A Representative Congress in A
The question of whether the Congress is representative towards the American public has been a longstanding question that has become the spotlight of numerous political debates. Many people believe that with a membership of nearly all-white males from a higher social status in society, it is nearly impossible for a true representation to occur. This is a mistake. The Congress is a fair representation of the American public. With the use of a bicameral legislature that serves both public sentiment and national interests, congressional voting that is representative of its constituents, and the power to vote, congressional representation is indeed met. One of the most controversial issues regarding the representation of the Congress is how the lack of minorities and women in membership affect a true representation of the American public. For much of the life of Congress, the membership has been comprised completely of white males. However, with the surface of the civil rights movement and a growing awareness of a diverse America, membership in the Congress has begun to change. There are now African Americans, women, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and American Indians that are all members of Congress. Many women used to
The third factor, midterm elections, is somewhat different than the other two. Thus, if Congress membership were based on racial, ethnic, and gender representatives, they would vote in a similar fashion that the Congress of today does. A worst-case scenario occurred in the movie The Distinguished Gentleman where a con-artist used the name of a recently deceased member of Congress to win an election that sent him straight to Washington. In a nutshell, home style is the manner in which members of Congress present themselves to the voting public. Public approval was extremely low and this was evident by the voting that took place during the 1994 midterm elections where the public voted in the largest amount of Republicans in years. Does this mean that representation is still unequal? The answer is no. A similar factor to home style, name recognition also plays a fundamental role in the voting process and in turn, the representation of a district. This means that voting tendencies don't rely on race; rather they rely on the views of their districts. If public sentiment towards the president is negative during a midterm election, running officials that are members of the same party as the president have a decreased chance of becoming elected. Nevertheless, white males continue to dominate the majority. This proves that it is unnecessary to form a Congress based on gender and racial characteristics. The members of Congress base their decisions and actions on where their districts interests are and that certainly equals clear representation. Name recognition is important because when someone enters a poll booth and they only see a few names they recognize, those are going to be the ones they vote for. However, as a representative for a district, it is also the responsibility of the member to deal with the issues important to the district. It's simply not feasible to implement a Congress of complete descriptive representation.
Common topics in this essay:
Congress Basically,
,
Washington Obviously,
Republicans American,
African Americans,
Indians Congress,
United It's,
Distinguished Gentleman,
home style,
African American,
american public,
white males,
midterm elections,
name recognition,
representation congress,
home style name,
act own,
congressional representation,
power vote,
responsibility act,
representation american public,
responsibility act own,
style name recognition,
|
Acceptance Essays
