The U.S. Congress is a remarkable and uncommon institution of representative democracy. Far more common are parliaments with electoral systems based on proportional representation. In many such systems, party members are placed on a list for elections. How many members off that list are selected into the parliament depends on their party’s proportional vote nationwide. The parties in parliament work to form governing coalitions, appointing the prime minister and cabinet. And that government’s leaders and bureaucrats then formulate the policies to be approved by the parliament, typically on party-line votes. For who would want to vote against his party and be left off the party list in the next election?

In contrast, in the U.S. Congress, each seat is won by an individual, perhaps aided by her party, but perhaps not. These legislators do not appoint the executive, nor do they serve as mere rubber stamps for policies handed down from the president. Rather, policies come from these members themselves – members who are closely linked to their constituents through a tight electoral connection. These representatives take ideas from their past experiences, from their constituents, or from other interested groups and individuals, formulate them into bills, and help shepherd those bills through committees, onto the legislative calendar for the chamber, through a final passage vote, and into law.