Electoral Connection Application

Mayhew's Electoral Connection

In 1974, David R. Mayhew wrote a book titled Congress: The Electoral Connection. His main thesis was that every member of Congress desires one thing: to stay in office. While they may have other goals, reelection must be their "proximate" goal. In other words, the other goals (such as good public policy, political influence, serving constituents, seeking higher office, and legislating) are underlying because they are impossible if the member of Congress is no longer, well, in Congress. Mayhew goes on to outline three kinds of activities that members of Congress "find it electorally useful to engage in" (49). These activities are advertising, position taking, and credit claiming.

Advertising

Mayhew defines advertising in this context as "any effort to disseminate one's name among constituents in such a fashion as to create a favorable image but in messages having little or no issues content" (49). The idea behind advertising is to make yourself a household name. Examples include franking (using an unlimited budget to mail "information" to their constituencies) and drafting a newsletter.

Madeleine Dean has an emailed newsletter that anyone can subscribe to, even though it may take a couple of tries to convince the website that you're not a robot. The newsletter is an attempt to show her constituency what she has been up to, even if there is not much issue content in the newsletter itself. The point of having a newsletter is to show her constituents that she is just "one of them" and that she is in Congress to serve them. There is even a press release that talks about Madeleine hosting an open house at one of her district offices. By participating in a "get to know your member of Congress" article, Madeleine also exemplifies advertising. The article gets her name out into the world, makes her seem personable and relatable, and has little (albeit some) issue content.

Credit Claiming

According to Mayhew, credit claiming is "acting so as to generate a belief in a relevant political actor (or actors) that one is personally responsible for causing the government, or some unit thereof, to do something that the actor (or actors) considers desirable" (53). In doing so, members of Congress make themselves appear irreplaceable and necessary. Examples of credit claiming include sponsoring a piece of legislation, obtaining earmarks, and serving on a committee.

The only bill that Madeleine Dean has sponsored is H.R. 869, the Undetectable Firearms Modernization Act. By sponsoring this bill, she can take all of the credit if it passes, even though there is a large number of people that are integral to the process of passing legislation. Madeleine's current committee assignments are Financial Services and Judiciary. By being a member of these committees, Madeleine can claim credit for everything they accomplish, even if she is only a part of the process.

Position Taking

Mayhew defines position taking as "public enunciation of a judgmental statement on anything likely of interest to political actors" (61). Members of Congress partake in position taking to emphasize their likeness with their constituents. Examples of position taking include cosponsoring a bill and creating a press release that evaluates legislation.

Madeleine has cosponsored 37 bills. The majority of these bills involve gun safety, fair wages, and veteran support programs. By cosponsoring bills, she is showing her constituents that she is fighting for them and believes in the same things that they believe in. She wants her constituency to know that she cares about gun safety, fair wages, and veteran support programs.

Madeleine's press releases largely consist of opposing the government shutdown and advocating for clean drinking water. Madeleine is talking about what she believes in and values instead of working to pass legislation. That is not to say that position taking is not important, as it definitely has its place in the reelection process. Madeleine's press releases are simply communicating rather than doing.

Social Media: All Three Activities

Madeleine uses social media in a way that could be considered all three activities—advertising, credit claiming, and position taking.

Her Twitter account (@RepDean) includes a retweet about Oscar winners, a tweet declaring her role in terminating the national emergency, and a tweet advocating for background checks for gun owners. The retweet about the Oscars shows her homestyle and puts her relatable name into the public's mind, making it a good example of advertising. The tweet about the national emergency is clearly credit claiming, as she was not the only person who played a role in this event. The tweet about background checks is considered position taking because she is merely stating her opinion on the issue.

Madeleine's Instagram account (@repmadeleinedean) is similar to her Twitter account. She has posted a picture of herself doing service in her county (advertising), a video about her sponsored gun control bill and her part in the process (credit claiming), and a video about freeing South Sudan prisoners (position taking).

Madeleine's Facebook page (@RepMadeleineDean) also contains all three of Mayhew's activities. She has shared an article about an African-American Speaker of the Pennsylvania House for Black History Month (advertising), posted about one of her committees that is holding a hearing about Trump's border practices (credit claiming), and shared a video about how the administration must follow the rule of law (position taking).