Frederick Congressional Representation & Constituents

The Case for Increasing the U.S. House of Representatives
1. Auflage 2009
ISBN: 978-1-135-19461-1
Verlag: CRC Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 184 Seiten

Reihe: Controversies in Electoral Democracy and Representation

The U.S. House of Representatives has been frozen at 435 members for almost a century, and in that time the nation’s population has grown by more than 200 percent. With the number of citizens represented by each House member now dramatically larger, is a major consequence of this historical disparity a diminished quality of representation?

Brian Frederick uses empirical data to scrutinize whether representation has been undermined by keeping a ceiling on the number of seats available in the House. He examines the influence of constituency size on several metrics of representation—including estimating the effects on electoral competition, policy responsiveness, and citizen contact with and approval of their representatives—and argues that now is the time for the House to be increased in order to better represent a rapidly growing country.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Frederick, Brian

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Studien zu einzelnen Ländern und Gebieten
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Systeme Demokratie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Why Study the Size of the House? 2. Debating the Size of the House 3. The Growth of House District Populations and Electoral Competition 4. Constituents: How Many is Too Many? 5. House Constituency Size and Voting Patterns 6. Public Opinion on the Size of the House 7. The Size of the House: Does it Really Matter?

Über Autor(innen)

Brian Frederick is an assistant professor of political science at Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts.