(SOLUTION) POLI330N Week 5 Assignment: Representation in Congress

Required Resources

Read/review the following resources for this activity:

  • Textbook: Chapter 11, 12
  • Lesson
  • Minimum of 2 scholarly sources in addition to the textbook.

Instructions

Research the proportion of women, African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans and openly gay or lesbian members of Congress.

  1. Reflect on what these patterns say about the nature of representation.
  2. Why do some groups tend to be underrepresented in Congress?
  3. Why do you see a trend in which more women and minorities are being represented?
  4. Do you think the underrepresentation of women and minorities affect Congress’s business?
  5. How might we as a people address this situation and strive towards equal representation? Make sure to cite sources used.

Writing Requirements (APA format)

  • Length: 1.5-2 pages (not including title page or references page)
  • 1-inch margins
  • Double spaced
  • 12-point Times New Roman font
  • Title page
  • References page (minimum of 2 scholarly sources in addition to textbook if cited)

SOLUTION

Representation in Congress

Elections are very important in the American political landscape providing an expression that makes political authority legal since people are governed through their consent (Lublin, (2021). In the 2020 election, 126 women were elected into the US congress making up 23.6% of the total 535 members. Forty-eight of the 126 women serving in the US congress are women of color (CAWP, 2021). This, therefore, implies that very few women are represented in the US congress. Americans need to start electing women as well as more African Americans as well as Latino Americans into seats of power such as congress.

Some groups such as women get underrepresented in congress because they do not vote for each other. For instance, Sanbonmatsu (2020) posits that the underrepresentation is shocking since more women than men vote in the elections. On the other hand, generally in the USA elections, the likelihood of women holding elective posts in the congress solely depends on the party that women candidates use to get into office. For instance, women running on the Democrats get overwhelming votes to win the election as compared to those that run on the Republican party (Greenberg & Page, 2018). Please click the purchase button to access the entire copy at $5