Does the House of Representatives carry out its representative role more effectively than the senate?

The House of Representatives, also known as the ‘People’s Chamber’, arguably represents its constituents more effectively than the Senate. One reason for the House being better at representation is the nature of its election. The US constitution, as amended to create an elected Senate, states that the House will be elected once every two years, whereas Senators are elected in cycles ever six years. As a result of this, Senators face a less immediate threat of being voted out, and can vote and legislate in ways which are less reflective of their constituent’s views. For example, during the 2018 government shutdown, the House successfully passed a budget with bipartisan support, unlike the Senate, whose Democratic senators chose to vote against the Republican measure. This demonstrates the willingness of members of the House to be seen as effective and to act in accordance with the interest of their district (voting to keep the federal government open), whereas the Senate can concern itself with placing importance on national issues such as immigration, without fearing the immediate retribution of their constituents. The fact that Representatives in the House represent a much smaller number of people than Senators also explains why the House is more effective in its role of representation. Each state has 2 senators, whether it be a small state like Iowa or a large one like California, whereas states such as Texas will have around thirty six representatives. In turn, Representatives will concern themselves will smaller and more direct issues in their district, whereas Senators will tend to have discourse around national and state-wide issues generally. For example, Democratic Congressman Colin Peterson of Minnesota’s 7^th district has often voted against gun control and pro-choice abortion laws as a result of the conservative views of his district, despite his party maintaining a liberal ideology. Furthermore, foreign policy issues dominate the Senate, such as the UN Disabled Rights Treaty 2012, and this means that Senators are forced to think of the nation rather than just their district. This demonstrates the willingness of House members to vote against their party in light of their district’s views, and also the national stance Senators must take when deciding on legislation. Thus, it has been shown that constitutionally the House is more apt to represent than the Senate, and that this is reflected in the way that contemporarily House members are more concerned about the views of their constituents than Senators.