Mayhew states that Congressional Members will attempt to “credit claim,” or act in such a way that generates a belief that they personally responsible for causing the government to do something that the they or their state considers desirable.
- Emphasis on individual accomplishment
- Use “particularized benefits”
- 1. Each benefit given out to specific individual, group or geographic constituency
- 2. Each benefit given out in apparently ad hoc fashion with a congressman apparently having hand in allocation
- Use of legislation in the form or “pork-barrel politics” to gain benefits for the district
- Easier to claim credit on these kinds of district projects rather than broad legislative initiatives because constituents see it and the obvious connection to member.
Therefore, we would expect for Texas, with the highest average years in office, would have the most bills among the states. However, Texas has the fourth lowest amount of sponsored bills. California Representatives sponsor the most amount of bills; this is not surprising considering the sheer number of representatives. However, both California and New York show evidence towards Mayhew’s theory with high averages of time in office and high percentages of sponsored bills. Florida has a relatively young Congressional Representation, but ranks third among the states for sponsored legislation.
