Although there are representatives of various groups in Congress, there is still discrimination. Share of women. Historically, women, African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans, and open gays and lesbians have been underrepresented in the House of Representatives. Ritchie (2022) argues that the 115th Congress, sworn in in January 2017, was the most ethnically diverse in the previous history of the central US legislature. Legislators belonging to minorities are primarily representatives of the Democratic Party. Of the 49 African Americans in Congress, only three are Republicans. The number of Hispanics and Asian Americans was recorded, with 38 Hispanic legislators in both houses of Congress. In turn, there are 15 Asian Americans, while there were 11 in the previous Congress.
Moreover, the Senate elected in 2017 has a record number of women, 21, and the number of non-white women in the Senate has quadrupled. Senator Kamala Harris became the first female senator whose family origin is from Southeast Asia, as well as the second black woman in the upper house of Congress. However, the total number of women in the 115th Congress has not changed from the previous composition – a total of 104, or 19 percent (Atkinson & Windett, 2019). This is in stark contrast to the gender composition of the country’s population, as women make up as much as 50 percent of the US population.
Based on the data presented, Congress can hardly be called representative. Greenberg and Page (2020) note that this body of government members must fully represent the American public, as Congress is the closest branch of government to the people. However, in reality, the situation is different, and women and representatives of racial minorities and ethnic groups are significantly underrepresented in the House of Representatives and the Senate. As reasons for the underrepresentation of some groups in Congress, Hacker (2018) highlights supply and demand factors. The former includes the potentially lower willingness of minority women to run for political office, while the latter includes biases among voters and party leaders in their ability to legislate. Moreover, political ideas are still dominated by social standards. As a result, differences are ridiculed and eradicated instead of being accepted and encouraged.
However, it is worth noting that today there is a trend toward an increase in the representation of women and minorities in Congress. This is due to the actualization of the problem of discrimination based on sex, gender, and ethnic principles. Society has realized that women and minorities bring a different perspective to their legislative work by putting issues related to these social groups on the Congress agenda. Moreover, they bring various life experiences to Congress, putting vital ethnic, gender, and sex issues on the agenda.
The under-representation of women and minorities directly impacts the functioning of Congress since the question arises whether members of Congress vote in a way that is in the interests of all members of society. Hassell and Visalvanich (2019) affirm that when America’s diverse collection of identities is reflected in Congress, those votes ensure greater voting rights and equality in the outcome of legislation. Women and minorities bring perspectives, priorities, and agendas that would be absent if they were not represented. To solve the situation of underrepresentation of women and minorities in Congress, one should address the reasons mentioned above for this phenomenon and trace the causal relationship. It follows from this that every person needs to eliminate prejudices and strive to increase their political activity.
References
Atkinson, M. L., & Windett, J. H. (2019). Gender stereotypes and the policy priorities of women in Congress. Political Behavior, 41(3), 769-789. Web.
Greenberg, E. S., & Page, B. I. (2020). The struggle for democracy, 2018 elections and updates edition. (12th ed.). Pearson.
Hacker, A. (2018). Congressional districting: the issue of equal representation. Pickle Partners Publishing.
Hassell, H. J., & Visalvanich, N. (2019). The party’s primary preferences: Race, gender, and party support of congressional primary candidates. American Journal of Political Science, 63(4), 905-919. Web.
Ritchie, D. A. (2022). The US Congress: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press.