Evaluate the extent to which Congress is a representative institution

Question 1

LoA

Answer 1

it is representative

Question 2

para 1 theme

Answer 2

elections

Question 3

para 2 theme

Answer 3

demographics

Question 4

para 3 theme

Answer 4

actions of congress

Question 5

para 1 elections

Answer 5

• The frequency of elections makes Congress representative. The House has elections ever 2 years and this means they are hyper representative as the Public can vote regularly on their reps.
  Furthermore, the large amount of reps (435) makes it fiercely representative. This means region and the large amount of reps for states allows for effective representation

Question 6

para 1 however

Answer 6

• Senate has elections every six year, which is longer than the period of the presidency. This means that the electorate does not have the ability to remove their senators if they are dissatisfied.
  Furthermore the large incumbency advantage makes it very hard to remove the incumbent. This leads to both representatives and senators serving incredibly long tenures (longest ever house rep was John Dingell serving for 59 years and 21 days as a rep for Michigan

Question 7

para 1 rebuttal

Answer 7

The fact is that with their being two chambers, who both represent regions in different ways, the electorate can feel that congress is effectively representing them

Question 8

para 2 demographics

Answer 8

• Congress has been relatively comparative of demographics in the US. It is 11% AA (58 out of 535) compared to 13.31% in society.
  
  • 9% are Hispanic, 45 in the House and 5 in the Senate compared to 17.79% in the population.
    They representation of women has improved dramatically in recent years. In the 92nd Congress there were 15 women in Congress compared to 145 in the 117th Congress

Question 9

para 2 however

Answer 9

• It is not descriptively representative at all. AA is lower than society, Hispanics lower than society, women is far lower than society (27% in Congress compared to 50.8% of population).
  Congress remains mainly made up of white middle aged men who are not effectively representing society

Question 10

para 2 rebuttal

Answer 10

Representation is on the rise and has improved dramatically, meaning that in a few years it could be descriptively representative

Question 11

para 3 actions of congress

Answer 11

• Pork barrel politics gives impetus for representative actions.
  When billionaire slumlord Matty Moroun refused to follow the law and get polluting semi trucks off the streets, Rashida Tlaib organised resigned with the WE HAVE A RIGHT TO BREATHE campaign and forced Moroun to fulfil his obligations to protecting public health

Question 12

para 3 however

Answer 12

It is torn between party loyalty and constituency loyalties. It is often a waste of time, for example Congress set aside $500,000 in federal funding for the construction of a very unique museum in Sparta NC, a town that had a population of about 18,000

Question 13

para 3 rebuttal

Answer 13

Whether or not earmarking and pork barrel politics are a waste of resources, they can still be seen as representing their constituents