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+"Congress: The Electoral Connection" by David R Mayhew
+
+The Congressman's primary goal is to get reelected.
+Their "electoral needs" are serviced well by the structural institutions
+of Congress:
+- There is very little zero-sum conflict in Congress, so congressmen can
+ make headway for their constituents' issues without infringement
+- Congressional offices provide a useful base of operations for campaign
+ management and for developing platform/research. Staffed evenly.
+- Committees act severally
+ - Position-taking committees: let congressmen claim platform
+ - House Un-American Activities Committee
+ - House Education and Labor Committees
+ - Foreign Policy Committee
+ - Particularized benefits:
+ - Diffuse cost, concentrated benefits (taxes -> farm, e.g.)
+ - Usually universalist: everyone gets their share of spending on
+ urban renewal, or tax cuts, or public works
+ - Divide up labor and allow credit-claiming:
+ - "I put that bill through committee"
+ - "That was my amendment."
+ - Also allows speaking on the floor based on bills
+- Parties
+ - Fluid bodies that help with bloc-making.
+ - Party leaders are brokerers and agenda-setters
+ - But individual congressmen "vote their constituencies."
+
+Edmunk Burke's Speech to the Electors of Bristol
+
+He wasn't elected by the people, instead by his friends in the
+government, since the people don't have a vote and power flows from the
+crown.
+But he does feel responsible to the people in a half-related sense.
+He will deeply consider their issues and consider their opinions with
+weight, but he will exercise his own judgment for he believes the
+parliament is a body of deliberation, not inclination.
+
+Burke also believes that national weal takes a front seat to local
+interests, so he is also disconnected from his voters in that way.
+
+The American system somewhat models this, but is now more direct.