| Republicans and Democrats: A Tale of Two Bases
Barone, Michael
The American, September 15, 2009, online edition
"Our representative government is also an electoral democracy, and the actions and decisions of elected representatives usually have some relationship to the districts which have elected them and which, in most cases, they hope will re-elect them. Much of the analysis of the relationship between members of the House of Representatives and their districts focuses on marginal districts and politically vulnerable members, who in some situations cast decisive votes on legislation. But results in the House are more often determined by the leadership of the majority party, which controls the House Rules Committee and thus which measures and amendments come to the floor." The author writes that "[o]n Capitol Hill, Democrats are much more beholden to their base than are Republicans."
Michael Barone is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
Go to the article at:
http://www.american.com/archive/2009/september/republicans-and-democrats-a-tale-of-two-bases
C8/06-09. Posted October 16, 2009
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