Representation on Women and Minorities in Congress

Week 5: Representation in Congress
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Representation Statistics
The 18th Congress membership profile entails women (28.47%), African Americans (11.65%), Native Americans (0.92%), Hispanic Americans (11.5%), and Asian Americans (3.9%) (Congressional Research Service, 2023). In addition, openly gay or lesbian Congress members comprise 2% of the total membership (Schaeffer, 2023). Although these statistics indicate that the 118th Congress is increasingly diverse compared to its predecessor, they still do not authentically reflect the United States (U.S.) population diversity.
Reflect on what these patterns say about the nature of representation.
Although the 118th Congress incorporates six more women members compared to the 117th Congress, which constitutes an all-time high representation in America, women are far from achieving parity. There has been persistent underrepresentation of women in Congress, which could be attributed to structural barriers that have marginalized women, including prohibition from holding public office and men's greater access to economic, social, and educational resources. The statistics also indicate that minority groups remain underrepresented in Congress primarily due to social prejudice, inequitable access to resources, and structural barriers (Sanbonmatsu, 2020). Therefore, Congress fails to represent the U.S. population correctly, as many groups are excluded and increasingly underrepresented from consequential lawmaking.
Why do some groups tend to be underrepresented in Congress?
Some groups, such as women, tend to be underrepresented in Congress due to long-standing structural inequalities that hinder access to the political system. For example, African Americans have persistently faced racism and inequalities, which implies mistreatment by law enforcement agencies compared to their white counterparts. These structural inequalities also hinder the minority groups' capacity to access economic, social, and political resources necessary to achieve representation parity. Also, there is a lack of policies tailored to address the persistent structural inequalities (Sanbonmatsu, 2020). This implies that the political system does not recognize the particular issues minority groups face, thus leading to a lack of understanding concerning the greater value of representation.
Why do you see a trend in which more women and minorities are being represented?
It is anticipated that more women and minorities will be represented in Congress due to c...