1. The Legislative Branch
Congressional Elections
US Government
Mrs. Lacks

2. Congressional Elections
Congressional unfavorable ratings have always been much lower than that of Presidents, including Nixon and GWB
November 2013: 9% approval
Avg Presidential approval: 54%
overall Presidential lowest: 27% - Nixon
At the same time, typically 96% of incumbents in the House win re-election; 92% of incumbents in the Senate win re-election

3. Approval Ratings Presidential approval ratings over time (Gallop)
Congressional approval ratings over time (Gallup)

4. Congressional Elections
Why unfavorable?
Most Americans go negative if their economic situation hasn’t improved since an election
Most Americans can’t name their representative and senators

5. Congressional Elections
Why do they get re-elected if so unfavorable?
Incumbents have name recognition; challenger is normally unknown
Challengers have to spend a tremendous amount of money to simply develop name recognition

6. Incumbency Advantages
Franking privilege: allows those already in office to mail newsletters informing their constituents of their accomplishments
Self-generated report cards – always favorable
Tax payer pays for this at no cost to Congressman
Challenger doesn’t have this luxury (direct mailing is expensive)

7. Incumbency Advantages
Each Congressman has a staff; a challenger probably cannot afford to hire and keep a dedicated staff (relies on volunteers, or people sent from their party)
Incumbents get more support from Political Action Committees (PACs), the financial muscle of interest groups

8. Favorability & Elections
Other reasons why incumbents almost always win (until they decide to retire)
Absence of term limits (22nd Amendment places term limits only on the President)
Seniority lends itself to committee leadership positions.. the longer you serve, the more likely one is to be able to influence legislation for your state or district

9. Favorability & Elections
safe seat: incumbent runs with no challenger (opposition party doesn’t even put up a candidate because incumbent is so popular)
Open election: all candidates are new or running for the first time
Marginal seat: winner wins by slight margin (usually happens in open elections)
Sophomore surge: having at least one term in

10. Pork Barrel Legislation

11. Pork Barrel Legislation
Aka Ear Marks
MCs push Congress for money for projects in their district/state
Often gets them re-elected
Questionable?
Money is from taxpayers nationwide
States already receive grants from the federal government

12. Pork Barrel Legislation
Banned in House by Speaker Boehner + President Obama stated in his SOTU to veto any legislation that included them
Ban still stands (with loopholes)
In 2016, many MCs pushed to reinstate them
As of Nov 2016, Paul Ryan stalled the vote on whether or not to do so