C-SPAN and Shirking

Have you ever wondered what your senator does all day? They are your agent, after all. C-SPAN might be able to help you determine whether or not your representative is shirking. Shirking occurs when the representative does not act in accordance with the principal's (you!) interests, and one way to control shirking is through monitoring. C-SPAN is a TV network that was founded to provide, "gavel-to-gavel coverage of the workings of the U.S. Congress, both the House and Senate, all without editing, commentary or analysis," and if your opportunity costs aren't too high, you can spend hours watching congressional hearings.

C-SPAN was founded in 1979, but it is clear that congressmen continue to shirk, even though much of their jobs are now televised. A Pew Research Center study indicates that around 12% of Americans take it upon themselves to monitor congressmen through C-SPAN, and the channel is often teased for its lack of viewers and low production value (as you can see in this video that C-SPAN compiled of comedians making jokes at their expense). Even if this 12% of Americans decided to enforce the shirking that they see, they would still run into the hurdle of being a single voter and having infrequent performance reviews (aka elections), so keep that in mind when deciding whether or not to watch the next hearing.