Essay 11

Two patterns that the graph shows are a high reelection rate of incumbents in both the House and Senate, and a higher rate of incumbent reelection in the House than the Senate. Incumbents in the House are generally shown to be reelected over 80% of the time, whereas incumbents in the Senate are shown to be reelected over 50% of the time.
Two factors that contribute to the incumbency advantage include name recognition and campaign financing. When a member of congress has already served a term, constituents know their face and their values and are more likely to be safe and vote for someone they are familiar with, rather than a new face. In addition, returning candidates also likely have more funding available for their campaigns, and spending more money on campaigns is proven to be very affective in winning votes, as more people are exposed to the cause.
One consequence of the incumbency advantage to the political process is that it makes it hard for new change to occur in the policy agenda. New members of congress likely have new and fresh ideas and perspectives that may not be heard. It essentially diminishes democracy.






(2001_2) the graph above shows reelection rates for incumbents in the House and Senate. From this information and your knowledge of of the US politics, perform the following
tasks. (Fig 12.1)
a) identify two patterns displayed in the graph
b) identify 2 factors that contribute to incumbency advantage. Explain how each factor contributes to incumbency advantage.
c) Discuss one consequence of incumbency advantage for the US political process


http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/repository/sg_govpol_us_01_7046.pdf