Representation

                The representative role of Congress raises a deeper question as to ‘which model should Congress follow when seeking to represent the people?’ Does it necessarily entail the trustee model, or the resemblance model? Moreover, are members of the House too responsive to the wishes of the people? Let us consider each in turn ...

                The trustee model stipulates that an elected representative follows their own conscience rather than slavishly following public opinion. The judgment of elected representatives is therefore given greater importance than the view of the demos. This is based on the reasonable assumption that a member of Congress is more knowledge about the issues presented than the public as a whole. A member of Congress may well have access to information unavailable in the public domain, particularly when the issue in question relates to national security in some form. To have such information within the public domain could easily lead to panic and civil unrest. The trustee model adopts a largely negative view of democracy dating back to Ancient Greece (such as Plato’s observation that the “mass are unwise”) and was certainly part of the founding fathers mindset. Of the two chambers, the Senate was conceived as that which would most closely operate on the basis of the trustee model of representation.

                The alternative to the trustee model is that of a delegate. Under this system a member of Congress would therefore listen to public demand, and then seek to implement the will of the people. The delegate model places greater faith in the ability of the public to reach a considered judgment than that of the trustee model. As you are no doubt aware, the delegate model bears much greater relevance to members of the lower chamber than the Senate. Members of each congressional district must face the electorate once every two years. Inevitably, they will be much more sensitive to the wishes of their constituents than members of the upper chamber who only face the electorate once every six years. Critics of Congress claim that members are too responsive to public opinion, sacrificing the long-term national interest in order to regain power in an environment of a semi-permanent electoral campaign. Rather than offer their wise judgment, members of Congress must provide pork to their constituents and respond to the public’s prejudice.

                The extent to which Congress resembles America opens up a genuinely intriguing debate for those interested in American politics. It is an undeniable fact that Congress does not accurately resemble American society. Whilst progress has certainly been made on this front, the resemblance model does not entirely apply to the national legislature. For instance, the number of women in Congress is much lower than the population as a whole. At the time of writing just 20 Senators and 78 members of the House are women. That said, these figures represent the highest ever number of women in Congress. The figures for ethnic minorities are also well below the population as a whole. For example, there are just 34 Hispanic and 42 African-American members of Congress. That said; the underrepresentation of women and other minorities does not necessarily mean that their interests are being ignored. A white male member of Congress can represent the interests of women and ethnic minorities. Indeed, they may well secure considerable support from such voters (particularly candidates from the Democrats).

It must also be noted that proposed solutions to the problem (such as majority-minority districts in the House) may be unjustifiable. Majority-minority districts date back to the early-1990s and could be described as a form of gerrymandering. This practice raises similar questions to that of affirmative action. Both could be said to politicize skin color and might also be considered patronizing to minorities. All one can say with certainty is that the proportion of black congressional members in the House is significantly higher than the number in the Senate. Indeed, it is surely worth noting that Barack Obama was only the third black member of the Senate. It should also be noted that black members of the House may well have chosen not to seek election to the Senate because re-districting gives them an obvious advantage.