Often times Senators are making decisions based more so on their own opinions and beliefs rather than those of their constituencies, which effects the way that Senators campaign. Senators often times also rely heavily on party politics to make their decisions because usually, depending on their state, there are reasonable assumptions that can be made based on party allegiance. The United States Senate is set up in a way to tackle major issues plaguing the United States. It is structured in a way to share power evenly, and ensure that big picture issues are addressed properly. Both the House and the Senate are integral parts of the United States legislative process, but they are very different, and those differences make for very different roles in the process. The House and the Senate often times play off one another, picking up in areas where the other is lacking. For example, the Senate is a smaller more intimate body which helps the deliberation process. However, this small number of Senators means that less opinions are being represented fairly. The House is able to balance this inequity by representing based …show more content…
The biggest, and most notable short coming of Congress’s design is the democracy gap that sometimes occurs. This gap between legislators and the public most often occurs in the Senate, with Senators being responsible for representing thousands, and even sometimes millions, of people. With two people representing so many Americans it is hard for the public to actually be heard in the Senate. This issue also affects the way that Senators campaign, and could greatly hurt incumbents in the Senate. Senators often run on the idea that their decision making skills will mirror the ideology of the state, but if they cannot deliver on that promise they are in jeopardy of losing the publics support. For example, while I know who my Senators are I never am in any form of contact with them. I could write to them and try to explain to them my views, but as a member of the voting public I do not feel as though they will actually respond or take my opinions into great consideration. This gap also hits the House of Representatives, specifically during elections. Due to the short terms in the House Representatives find themselves trying to campaign during the latter portion of their terms meaning that their focus on legislating my waiver. For example, my representative, Josh Gottheimer, is someone who I am