Group Member Names (Max 3)

Group Member Names (Max 3):

American Government

Mr. Bekemeyer

Congressional Demographics

Instructions: Choose a recorder for the group. Use this answer document to respond to the questions. Read “Congressional Demographics” as a team and discuss the questions together before your recorder responds. You only need to turn-in one document per group, however for examination purposes, each group member may want an individual copy.

If you examine this page, you'll notice that every two years a "new" Congress is sworn in. Since the 1940's each Congress has held two "sessions," each of which lasts about a year. In November (2012), Americans elected the 113th Congress, which began its first session in January of 2013. So, who is the 113th Congress? Do they "look" like us? That is, do our representatives exhibit the same demographic characteristics as the U.S. population as a whole? Does that really matter anyway? These are the questions at the center of this online activity.

Step 1 - General Data

1.Scroll down to the infographic entitled, "How Representative is the House, Really?" at the bottom of this page. Also, scroll down to the section of this page entitled "Selected Demographic Characteristics of the U.S. Congress." Compare the U.S. House of Representatives to the general population with respect to educational attainment, occupation, race and ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation. What quick conclusions can you make? Note: You will have to convert the numbers for Congress into percentages.

2.Using the data on this page, compare the U.S. Senate to the overall U.S. population with respect to the categories above. What quick conclusions can you make?Note: You will have to convert the numbers for Congress into percentages.

3.How representative of the U.S. population is the Congress as a whole?

4.Is one of the two chambers more representative than the other? Why do you think that is?

5.Examine this list of "firsts" for Congress following November's congressional elections. How did you react to the "firsts" on this list?

Step 2 - Women in Congress

6.Examine the chart at the top of this page on the Center for American Women and Politics website. Historically, what percentage of Congress has been made up of women?

7.Have another look at this data. What percentage of the 113th Congress is made up of women? The House? The Senate?

8.Take a look at the "Women in the U.S. Senate" page from the U.S. Senate website. The names in bold belong to women who are serving in the U.S. Senate today. With which of the two major parties do women Senators tend to affiliate?

9.Examine the "Women Winners for U.S. House Seats: 1976-2012" graph from the Center for American Women and Politics.

(a) With which of the two major parties do women Representatives tend to affiliate? What do you think accounts for that?

(b) What year saw the biggest spike in the number of women Representatives?

10.Read "1992: The Year of the Woman," then answer the questions below in your own words.

(a) Why is 1992 known as the "year of the woman" in American politics?

(b) Why did the end of the Cold War and the economic recession of the early 1990's contribute to women's electoral success?

(d) Describe how interest groups contributed to women's electoral success.

(e) How did the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court contribute to women's electoral success?

(f) How are the rise of the gender gap and the rise of female representation in Congress similar?

11.Read "Women in the House Get a Restroom" (Washington Post). Summarize the story, then describe your reaction to this news article.

Step 3 - African Americans in Congress

12.How do you think the following have impacted the ability of minorities to successfully run

for seats in Congress?

Gerrymandered districts
Single-member districts/winner-take-all system
Differences in economic resources
Prejudice/racism
Voter I.D. laws
Felon disenfranchisement

13.Examine the first graph on this page. Historically, what percentage of all congresspersons have been African American?

14.Have another look at this data. What percentage of the 113th Congress as a whole is African American? What percentage of the Senate? The House?

15.Why do you think it is easier for an African American to win a House seat than a Senate seat?

16.Look at the names and party affiliations of current African American congresspersons. With which of the two major parties do black congresspersons tend to affiliate? What do you think accounts for that?

17.Examine this map exploring the U.S. Census data from 2010. In the "View" pull-down menu, click on "Black Population." Then examine the states that current African American congresspersons represent. Is there a correlation between the two? Explain.

18.Have a look at the "Trends in the Number of African Americans in Congress" graph on this page. How has African American representation changed over time? How do you think the following have

contributed to these changes?

Voting Rights Act of 1965
The 24th Amendment
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

19.Read about the Congressional Black Caucus (Wikipedia).

(a) When was the organization founded?

(b) How large is the organization?

Step 4 - Wealth

20.Read this article. How do the members of Congress compare to the overall U.S. population with respect to wealth?

21.According to this data, what percentage of the 112th House and Senate were millionaires?

22.Read the first page only of this article from the New York Times.

(a) How did members of Congress fare in the recent economic downturn?

(b) How do you think this impacts the democratic legitimacy of Congress?

23.Describe some reasons why Stephanie Condon, the author of "Why is Congress a Millionaires Club?" (CBS News), argues that congresspersons tend to be wealthy.

24.Stephanie Condon mentions congressional "insider trading." In 2011, the CBS investigative journalism show "60 Minutes" aired a segment about congressional "insider trading." Watch the segment by clicking here,and here Describe three to four examples of congressional "insider trading" revealed in the 60 Minutes piece.

25.In part spurred by the negative publicity brought on by the 60 Minutes segment, in 2012 Congress passed the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act. President Obama signed the bill into law. Read about the law here. What are the most important provisions of the STOCK Act?

26.According to this short piece by the Center for Responsive Politics, why does it matter that members of Congress are far wealthier than Americans in general? Explain whether you agree or disagree.

Step 5 - Age

27.Access "Representatives and Senators: Trends in Member Characteristics Since 1945" (Congressional Research Service) and scroll down to page 4 of the actual document (page 9 of the PDF file). How does the median age of Congress compare to that of the United States? How has that changed over time?

28.What might be some positive and negative impacts of this trend?

Step 6 - Religion

29.Access "Faith on the Hill" (Pew Center) and scroll down to the graph. Then read "No Religion, No Representation" (Pew Center). To what extent is the 113th Congress representative of the religious demographics of the United States?

Step 7 - Journal Prompt (Individually Completed – Turn-in separately)

When government reflects the demographic patterns of the society, it is said to exhibit "descriptive representation." Does the term descriptive representation apply to the U.S. Congress? Why or why not? If historical trends persist, do you think Congress will become more or less representative? Do you think it is necessary for Congress to "look" like America? In other words, must Congress represent us to be representative? Why or why not? Would you support measures similar to this one taken by the Indian national legislature? Why or why not?