Relationship between the American People and Congress

Relationship between the American People and Congress

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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.

Fenno begins by relating the information that he had followed ten representatives home and had heard much praise from their constituents. He then goes into an analysis of how different one feels towards members of this institution and the institution itself. He states that one has different standards towards the institution and its members. “…we apply different standards of judgment, those we apply to the individual being less demanding than those we apply to the institution” (385) He goes on ...