Composition of Congress (Exemplar project)

113 T H CONGRESS

Composition of Congress - Race, Ethnicity and Religion

Congress

Religion:

98% 524 of 535 of Congress cite a specific religious affiliation. Therefore, 2% 11 people in congress do not state their religion. 56% 299 of 535 are protestant.31% 165 of 535 are Catholic.6.2% 33 of 535 are Jewish.2.8% 14 od 535 are Mormon.0.7% 3 of 535 are Buddhist.0.5% 2 of 535 are Muslim.0.2% 1 of 535 is Hindu.

Congress

Ethnicity of Congress:

African American Members: 8.1% 44 African American’s in the 113th Congress.Hispanic Latino American Members: 6.9% 37 of the 535 members.Asian/Pacific Islander American Members: 2.4% 12 of the members are Asian South Asian or Pacific Islander ancestry. American Indian Members: There are 2 American Indians.

Both the Religion and Ethnicity makeup of Congress show that 113th Congress is not seen to be very diverse as it does not contain many people from other religions, mainly because the majority of members are either Catholic or Protestant.

Senate

Composition of the US Senate:

56% or 52 members in the Senate are Protestant.31% or 27 members in the Senate are Catholic.6.2% or 11 members in the Senate are Jewish.2.8% or 7 members in the Senate are Mormon.1 member in the Senate is Buddhist.

Senate

The changes in the religious make-up of Congress during the last half-century mirror broader changes in American society. Congress has become much less Protestant and thus more religiously diverse. The proportion of Protestants in 1961 was 75% to just 56% today.

Other religious groups have seen their share of congressional seats grow.

House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is made up of 435 members.

Religion:247 (56%) members are Protestant.136 (31%) members are Catholic.22 (5%) members are Jewish8 (1.8%) members are Mormon.2 (0.4%) members are Buddhist.2 (0.4%) members are Muslim.1 (0.2%) member is Hindu.

House of Representatives

This again shows that the 113th Congress is not very diverse due to the fact that 87% of the House is made up of Protestants or Catholics. Only 7.8% of the members from the House are made up of ethnic minorities.

Is the 113th Congress representative?

Statistics of US demographics in 2012: Religion 73% are Christian, 48% of which are Protestants, 22% Catholics and 2% Mormon15% are unaffiliated. 2.6% are Jewish 0.8% are Islamic0.7% are Buddhist0.2% are Hindu


Statistics of US demographics in 2012: Ethnicity72% are White16% are Hispanic Latino12.6% are African Americans4.8% are Asian Americans


The 113th Congress is more diverse than any previous Congress with a record 24 women and 22 minorities being elected. However, it still has a very minimal amount of different religions and ethnicities, this could be seen as unrepresentative.

Age“The 113th congress is the most diverse group of representatives in

history. Yet its members are still significantly likely to be male, white and over 65”.

CONGRESS: THE STATISTICS

under 40 years old: 1 member in Senate, 33 members in HoR40-70 years old: 78 members in Senate, 356 members in HoRover 70 years old: 21 members in Senate, 43 members in HoR

In terms of percentages

AgeTHE US POPULATION: THE STATISTICS

Under 40 years old: 53.1%40-70 years old: 37.5%over 70 years old: 9.4%

Therefore as we can see, in terms of representing the majority when it comes to figures, there is a serious imbalance. This bores the question of how is congress able to represent the majority whom is of a different generation?

EducationEven though there are no specific qualifications required of

members of the House and Senators, the Congress is far greater qualified than the US public:

Bachelor Degrees: 93% House, 99% Senate - 31.66% of US population

High School Diploma: 4.8% House,1% Senator - 88.15% of US population

Associate degrees: 1.6% House - 9% of US population

Masters/Doctorate/Professional degrees: 67.3% House, 75% Senators- 11.57% of US population

EducationIn terms of the education of the 113th Congress, it is not a

microcosm of US society: - majority of the US population gaining only a high school diploma- the majority of the Congress have a bachellor degree

● Does this mean that it is not representative/ cannot represent the US?

● Is it better to have a microcosm of society or a well educated Congress?

ClassA persons “class” or categorization of their “social class” can usually be determined on

the premise of four factors (give or take one): education, income, occupation and wealth. As previously stated, the education of the Congress is at a far higher level than the average US citizen’s.

The current salary (2014) of congress members:- rank-and-file members of the House and Senate is $174,000 per year.-Senate Leadership; Majority Party Leader - $193,400

Minority Party Leader - $193,400

- House Leadership; Speaker of the House - $223,500 Majority Leader - $193,400 Minority Leader - $193,400

So, generally speaking the majority of the members of the 113th Congress can be and are classified as upper middle and top fifth. Hence, the “class” of the Congress appears to be concentrated at the upper-middle/top social classes.

ClassThere is a much broader spectrum of citizens in different classes for

the US population as a whole. Some may argue that is because there are more (a lot more) people in US society than in congress therefore there will be discrepancies. However, the point of the HoR (and Congress) is to be representative and reflective of the nation.

The US Population- facts and figures of 2013The nation’s official poverty rate = 14.5 percentMedian household income = $51,939Median earnings of women working full time, year-round = $39,157Median earnings of men working full time, year-round = $50,033

ClassThe occupation of Congress in comparison to that of the US population also supports the idea that the

Congress is of a very different class that the majority of the US population:Most common occupation in 113th Congress= lawyer Most common occupation of US population= retail salesperson

● How well can the 113th Congress representthe US population with so different

occupations and lifestyle?

Sexual Orientations, Disabilities and Gender- 113th Congress

Gender

A record 102 women (18.8% of total membership) serve in the 113th Congress as of July 2014.

10 more than at the beginning of the 112th Congress.

82 including 3 Delegates serve in the House 20 in the SenateOf the 82 women in the House, 63 are Democrats,

including the 3 Delegates, and 19 are Republicans Of the 20 women in the Senate, 16 are Democrats

and 4 are Republicans.

Women in America

157,244,385 women in USA153,139,563 men in USA310,383,948 total population.

If 50.6% of the USA’s population in women, then why are they only represented with 18.8% in Congress?

Disability

Tammy Duckworth is the first woman combat vet in Congress.

She worked in the military and as a result has 2 amputated legs.

She was elected in the State Illinois.

Others in 113th Congress with a Disability

John McCain, current US Senator from Arizona has limited use of his arms.

Jon Tester, current US Senator from Montana has lost three fingers.

People with Disabilities in the US

About 56.7 million people — 19% of the population of the US were said to have a disability in 2010 census.

Only 3 out of 541 Congress members have a disability.

That is 0.55% of CongressIs it possible for Congress to represent the

amount of people with a disability?

Sexual Orientations

7 members of Congress have emerged as openly LGBT.

Tammy Baldwin became the Senate’ s first openly gay member.

6 others were Democrats in House.Mark Pocan, Krysten Sinema, Patrick

Maloney, Mark Takano.David Cicilline and Jared Polis were two

openly LGBT from previous Congress too.

Number of Openly LGBT in the USA

1.6% of Americans identify as either gay or lesbian.

7 out of 541 are openly LGBT in Congress.That is 1.3% of CongressIs Congress representative enough of the

LGBT community?

Is Congress Representative?

From a look at the statistics:

18.8% women in Congress

50.6% of women in USA

0.55% with disability in Congress

19% with disability in USA

1.3% openly LGBT in Congress

1.6% openly LGBT in USA


From looking at just the statistics it is clear that congress is not representative of women, the disabled and the LGBT community in proportion to their numbers on the scale of the whole of the USA.

For the LGBT community, the percentage difference is quite small and so it can be argued that actually, the LGBT community get a fair representation in Congress.


For the disabled community it can be said that disabilities occur in all different forms so it is impossible to get representation for all disabled people in Congress however, the percentage in Congress is extremely low for a body that will make laws for the disabled community.


The most shocking of the statistics must be that even though over half the population of USA are women and not men, only 18.8% of women are represented in Congress.

There is very little representation of women in Congress as a whole compared with their numbers in society.

Should Congress be a microcosm of society?

Maybe it is not possible for Congress to be a microcosm of society for disabled and LGBT because of the fact that depending on their disability it may not be possible for people to become a member of congress and so they wouldn’t be able to be represented.

The same applies for the LGBT community as the % is only known for those who are open about their sexuality.

However, Congress should be a microcosm of the women in society as first of all, there are more women in the USA than men and second of all, being a woman does not stop you from being either disabled or LGBT.