The Colby Echo

Issue date: 2/23/07 Section: News & Features

Media Credit: Molly Warren

Walt Stone, professor of Political Science at the University of California-Davis, came to the College last week and discussed the 2006 midterm election and its impact on public representation in American elections.

Stone began his lecture by remarking how it was "a great honor and pure joy to be here [on campus]" and moved on to question whether the democracy in this country is good enough. He stated how the United States Congress has become highly polarized and partisan to the point that public perceptions have become unpleasant. "Many see [the polarization and partisanship] as a problem because the parties have difficulty working together and compromising on policy issues," he said.

According to Stone, congressmen and congresswomen are out of touch with the rest of the people. They get what he calls "Potomac fever" and then they forget about the rest of us. "Potomac fever is the idea that when ordinary citizens go to Congress they get seduced and corrupted by the Washington insiders rather than remaining true to the people who elected them," he said.

Stone also offered an explanation for polarization in Congress: "A large part of the polarization we see in Congress is due to our seeing of the system working as it should; that is, representatives responding to the needs to their constituencies."

According to Stone, the polarization "is not simply a reflection of polarized constituencies, because there is polarization in the electorate as a response to polarized leaders in Congress and elsewhere in national politics."

In addition to the strong partisan lines in the House of Representatives, Stone noted that the rate of incumbents becoming reelected in Congress has been remarkably high of late. "In recent years, [the reelection rate] has been 98%. In 2006, almost 95% of incumbents who ran were reelected," he said. Stone attributed the success of the incumbents to the voters' emphasis on personality. Incumbents who show qualities of competence and integrity as well as their ability to persuade others, raise money and solve problems have a considerable advantage when it comes to election and reelection over newcomers. He continued to say that people want a person elected to Congress to be effective public officials that get things done.

Stone showed a scale that ranged from extremely liberal to extremely conservative. Based on the election, he stated that Republicans who are extremely conservative have been thrown out of office while the newly elected Democrats have become slightly more conservative.

The study of the 2006 midterm election, Stone explained, was based on a 1998 survey of district informants, who are state legislators and national convention delegates. The survey used a random sample of registered voters in 99 districts along with open and competitive districts to ensure that there was sufficient data for the study.

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