ideas that shape our polity. It's in Congress where you have to work these out. It's often extraordinarily difficult and frustrating, but that is literally democracy in action when the institution is working at its best.
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