Summary of US Congress from Edexecel GCE Government & Politics Unit 4C Governing the USA.
Taken from classroom notes, lectures, Anthony J. Bennett's "US Government & Politics", David McKay's "American Politics & Society" & Edexecel Government & Politics Student Unit Guide.
US Congress
The structure of Congress
• Congress is bicameral: it has two houses – House of Representatives & the
Senate
House of Representatives
• States are represented proportionally to their population
• Contains 435 members & the number of representatives for each state is
reapportioned after each 10-yearly consensus
House of Representatives
• In the Senate, Houses are represented equally
• Each state has 2 Senators so there are 100 members of the Senate
Membership of Congress
Women
• Women have been persistently under-represented in Congress
‣ In 1992, the Democrats tried to focus on this issue & declared 1992 ‘the
Year of the Woman’, doubling the number of women in Congress in just
one election
• The majority of the women in the houses are Democrats – the party that
tends to attract the female vote
‣ In 2016, 105 women were elected to Congress, 77 Democrats & 28
Republicans
‣ House of Representatives elected its frst woman speaker, Nancy Pelosi of
California
• One of the problems in trying to increase the representation of women in
Congress is that women are also under-represented in the pool of recruitment
– state legislatures
‣ In 2016, only 24% of state legislators were women, higher than in
Congress
Race
• Representation by race is much better in the House of Representatives than
in the Senate because the federal courts have allowed state to draw
congressional district boundaries to create district that are likely to return a
Representative from an ethnic minority group
‣ North Carolina’s 12th Congressional District was accused of packing
‣ By 2013, all the African-American representatives were Democrats
‣ 43 African Americans in House, but none in Senate
• There is an issue about the low levels of representation of African-Americans
in state legislatures
‣ In 2016, on average only 9% of state legislators were African-Americans
Former members of other houses
• There is an issue about the low levels of representation of African-Americans
in state legislatures
‣ In 2013, there were no former senators in the House, but there were 52
ex-House members in the Senate
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