Fenno's paradox is the belief that people generally disapprove of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...

as a whole, but support the congressmen from their own

congressional districts Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts and legislative districts, electorates, or wards in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional bod ...

. It is named after political scientist

Richard Fenno Richard Francis Fenno Jr. (December 12, 1926 – April 21, 2020) was an American political scientist known for his pioneering work on the U.S. Congress and its members. He was Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at the University of Roche ...

, who discussed this in his 1978 book ''Home Style: House Members in Their Districts''. Fenno discovered that congressmen would often run against Congress.The Evolution of Political Knowledge: Theory and inquiry in American Politics, Volume 1 By Edward D. Mansfield, Richard Sisson "Fenno's paradox" has also been applied to areas other than politics including public schools. For example, U.S. citizens largely disapprove of the public school system, but tend to like the particular local schools their children attend.

Notes

Political science terminology Politics of Florida Decision-making paradoxes {{US-poli-stub

See also

Notes