The Adequacy of the Electoral Motive in Explaining Legislative Attention to Monetary Policy: A Comparative Study

In the contemporary literature on the behavior of elected politicians, significant progress has been made by developing the implications of two assumptions: first, that politicians are rational actors and, second, that their overriding objective is the protection of their prospects for reelection. Both assumptions, especially strong and limited statements of the second, have been controversial. Both have been elaborated in greatest detail with respect to the behavior of members of the U.S. Congress. Mayhew's work is particularly central in demonstrating the usefulness of the motivational assumption.' Dodd has dissented strongly from this limited conception of congressional motivations.2 Fenno's view that there are three essential motives for members of Congress--reelection, policy interests, and power in the