The graph below shows incumbency reelection rates in the House and Senate. The graph displays many patterns. Two of them are, the tendency for Senate incumbency reelection rates to fluctuate much more than in the House and the tendency for Senate reelection rates to go up when House rates go down and vise versa. Two factors that contribute to incumbency advantage are the fact that citizens are afraid of change and as an incumbent you have greater access to the media and name recognition. People like things that they already know. The fact that your congressman hasn't done anything that really bothers you, even if the other guy's opinions are closer to yours, will usually lead you to choose the one that is already in office because it feels safer. Incumbency advantage is an issue for American politics because it makes congress less representative of the people. If we were electing new legislators every couple of years we would know that they are up to date and are educated on current issues and what the people want.
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/repository/sg_govpol_us_01_7046.pdf
(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
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