The Dynamic Legislative Branch online "textbook"
Schoolhouse Rock I'm Just a Bill
How Does Congress Work
How representative are our Representatives? Take a look at the CHART below and Wikipedia's Congressional demographics.
How significant a factor do these demographics play? Blog Response: Due Friday am.
Does Congress adequately represent the will of the American people? Why or why not?
32 comments:
While I believe that our Congress does its best to represent everyone, the simple fact is that this cannot possibly be the case. With majorities over shadowing the minorities, some people's wishes and needs are going to be cast aside.
For instance, there would ideally be 81 "other"'s in congress should everyone be correctly represented, however, there are 2. If there were 81 neither the democrats nor republicans would be able to easily score a 60 vote. Also the one or two "other"'s would not be able to play this to their advantage and try to get more out of the deal than other states. There would be fairer treatment all around and no one would have the monopoly.
Also currently females are vastly underpopulated which is a disadvantage to not only females but our country. Females and males have different ways of viewing things and thinking about things that could prove to be very helpful to congress. In an ideal situation females would have the same representation as men.
So while congress tries it's best i do believe that it cannot fufill all needs of all demographics without representation from said parties.
I think everyone should be represented equally but i feel that it will take some time for different ethnicity's and races to be represented because there are so many of them and its hard to represent everyone at once. I also think that there aren't many people from different races participating in politics. I think this because the chart shows a very small number of blacks and Hispanics compared to the number of Caucasians. If we want the up and coming races and ethnicity's to participate in politics and government than we need to encourage them to do so and speak there ideas.
I believe that Congress does not represent our country well by looking at the demographics chart. Congress was exactly as I expected it to be which is predominantly Republican and Democratic leaving room for no diversity. That shows in two colors, blue and red, that it does not represent, let alone match, our countries diversity. Comparing the two sides, it is easy to see that currently nobody other than democrats and republicans are represented as the leaders of our diverse country. The diverse part of our country basically has no say because of their minority population in Congress. Only 2 others have seats in Congress as opposed to the 531 democrats and republicans. Females are a major minority that by now should not be with all of the women's rights movements that have taken place over the past decades. All in all, Congress is not where it should be now in terms of diversity relating to the U.S.
I believe that congress does not represent our country well enough.The drastically different demographics are a disadvantage for our country. Women barely hold a vote in comparison to men. Ranking an astonishing 91 women to 448 men is not only unfair, but wrong. I do believe though that the process for voting either democrat, republican, or independent is fair. These do not depend upon race or gender, but who is the best party to have control of the legislative branch.The reflective example of the chart is a more realistic approach to properly handle our nations legislative branch.
I think that the Congress does not represent our country well by viewing this demographic pie chart. The political affiliation was either democrat or republican with other as being the independent party. No one other than these two political affiliations has an opinion on any of the demographics, which I do agree with because they are the important legislative branches. They do not depend on the race, gender or religion. All this chart shows is two different colors, representing the politics, gender, race, and religion. The number difference between the males (448) and females (91) is completely not fair because women are just as important in voting as men are in this country. I believe that the race and religion statistics are a realistic number, although I do not agree with the gender percentage. Although Congress may be trying its best, it is not portraying the country based on this demographic chart because the diversity is not well represented.
There are many different people in the United States and there is an incredible variety. This makes it very difficult for those that represent us in the government to be able to account for all the groups of people in the country. Although the people in the House of Representatives do not exactly account for all the groups of people in the country, they do represent the beliefs of all the people. The people that run for the positions in the government do not always fit into all the different categories of people in the country. Although the representatives may not be the same race as those they represent, they still have to recognize their beliefs in the decisions that they make. In some situations it is good to have a variety of different people in the House. This would allow for the issues to be viewed from different perspectives. In some categories, the diversity of the House is very limited. This could cause issues, but as long as the representatives think about the opinions of those they are representing, they will do a good job. According to the charts, the House of Representatives does not represent that overall population of the United States. The category in which his is most obvious is in the gender of the representatives. Because those in the House do not equally represent all people in the categories that they are in, they must keep these people in mind in order to represent all the people of the nation.
Congress does not represent the will of the people in the United States. The proportions in terms of demographics are quite off. The biggest and most obvious issue is the male to female ratio. Only 16.9% of Congress is represented by females, when the population is 50% female. This uneven proportion is probably a reason why women’s rights took so long to pass a few decades ago. There is an also an overflow of Caucasians and not enough minorities. While African Americans are somewhat better represented, Hispanics, Asians, and American Indians are quite lacking in representatives. In terms of religion, almost every religion is well represented, except for Atheism. In a scientifically progressive world, religion has negative effects on technological and even social progress. I am also quite disappointed in the occupational backgrounds of members of Congress. There are less than 10 scientists and engineers in Congress – the majority are businessmen, lawyers, or public servicemen. A better balance would not only benefit the Senate and House, but also their respective committees. Things like SOPA and CISPA need to be drafted by engineers and those who understand technology, not lawyers or businessmen like Lamar Smith. The average age in Congress is also not representative of the people. In the Senate, the average age was 62 (in 2007), but the US has many people younger than 30 who deserve to be heard too.
While it is clear that Congress does not represent the people, it is also up to the people to change it. It is hard for younger, female, minority, or people with lesser political backgrounds to run for office, but it still can be done. And people who are underrepresented in Congress should also vote for representatives that support them.
I believe that congress does do a good job at representing everybody at the best of their ability. But there are still flaws to what they are doing. They need to do a better job at representing other races besides Caucasian. The other races such as African American, Hispanics, Indians, and Asians need to have a chance to be represented as well. There is barely enough people of other races and ethnic groups that are getting their ideas through. Almost every time there is something going on at congress, the person who is mainly in charge of what is going on is white. Based on the demographics, the caucasians are the dominate ones in congress. The minorities do in a way get represented but they are not represented enough. I believe that another reason for this is because they don't speak out enough to get their ideas though in congress. They just sit there and lay back as they listen to the ideas of others and those others are the majorities in congress. If they speak out what they believe in then maybe they will be represented more and they won't be seen as just those minorities.
I think that judging based on the chart and Wikipedia's Congressional Demographics it's safe to say that congress does not adequately represent the will of the people. To start, there are more females in this country than males; which is the polar opposite of what congress looks like right now. In congress there are only 90 women out of the entire 535 current seats. There should be more women in congress because women analyze issues different then men; which can help our country face topics and come up with other solutions. Another minority that is not being as heard of are gay, lesbian, and bisexual representatives. There have been only 6 openly GLB members in the history of congress and our government needs to get with the 21st century and see that people (Besides obviously North Carolina) are more accepting of others and want to fight for more equality rights. The last issue with congress and their representation of America is the fact that almost all of them are Caucasian. This is a misrepresentation of our country because we are a melting pot of different ethnicities; which should be shown through our government. It's not that congress tries to ignore minorities, it's just that it would be easier on them and America if we have a bigger variety of people representing our country in congress.
America is made up of a great diversity of people. Each one of these cultures and ethnicities that make up our population have their own unique perspective of the world and with that comes a new outlook on governmental policies. Unfortunately, i do not believe that their thoughts and opinions of our nation are being heard. The representatives we have in office, voicing our ideas and contributions seem to represent the racial and religious majority. Furthermore, women have equal rights and voice as men but are heavily outnumbered by men in these political votes. Because of this, the diversity of America is being restricted. Our country is favoring a certain selection of our population when there should be equal representation and consideration of all ideas brought to the table. After all, this is a democracy and this land belongs to no particular group of people. We share this country and should therefore have equal say in the system that runs it. With a diverse group of people in office, our creativity would be endless. Issues and concerns from every aspect of America would be touched upon and potentially improved. In order to successfully relate with our country and understand what is for the good of the people, congress must equally represent each and every type of person and background.
The people of America should truly be represented equally because currently we are not. The representatives that we place in office do not really represent the interests and ideas of all of the American people. The current representatives only really focus on the majority and forget about all of the other opinions and issues that don't relate to the majority. If Congress would listen to all of the opinions, much more may be able to get done and many more people may be satisfied with life in America. This would mean instead of listening only to the wealthy men of the prominent religion and race, Congress would listen to women and all other minority groups as well. If we are a truly democratic nation, and everyone really has equal rights this is something that has to be done.
Although congress has tried it's best to respond to the desires of the American people, congress cannot adequetly represent the will of the people. Looking at the chart for Wikipedia's Congressional demographics, I was shocked. It's very interesting to see how congress is and what it should be. The two main things that stood out on the charts were the political affiliations and gender. Only 2 out of 533 people who are in congress were categorized as "other" for their political affiliation. The other 243 members were democrat and the 288 members were republican. There should be at least 81 members who are in the "other" category. Maybe even more. It is understandable how democrats and republicans are in reality the majority but that doesn't mean the "others" should be overpowered by these two parties. Also, gender is a major issue. According to the chart, the ratio of female to male members in congress is 91:448. In actuality, it would only be fair, right, and knowledgeable to have the ratio be equal (218:218). I think women and men can sometimes be polar opposites. That is what congress needs. They need to be able to disagree with each other in order to come to a reasonable conclusion and/or outcome in a situation. Congress has done a lot of great things for our country, but they can improve by changing things up a bit when it comes to how congress is set up and run.
These demographics play a huge factor in the legislative progress. The different demographics within the US need to be accurately represented in order for the interests of these different groups to be acknowledged. One major way this applies to current legislation is with the healthcare bill, aka Obamacare. There has been much debate in the recent months about making contraception available to all citizens as part of this healthcare bill. Many citizens in the US, especially women, support this. However, even with the support of many citizens, I'm not surprised that the act is met with such opposition in Washington, considering that women are highly underrepresented in Congress and Christian faiths are over-represented. It certainly isn't representative of our country and isn't fair to the citizens who aren't being helped by laws because they're underrepresented in Congress.
No one for sure can equally account for everyone that any issue is pertaining to. Not everyone can connect and think in a specific way other than majority their own. Currently now, there is someone that relates to them, or close enough to them to have a mutual feeling towards a specific topic, however; they cannot relate to enough people to change things the way they want. Not saying that each matter can change to fit each and every one of us but have enough compromise to allow something civil. For aspiring to a mutual agreement; that is still hard to do with the lack of contrast between other categories as well as and not enough diversity. Just because someone count for a vote doesn’t mean they are heard. With each demographic comes someone to agree and disagree and at times it is a wide variation. Congress cannot decide for everyone, when no one can account for them. For the “majority” of the people there is always a poor representation of the people as well as a good, but a decision cannot be a yes or no answer, rather a compromise but that wouldn’t happen. So no American can be fully satisfied by the decision and some others are.
Our country has developed over the years based on the idea that all men are created equal. However, not everyone is equally represented within our government. Congress attempts to accurately represent our country by holding elections to let the people choose who they want to represent their ideas, but oftentimes many are not taken into account. First off, women currently outnumber the men living in the United States. If Congress was a true portrayal of the demographics of our society, there would be more female representatives than male. But this is not the case- only 90 out of the 535 seats are filled by women. Also, minority groups make up a large portion of our country, but do not have the same representation as larger groups. For example, almost the entire representation in Congress is white. If our country was really as diverse and accepting as everyone makes it sound, then all these minorities regarding ethnicity, religion, etc. would have equal representation as everyone else. Lastly, the age of the majority of congressmen and women is significantly older than most politically active Americans. People of all ages should hold seats in Congress, to more effectively share the opinions of younger and older generations. While Congress does try to do its best to represent the majority opinions of our country, there is definitely room to improve to better illustrate the diversity found in the United States.
The intent for congress is to rule in favor of the people, but I do not think this is always true. Most of the votes from the congressman are all based upon whether they are a democrat, republican, independent, etc. Instead, they should be voting for the good of our country and citizens. The choice of whether to vote for one side or another usually is backed up by bias opinions and personal beliefs. Not only that, but there are very little members of congress that are non white. This also limits the say of other races reaching the congressman in washington. I think in the future congress should worry less about whether people are democrats or republicans and more about the health of our country. Regardless of people's beliefs, the United States of America should be the first priority of every member of congress.
With the amount of diversity entering the US it seems now that Congress isn’t exactly keeping up. They do have representatives for all races living in the US but based on the charts they are unfairly out numbered. Compared to what is fair each pie chart has a clear majority. 99% of the time Democrats and Republicans will win over anything other party. Males dominate the number of females and if you’re Caucasian you have a whole heck of a lot more representatives then the other races. The religions are mainly either protestant or catholic. It all seems like the people are being represented but to only some extent. A majority will get what they want so if you’re not with the majority your vote doesn’t stand much of a chance. If all races were given a fairer more equal representation you might see things have a different turn out. It is good to have a majority opinion but every one should have a fair say.
The American culture always has and always will be a melting pot of different cultures from around the world. The strong American economy and society brings in all sorts of people who want to work hard and earn a good living. Demographically the entire nation of America includes all sorts of different people such as African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians. Although our country allows these people in, the types of people who work in the house and the senate do not mimic this. For example the amount of caucasian workers in these departments is roughly ten times more than any other race. Also the gender in the house is 75% male. This means that congress places a 50% higher trust level on male workers than female workers in this country. For congress to best represent everyone in this country it would be necessary to have an even gender distribution. Accordingly, it would also be necessary to have an even race distribution.
Even though congress has been working for many years now it is not always correct nor satisfying for a lot of people. The US is broken down into many different forms of government and do when you only pick one party the means the majority of the people are not happy. Our system is working but I think our congress needs to worry more about the health and state of our country compared to which person belongs to which party etc. Another big impact is the different races the US has obtain over the years. Most of our congress is white but a lot of different races could end up being offended by that. That could turn into a huge case of racism. My opinion just like everyone else has their own is that the US should become party free and vote on which candidate would represent us the best and not worry what congress says or which party they are in.
After looking at the demographics charts, I believe that Congress does not adequately represent the will of the American people. Its very simple to see that not every demographic is equally represented. To say that Congress adequately represent the will of the American people I believe that all types of American people should be equally represented. look at how uneven some of these charts are;Gender Ranking 91 women to 448 men. Race- 457 Caucasian,44 African American, 27 Hispanics, 10 Asians, 1 American Indian. Religion is also another category very diverse and unequal. As you can see congress is not equally divided with all types of American people so how can they say they adequately represent the will of the American people?
When it comes to the United States equality is a HUGE topic. Everyone talks about racial equality and religious equality but Congress doesn't seem to be on board with everyone else. With America being as culturally and socially diverse as it is it's hard to believe that Congress doesn't represent all of those groups in the United States. You can look at the demographic chart and clearly see that diversity isnt present in Congress. White Catholic males clearly dominate the majority of Congress, so I find it increasingly obvious that Congress doesnt represent all of the demographics in this great country.
The U.S Congress has worked consistently to make sure Americans have comfort and gain benefit in terms of economy, health status and so on. In order to achieve this goal for the U.S congress, reasonable distribution of gender,race and religion has to be entailed. Otherwise, everyone's will or opinion might not be reflected in a body politic. According to demographic chart, Congress seat is not apportioned fairly. Caucasian is almost ten times of addition all other races. Number of male workers exceeded 80% of population and this demonstrates that female politician is overwhelmed by number of male politician. Since America is melting pot country which contains all sort of races, not only majority's side but also that of minority has to be focused to mirror American will. Based on demographic chart, race, gender distribution was not fair so i think that Congress does not adequately represent the will of American people.
Our country is based on the ideals of democracy in which the general population is able to vote for their representatives in Congress. In regards to the system itself, our legislative branch is, for the most part, very representative of the majority of the people in the country; however, this system is still limited. When considering the demographic charts for Congress, it is clear that not all Americans are represented by our legislative body. Not only are many political groups omitted from Congress, but there is also inequality in gender, race and religious views. For example, there are only 91 female representatives in Congress, in comparison to a whooping 448 males. This huge disparity in numbers shows that our legislative body is actually not as representative as it may seem; in America, females represent about 50% of the population, so why is this not shown in Congress? If our legislative branch was rooted in equality, there would need to be more women in both the House and Senate to more accurately portray the views of the people. Furthermore, not all political opinions are represented in Congress. Only 2 representatives are affiliated in the category “Other”, with all the rest being tied to either the Democrats or Republicans. This reveals the lack of diversity in opinion in our legislative branch. Though not all Democrats or Republicans have the same views, they still fall into their individual, basic categories. Congress needs to have a range of voices and ideas, rather than the same, to make our country the best it can be. Sadly, that is currently not the case.
I think that Congress should have a wide range of races and people. I think that this is important because there are some issues that only certain people can understand. For example, problems in urban cities would only appeal to congressmen who are from those areas. Other people from other parts of the country would not know how to handle these problems. The same goes for people of different age. That being said, I do not think that there is enough diversity in Congress. The majority of people are white males. I believe that there should be more diversity because white men may not be able to relate to some problems.
This Government is created by people, for the people.As citizens we have the right and deserve to live in a community were we are safe, we can be educated and live as a free people.
Today our voice may or may not be represented very well on the Congress. Many congressmen are working for their own interests and are forgetting the real purpose that why they were placed there.
We as Americans can change that. We can disapprove and approve people who we think are the right ones to represents us. And that can happen at the voting polls.
Since we are entitled with the right to protest if we are unhappy if our representatives then its our responsibly to do that if we want a better future.
It seems that Congress is highly unrepresentative of America. Caucasians make up the vast majority of the House and Senate and are vastly overrepresented. Meanwhile, minorities like Blacks and asians hold essentially no seats at all and have no power. This is most likely a reflection of the fact that who is elected isn't based on the beliefs of the people, but the beliefs of the people that vote. This usually creates a more conservative that is truly representative congress since the elderly tend to vote more often than the young (although Obama did a lot better in that respect, most congressmen probably dont' have that benefit). In addition, most of these congressman are likely wealthy, or at least very well off whites. Therefore, it seems reasonable to conclude that Congress cannot adequately represent the will of the people. These whites have likely lead comfortable lives and cannot possibly understand what it's like for many Americans, at least the bottom 50%. Therefore, they really dont' accurately represent the will of the American people, just the wealthier part of it.
Congress does not adequately represent out country, seeing as the majority of Representatives are white, protestant, males from the democrat or republican party, which clearly is not the majority of the country. Hispanics, Asians, African Americans, and Women are highly underrepresented, along with minority groups. This does not make for a representative congress. Minority groups and other races are not as economically supported by sponsors as there white counterparts. Not being economically supported means not having an equal opportunity in campaigning or making it to capitol hill at all. Not making it to capitol hill means not having the opportunity to stand up for varying beliefs and there for not being able to represent the Americans who fall into these social, ethnic, and religious groups. The people who get elected into these positions do not understand these beliefs, and are therefore not able to accurately represent these people, more so, these Americans.
I think that congress should be represented by all different races. I believe that America should be represented by all sorts of people. There are many situations that can only be slovene by people who can fully understand the issues. Since the fact that congress is made up of mostly all white men, I feel that some issues might not be fairly decided. I think that unless congress becomes diverse it can not properly represent America.
I don't think that the Congress wholly represents America as it is today. People have different opinions on things, that's a given fact, but it doesn't help being open-minded to other more reasonable solutions to issues if the Congress is dominated by a large number of one or two voices only. For example, the dominance of males in the Congress. There are certain issues that greatly affect women and men may not be able to prioritize these issues because they don't understand the dire urgency to address it. And because the women are outnumbered, their voice may recede to the background of the men they work with. Such is also the case with our two major political parties - the Democrats and Republicans both have strategies to address issues that represent their party and what they believe in, but where are those that disagree with them? How can they be heard if half and half of the people in our government belong to these two groups?
There should definitely be a balance in the kind of people that serve in the Congress. More diversity is needed so that everyone's voices will be heard and the government will come up with impartial, efficient, and perhaps even creative decisions on what to do with the problems America is facing today.
Congress does its best to represent everyone's interest but this is impossible to do. While people within a political party may agree with some ideas it is very rare that everyone will feel the same way. This is only the beginning of congress representing peoples interest. While someone campaigns they may have strong beliefs that they promise to keep alive within their term in office. But power and pressure of their political party may sway their decisions in other directions. Sometimes people have to give up one battle to win another which can at times lead to false representation. When a group needs a vote they are willing to make deals for that vote sometimes promising their vote in the future and because of these deals congress has different views and sometimes have to vote a specific way even if they don't feel that way. Overall being able to represent the will of all American people is very unlikely because of the different demographics across our entire nation. Even within one area of the country you can have dozens of different feelings towards one issue.
Based on all of the charts, it is clear that Congress cannot represent everyone in the United States equally. Of course they try very hard to find ways for every different ethnic group, religion, race, and gender to be heard, but the sad reality is that Congress does not have that capability with the spread of people in it. The majority of Congress is white Protestant men, which are definitely not the majority of the United States population. There are so many groups of people that are extremely underrepresented. For example, Hispanics, Asians, and African Americans make up a large part of our country's population but have very few representatives within Congress. Congressmen try to still fulfill the wishes of these people, but with such an overwhelming majority of white men, it is hard to know exactly what it is that these people want. I think that these demographics play an important role within Congress because they are essentially much of the foundation of our country, and they are the people who make the laws that govern the people. With the demographics extremely tilted to favor white men, there are many who do not receive the representation and treatment that they rightfully deserve. Personally, it would be hard for this to shift to balance out the representation, but little by little we can change this situation to improve and balance our country's government.
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