Congress decides how to vote due to a number of factors such as influence, this influence can come from members of the party and administration itself, other influence can come from pressure groups. A vote in congress is very important as it decides the fate of legislation, an important historic legislation is the emancipation proclamation. Every vote in congress counts so many people will try to influence as much as they can. Other factors are the beliefs of the members, also their constituents, as they will try to vote for the ones which will benefit their constituents.
An important factor which determines which way members cast their vote is influence from other party members and the administration. Firstly, members are influenced by their party ideologies, so they try to vote along the party ideologies, this can be shown in the 1995 launch of “Contract with America” by the Republican Party, so it was very common for the members of the Republican Party to vote for their policy items and the Democrats to vote against them. The increase of Partisanship normally occurs when there is a change in the party control of congress. There can also be influence from the administration as cabinet members have an investment in the passage of legislation effecting their department so they try and keep in close contact with members of congress to persuade them to vote in certain ways. There will also be some influence from other party members this will be due to the representatives going to other representatives from that party to seek their knowledge. So members will rely on the recommendations of experts and colleagues within Congress, whose judgment and specialization in particular issues are respected, especially senior colleagues with experience, such as committee chairmen. So therefore decisions are swayed by influence, whether this is coming from their own party or the administration itself.
Personal beliefs is a