Annie Brown AP Government Lanahan Assignment Running for a position of power is a tough thing to do. There are many things to worry about: your image, your policies, and, especially, your voters. While running for Congress is not as stressful as running for president, it has it own set of obstacles: making a “home style,” representing the people well, and making useful public policy. Listening to the words of Richard Fenno, John Ellwood, and Eric Patashnik can make doing these things a whole lot easier. In his article, “Homestyle,” Richard Fenno seeks to answer one question: How does an elected representative's view of his/her district affect his or her political behavior? To answer this question, Fenno identifies what a Member of Congress’s …show more content…
They pose the many different sides that past presidents and politicians have taken to the debate. Certain presidents, like George H.W. Bush brought up the issue in a comical way by suggesting congress cut programs like “asparagus research” or “mink reproduction”. The question that Ellwood and Patashnik are trying to answer in the article is whether pork is helpful or harmful, or important or wasteful. Throughout the article opinions about the role of pork, which is legislation that allows representatives to bring jobs and money to their districts, in government of many different presidents, congressman, and politicians are mentioned. At one point in the article it says, “Rather, we think that pork, doled out strategically, can help to sweeten an otherwise unpalatable piece of legislation.” There are always going to be parts of a bill or program that a congressman may not agree with. However, when they have the opportunity to receive funding on a state project, it distracts them from the things they did not agree with, and creates a compromise of sorts. Many people argue that this pork-barrel spending is what is causing our nation’s debt, and argue that it should not be allowed. But, then again, if funding for a bridge or lighthouse in their home state is taken away, those same people will be wishing the pork-barrel funds were there to help
In his article “Boss Hog: The Dark Side of America’s Top Pork Producer,” (Rolling Stone Magazine, December 14, 2006) Jeff Teitz reports that not only are millions upon millions of pigs being abused and slaughtered each year by America’s largest pork producer, but, in turn, the waste produced by those pigs is polluting, destroying, and even killing others. Teitz begins by revealing that Smithfield Foods, the world’s most profitable pork processor, killed 27 million hogs last year, which is roughly equivalent to the entire human populations of America’s thirty-two largest cities. As Teitz delves deeper into statistics, he explains that more fecal matter is produced from half a million pigs at one Smithfield subsidiary than the 1.5 million residents of Manhattan, and in just one year Smithfield’s total waste discharge is enough to fill four Yankee Stadiums.
The excerpt “Congress: The Electoral Connection” written by David Mayhew centers around the fundamental arguments that discusses how members of congress are self-interested for reelection. Mayhew further elaborates on his idea by discussing the electoral activities that congress members devote their time into and resource from, which are advertising, credit-claiming, and position taking. Mayhew’s excerpt further examines the framework in how congress operates which contributes to the explanation of how and why congress partakes in the certain electoral activities.
Richard F. Fenno believes that congressmen struggle to find a balance between a Washington career and a constituency career. Fenno obtained various experiences from several members of congress who he accompanied as they traveled about their districts. Through this journey he gained knowledge about the various home styles of the members of congress. Homestyle should always be consistent because an inconsistent home style will not produce a good image to constituents. According to Fenno, a home style has three components: allocation of personal resources and those of his office, presentation of self to others, and explanation of Washington activities.
What motivates members of Congress to act the way they do? Mayhew would argue in Congress: The Electoral Connection that members of Congress are ‘’single-minded re-election seekers’’ and that re-election is their one and only goal. Whilst the assumption that all members of Congress are ‘‘single-minded re-election seekers’’ does go some distance in analysing the motives behind members of Congress, the reading fails to take into account the other key goals of members of Congress. Other goals include good policy and future career positions. It is important to remember that the achievement of both re-election and other goals are not exclusive, members of Congress often are motivated by more than one goal.
In the past century, people continued to express an increasingly discontent view of Congress especially true when one looks back before the Clinton Impeachment debacle As the size of the nation and the number of congressman have grown, the congress has come under attack by both public influences and congressman themselves. Yet looking at one congressman's relationship with his or her constituents, it would be hard to believe that this is the branch of government that has come under suspect. In “If Ralph Nader says congress is 'The broken branch,' how come we love our congressman so much?” author Richard F. Fenno, Jr., provides insight into this view and why, through congress coming under fire, constituents still feel positively about there congressmen. Although congress is often criticized, its fine tuned functioning is essential in checking the power of congress without hindering the making of legislation.
Throughout The Butcher’s Tale: Murder and Anti-Semitism in a German Town, the murder of Ernst Winter in Konitz is very much a reflection of the overall attitudes of many Europeans during the early 20th century. It was clear that once the anti-Semitic attitudes started to become prominent in society, they spiraled out of control and started to take over entire communities. The Jewish people were blamed for crimes they did not commit, were excluded from society, and suffered from acts of violence and hate speech. Wild stories began to be spread all over town and people started to believe everything they heard, even if there was no substance behind it. This caused lots of problems in Germany, as well as Europe in general, since many people got
Davidson, Roger H., Walter J. Oleszek, and Frances E. Lee. Congress and Its Members. Washington, D.C.: CQ, 2009. Print.
Explaining Policy Differences Using Political Culture. "West Texas A&M University. Web. 20 Mar. 2011. http://www.wtamu.edu/~jrausch/polcul.html "THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC MILIEU OF TEXAS POLITICS."
Regulating what the government should control and what they should not was one of the main arguments our founding fathers had to deal with when creating our nation, and to this day this regulation is one of the biggest issues in society. Yet, I doubt our founding fathers thought about the idea that the food industry could one day somewhat control our government, which is what we are now facing. Marion Nestles’ arguments in the book Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health deal with how large food companies and government intertwine with one another. She uses many logical appeals and credible sources to make the audience understand the problem with this intermingling. In The Politics of Food author Geoffrey Cannon further discusses this fault but with more emotional appeals, by use of personal narratives. Together these writers make it dramatically understandable why this combination of the food industry and politics is such a lethal ordeal. However, in The Food Lobbyists, Harold D. Guither makes a different viewpoint on the food industry/government argument. In his text Guither speaks from a median unbiased standpoint, which allows the reader to determine his or her own opinions of the food industries impact on government, and vise versa.
American consumers think of voting as something to be done in a booth when election season comes around. In fact, voting happens with every swipe of a credit card in a supermarket, and with every drive-through window order. Every bite taken in the United States has repercussions that are socially, politically, economically, and morally based. How food is produced and where it comes from is so much more complicated than the picture of the pastured cow on the packaging seen when placing a vote. So what happens when parents are forced to make a vote for their children each and every meal? This is the dilemma that Jonathan Safran Foer is faced with, and what prompted his novel, Eating Animals. Perhaps one of the core issues explored is the American factory farm. Although it is said that factory farms are the best way to produce a large amount of food at an affordable price, I agree with Foer that government subsidized factory farms use taxpayer dollars to exploit animals to feed citizens meat produced in a way that is unsustainable, unhealthy, immoral, and wasteful. Foer also argues for vegetarianism and decreased meat consumption overall, however based on the facts it seems more logical to take baby steps such as encouraging people to buy locally grown or at least family farmed meat, rather than from the big dogs. This will encourage the government to reevaluate the way meat is produced. People eat animals, but they should do so responsibly for their own benefit.
In conclusion, Congressional representatives should be limited to serving two terms. Limiting the terms of career politicians will promote fresh ideas and reduce the possibility of decisions being made for self-interest. It is in our Country’s best interest that our legislator’s decisions are equitable and that compromises are not made to ensure their own or their parties stay in office.
political districts - he invented it!” Daily News. New York Daily News. 14 March 2014.
South University Online. (2013). POL2076: American Government: Week 4: People and Politics—Interest Groups. Retrieved from http://myeclassonline.com
Palin criticized the proposed limited on junk food in schools in Pennsylvania, which was suppose to help encourage parents to give their children healthy snacks. The governments proposal was poorly prepared based on the fact that private schools would not even be affected. I believe Warner uses this story of Palin because it grabs attention of the audience and emphasizes that the government has lack of knowledge of the obesity problem. In Warner’s discussion of the governments ideas of removing junk food, one controversial issue has been that the government lacks knowledge. On one hand, Warner argues Palin’s twitter account, uses uneducated language. On the other hand, she contends it should be an individual’s right to eat what they choose. Others even maintain that the government should do something about this unhealthy American lifestyle. My own view is that taking away cookies is wrong because Americans will continue to eat junk food at their own will. When the school doesn’t provide them, they can still get it elsewhere. As much as the government continues to stress eating healthy, people will still continue to make their own choices. Personal choices will always come first. I believe the government has the right to take responsibility to educate people about eating habits but that should be it. Parents should step up and change there attitudes as much as they can. This society relies on easy and fast meals. Ultimately, what is at stake is health and people must change attitudes towards fast food for healthy lifestyles to improve. It 'll take time and patience to get all Americans to change attitudes to living a some what healthy
Light, Paul C., and Christine L. Nemacheck. "Chapter 7 Congress." Government by the People, Brief 2012 Election Edition, Books a La Carte New Mypoliscilab With Etext Access Card Package. By David B. Magleby. 2012 Election Edition ed. N.p.: Pearson College Div, 2013. N. pag. Print.