The American Public’s Disapproval of Congress
It is widely accepted among political scientists that the American public commonly holds Congress in contempt and criticizes their every action. The people often feel disconnected from their local representatives and Senators and find it easy to blame them for anything they believe stems from their legislative choices. The cause for such misplaced disapproval, however, is difficult to isolate meaning this phenomenon is open for interpretation.
The articles by Hibbing & Morse (Ch. 1), Brady & Theriault (Ch. 2), and Stimson (Ch.3) all examine different explanations as to why the American public blatantly disapproves of Congress. Hibbing & Morse argue that the public dislikes Congress’s transparency and the actual process of government. Brady & Theriault claim that the controversial decisions made by the political elite cause mass disapproval. Finally, Stimson postulates that approval of Congress is directly tied to public’s judgment of the country‘s prosperity.
There are, however, a few similarities among the three articles that aim to explain why the American public dislikes Congress. First, all three articles are generally in agreement that the American people make decisions based upon the little information that they know about the legislative process. As Brady & Theriault point out, “a more informed, educated American citizenry would not evaluate Congress as poorly as it does.” Each article bases their research on the public’s knowledge of the government and they each recognize that the public understands very little, leading them to confuse informed discussion for ‘haggling and bickering’ (Hibbing & Morse).
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Additionally, each author acknowledges that national outcomes are a major element in determining Congress’s approval. That is to say, positive results generally yield support and negative results almost always generate dissatisfaction. Nevertheless, each article takes a different approach that attempts to explain the public’s indifference towards Congress.
In the Hibbing & Morse article, the core argument states that the public perceptions of the processes involved in the political system are the root of the public’s dissatisfaction towards Congress. In recent times, the approval rating among the public stands at an all-time low, which the articles presumes is because Americans tend to dislike nearly all of the democratic processes involved in common legislation practices. Hibbing & Morse reinforce this claim by stating that the democratic processes associated with Congress “often reveal our lack of certainty, often remind us of our disagreements, and are seldom speedy.” They go on to clarify that although Americans despise open debate and methodical alliance building and demand quick, clear decisions, they are in by no means looking for “authoritarian streaks“ but rather seek “stealth democracy.” The American public wants the opportunity for involvement and to be taken seriously but at the same time, don’t actually want to become dragged into the arduous legislative process. They want to decisions to be made transparently but don’t want to see or hear anything that has to do with the laborious governing process. The people are satisfied with knowing that the opportunity to become involved exists; they don’t’ want to be told that they simply cannot participate. What it comes down to, according to Hibbing & Morse, is that just as the people want governmental services without the burden of taxes, they also want the benefits that result from legislative procedures without witnessing the actual processes.
While Hibbing & Morse attempt to frame the issue around Congress’s transparency and how the public dislikes witnessing the legislative process, Brady & Theriault claim that the real cause for public disapproval lies in the heart of the decisions made by legislators. They bring forth the idea that the choices actively made by congressmen and the likes cause the American people to garner a certain degree of hatred towards them. Brady & Theriault state that there are four major practices that lead to “congressional unpopularity.” The first is avoiding difficult votes by engaging in questionable legislative procedures. Congressmen typically utilize this tactic to dodge accountability for ill-received legislation. Second, members of Congress frequently utilize hyperbolic rhetoric to mislead the public. They either use “Perot’s quick-fix” rhetoric to claim an easy solution to hard problems or demonize opposing proposals by exaggerating the consequences. Next, legislators run for Congress by running against it. That is to say, they blame the institutions themselves in order to capitalize on collective mistakes to get ahead. Finally, and most importantly, the public image of Congress misrepresents the internal workings of the institution. While the extremists usually receive the most exposure in the mass media, the public does not get the chance to see the moderates who actually push legislation forward. For each and every one of these choices made by members of Congress, Brady & Theriault reassure that the American people have plenty of justifications for their disdain towards Congress.
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Unlike the Hibbing & Morse and Brady & Theriault articles that claim that the actions of Congress affect their likeability, Stimsons premise revolves around the notion that the approval of Congress fluctuates depending on the trust in government in general, along with the confidence in the economy. The approval of the president and state governors is also affected by the public’s opinion on the overall state of the country. Stimson states that it has been historically proven that when the economy improves or weakens, the approval ratings among Congress and its individual members follows the same trend. Between the president, U.S. senators, Congress, governors, and trust in government, Stimson reaches a conclusion that approval is actually a generic, abstract concept that either benefits or hinders each of these branches of government in a similar manner. Generic approval and trust is a “spirit that moves up and down over time and seems to respond to generalized satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the state of things” (Stimson).
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This demonstrates that when things are going well in the country, the public tends to associate the surge in prosperity with their government, usually granting approval and trust to those who did not have a role in producing the outcome. Likewise, a suffering economy causes the American people to turn their backs to Congress and blame them for the country’s misfortunes.
Although each article presents compelling arguments and opinions on why the American public dislikes Congress, Stimson’s article stood out as the most persuasive because his findings were consistent with his theory. Presenting graphs and charts also allows for a deeper understanding of his argument since one can easily see the similarities in the approval ratings among the each office in relation to the public’s opinions towards the country and the economy. Ultimately, Stimson presents the most persuasive argument and the strongest evidence to support his claim.
