The breakdown of the partisan bond encouraged congressional candidates to develop their own independent resource bases. Helped by reform of campaign finance laws, they took advantage of computers, faxes, direct mail and a host of other innovations. House members face re-election every twenty four months so this becomes a question of political survival. Members must pay close attention to the needs and problems of their constituents. New technology enabled them to send weekly newsletters from Washington to their home voters, detailing activities on their district's behalf.
Direct mail enables the solicitation of funds to proceed on a faster, broader scale.
For voters, too, there is new scope for activism. Pressure groups can mobilise resources and members almost instantaneously, flooding Capitol Hill with letters or jamming the switchboards with protest calls, as Republicans discovered in 1986 when the Reagan Administration publicly considered changes to Social Security laws affecting the elderly. Plans to place Congress on the Internet in 1995 will give voters direct access to the substance and detail of bills, even in their unamended form. The consequence of this computer-enhanced interaction has been to increase the pace and complexity of politics and to isolate Senators and Representatives still further from presidential influence. During debates on the 1994 Healthcare bill, many key Democratic representatives withdrew their support from Clinton under pressure from local business groups who claimed health insurance payouts would force them to cut jobs.