essay plan - evaluate the extent to which congress is a representative institution

Introduction

- Congress has three key functions as the federal legislature of the United States: oversight, legislation and representation

- Congressional elections are held every two years and are used to elect representatives and Senators to Congress, suggesting that due to frequent elections, Congress mirrors public opinion and therefore is highly representative

- This essay will argue that whilst the powers and roles of Congress have dramatically shifted over recent years, it is true that Congress is not entirely effective at fulfilling it's role as a representative institution

Ideologically Diverse (Strength)

- American citizens are very ideologically divided, especially along urban and rural lines. It is important that this wide range of ideologies is represented in Congress

- Granted, there are caucuses and factions within Congress that show this wide range of ideological differences

- For example, within the Republican Party there are libertarians like Rand Paul, moderates like Susan Collins and Tea Party members such as Ted Cruz

- Therefore, this suggests that Congress is a representative institution as it represents the diverse ideologies found across the US

Ideologically Diverse (Weakness)

- HOWEVER despite ideological diversity being represented, it could be said that Congress does not fulfil it's function in representation when it comes to minority groups

- Whilst it is true that the 118th Congress was the most racially and ethnically diverse in history, with 25% upwards of members being non-white, up from 19% in the 115th Congress, women are still historically underrepresented

- 27.9% of the current Congress are women, whereas women make up 50.5% of the US population, suggesting that whilst Congress is evolving into an institution which is MORE representative, it cannot truly be called a representative institution at this point. Women are also underrepresented in leadership roles

Congressional Elections (Strength)

- Congressional elections occur every two years to elect representatives and Senators. All 435 members of the House are up for election every two years and approx 1/3 of the Senate is

- Due to the frequent nature of elections, public opinion is reflected through the composition of Congress

- Therefore, due to the high sensitivity to public opinion, Congress is pushed to be a highly representative institution. If a congressperson does not perform well in representing the wishes of constituents, they can be easily replaced

- HOWEVER due to factors such as gerrymandering and the voting system of FPTP it is easy to say that the representative nature of Congress is undermined

Congressional Elections (Weakness)

- HOWEVER gerrymandering by state legislatures often means that minorities become underrepresented in the House

- Voting district lines can be re-drawn to split groups of voters into smaller groups to stop them from gaining a majority. This is mostly done by partisan committees who use the power to benefit their own party

- Lines can also 'pack' minorities into one district to ensure that one party does not get too many seats

- For example, the Alan v Milligan (2023) argued that Alabama had weakened the voting power of black people through gerrymandering

- Therefore, this not only shows values which directly contrast the Founding Father's intentions of having free and fair elections, but it also prevents Congress from being effective in its role of representation

Focus on re-election (Weakness)

- The short terms in the House mean that representatives are often focused on re-election rather than fulfilling the needs of their constituents

- This makes representatives particularly vulnerable to the influence of corporations and pressure groups who can finance re-election campaigns

- For example, despite 90% of the American population being in favour of background checks for gun owners, such measures have been killed in Congress due to some Congresspeople receiving money from the NRA and therefore protecting their interests. As of 2023, Mitt Romney has received upwards of $13 million from the NRA.

- Therefore, this shows that the focus on re-election prevents Congress from being effective in it's representative function

Conclusion

- OVERALL it is evident that due to several factors, Congress is not entirely effective in fulfilling it's role as an representative institution

- This is primarily due to a high focus on re-election by Congresspeople, gerrymandering and the composition of Congress reflecting ideological differences rather than mirroring the diverse makeup of the US today

- HOWEVER it can be argued that Congress is drastically changing regarding demographic makeup, with the 118th Congress being the most racially and ethnically diverse Congress to date

- ON THE OTHER HAND, this is nowhere near proportional to the US population