Using occupations, education and income, and race and gender, discuss they ways in which Congress does or does not meet the expectations of descriptive representation.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Americans in general are employed in a wide variety of skilled and semiskilled occupations. They work in the service economy, sales, management, and as clerical workers. Conversely, lawyers, businesspeople, and politicians dominate Congress from an occupational point of view. Republicans typically draw most of their numbers from business and banking while Democrats tend to come more from a public service background. Educationally speaking, 39.4 percent of the American population holds a two- or four-year college degree while only 12.9 percent have advanced degrees. On the other hand, more than 75 percent of Congress have advanced degrees. Their income is well above the American average, with many members of both houses holding millionaire status. As with occupations, from an education and income point of view, Congress does not reflect the public at large. As to race and gender, women and minorities have not historically been well represented, although they are both better represented today. It was not until the civil rights movement of the 1960s that blacks or Hispanics attained any measure of meaningful representation. In the 1990s representation for blacks, women and Hispanics all began to improve