Question

a poll showed voters prefer that members of congress act as delegates. how might we expect the effect of this to differ between senators and representatives?

Answer 1

If members of Congress were truly delegates for their area then each would have continuous contact with their district. For Senators this would be more difficult as there are only 2 per state and for larger states this would require communicating with millions of people across many miles of land to have face-to-face contact. House Representatives are based on the population of a state and therefore House districts are smaller and easier to manage. Currently they best represent the idea of a delegate to the federal government as they are more able to communicate with their district. With advancements in technology the communication piece is now easier to accomplish. However, as delegates they should also offer more voting on issues they will be voting on in Congress. These votes or polling would truly give the representative a delegate role, if they listen and vote based on majority polling.