USPS EXAM 2
# Term Definition
1 Perks of Serving in Congress 174,000 salary, can leverage skills form before
congressional careers (law/medicine), write
books, get offices in the capital + in state
2 Congressmen Cannot: Serve on corporate boards or attend
corporate/special interest group meetings, earn
outside income above 15% of their congressional
incomes
3 Congressional Staff - 18 full time staff - Chief of staff, legislative
director, scheduler, Press secretary/comms
director, district director (dist. office), State
director (state office)
4 Daily Life: approx 70 hour a week in session, 59 out of
session
5 Roles of a Member: Serve as an advocate for the views and needs to
Representation their constituents
6 Roles of a Member: Legislation Identify local, national, and international issues
that need legislative attention Draft bills, learn
about pending legislation, do committee work
7 Roles of a Member: Constituent Conducting outreach gathering information on
Service: federal programs and offering and managing
casework services
8 Roles of a Member: Oversight and Typically in a committee setting, making sure
Investigation laws are administered according to
congressional intent
9 Roles of a Member: Advice and Article II, Section 2 confirming nominating and
Consent approving treaties
10 Roles of a Member: Congressional Some members hold leadership positions,
Leadership: negotiate within the party to form positions on
legislative issues, mediate disputes between
party members
11 Roles of a Member: Electoral and Maintaining campaign staff + raising money for
Political Activity themselves + others
, USPS EXAM 2
# Term Definition
12 Roles of a Member: Representation, Legislation, Constituent Service,
Oversight + investigation, Advice + consent,
Congressional Leadership, Personal Office
Management, Electoral + Political Activity
13 “Good Representation” Judged by the degree to which members' votes
align with preferences of constituents BUT what
if preferences are not clear? Majority preference
is problematic/uninformed? member unaware of
preferences?
14 Delegate Model of Representation Members act EXACTLY how constituents would,
even if they personally have doubts Better for
issues with clear sides (gun control, abortion)
15 Trustee Model of Representation Members act in what they believe to be best for
their constituents, assuming members have
better info about the policies Better for more
complex policies the average person does not
know/care about (intellectual property)
16 Political Model of Representation Hybrid of Delegate + Trustee models
17 Burkean Trustee Model: Members act in best interest of the country,
looking forward to a common good Act
independently of constituents, even when they
are well-informed about their decisions, bc they
are better informed about possible unintended
consequences
18 Robert Fenno’s Concentric Circles: Geographic: everyone in their district Re-election:
(Outer to Inner) people who will get the members reelected,
dismissing non-voters + people who would never
vote for the member Primary Constituency: those
who will get members on the party ticket, most
loyal supporters Personal: Close friends +
advisors
19 Critique: Congress doesn’t pass Recently 3% of bill introduced actually became
laws anymore laws BUT not unusual
20 Omnibus Legislation: One of the reasons less bills passed, Bills bundle
multiple smaller unrelated bills together Past
congresses pass more bills but they were smaller
Now congress passes less bill but they are bigger
# Term Definition
1 Perks of Serving in Congress 174,000 salary, can leverage skills form before
congressional careers (law/medicine), write
books, get offices in the capital + in state
2 Congressmen Cannot: Serve on corporate boards or attend
corporate/special interest group meetings, earn
outside income above 15% of their congressional
incomes
3 Congressional Staff - 18 full time staff - Chief of staff, legislative
director, scheduler, Press secretary/comms
director, district director (dist. office), State
director (state office)
4 Daily Life: approx 70 hour a week in session, 59 out of
session
5 Roles of a Member: Serve as an advocate for the views and needs to
Representation their constituents
6 Roles of a Member: Legislation Identify local, national, and international issues
that need legislative attention Draft bills, learn
about pending legislation, do committee work
7 Roles of a Member: Constituent Conducting outreach gathering information on
Service: federal programs and offering and managing
casework services
8 Roles of a Member: Oversight and Typically in a committee setting, making sure
Investigation laws are administered according to
congressional intent
9 Roles of a Member: Advice and Article II, Section 2 confirming nominating and
Consent approving treaties
10 Roles of a Member: Congressional Some members hold leadership positions,
Leadership: negotiate within the party to form positions on
legislative issues, mediate disputes between
party members
11 Roles of a Member: Electoral and Maintaining campaign staff + raising money for
Political Activity themselves + others
, USPS EXAM 2
# Term Definition
12 Roles of a Member: Representation, Legislation, Constituent Service,
Oversight + investigation, Advice + consent,
Congressional Leadership, Personal Office
Management, Electoral + Political Activity
13 “Good Representation” Judged by the degree to which members' votes
align with preferences of constituents BUT what
if preferences are not clear? Majority preference
is problematic/uninformed? member unaware of
preferences?
14 Delegate Model of Representation Members act EXACTLY how constituents would,
even if they personally have doubts Better for
issues with clear sides (gun control, abortion)
15 Trustee Model of Representation Members act in what they believe to be best for
their constituents, assuming members have
better info about the policies Better for more
complex policies the average person does not
know/care about (intellectual property)
16 Political Model of Representation Hybrid of Delegate + Trustee models
17 Burkean Trustee Model: Members act in best interest of the country,
looking forward to a common good Act
independently of constituents, even when they
are well-informed about their decisions, bc they
are better informed about possible unintended
consequences
18 Robert Fenno’s Concentric Circles: Geographic: everyone in their district Re-election:
(Outer to Inner) people who will get the members reelected,
dismissing non-voters + people who would never
vote for the member Primary Constituency: those
who will get members on the party ticket, most
loyal supporters Personal: Close friends +
advisors
19 Critique: Congress doesn’t pass Recently 3% of bill introduced actually became
laws anymore laws BUT not unusual
20 Omnibus Legislation: One of the reasons less bills passed, Bills bundle
multiple smaller unrelated bills together Past
congresses pass more bills but they were smaller
Now congress passes less bill but they are bigger
