Constituency Representation in Congress The View from Capitol Hill [Paperback]

Why legislators in the US House see only a few active and resource-rich constituents in their district.This book draws on cognitive psychology to examine empirically the important questions of which constituents legislators see when they look at their district and how these limited perceptions affect their behavior in the U.S. House. Legislators see few constituents in their district relevant to a given issue, and their views of the constituents in their districts are systematically shaped by financial contributions and constituency contact. These limited and biased perceptions determine legislators actions on Capitol Hill and result in flawed representation of constituents.This book draws on cognitive psychology to examine empirically the important questions of which constituents legislators see when they look at their district and how these limited perceptions affect their behavior in the U.S. House. Legislators see few constituents in their district relevant to a given issue, and their views of the constituents in their districts are systematically shaped by financial contributions and constituency contact. These limited and biased perceptions determine legislators actions on Capitol Hill and result in flawed representation of constituents.Congressional representation requires that legislators be aware of the interests of constituents in their districts and behave in ways that reflect the wishes of their constituents. But of the many constituents in their districts, who do legislators in Washington actually see, and who goes unseen? Moreover, how do these perceptions of constituents shape legislative behavior? This book answers these fundamental questions by developing a theory of legislative perception that leverages insights from cognitive psychology. Legislators are shown to see only a few constituents in their district on a given policy, namely those who donate to their campaigns and contact the legislative office, and fail to see many other relevant constlÃO