Diversity In Elections

61% of the eligible electorate voted in the 1968 presidential election (Nicholas, 1969), while only 58.6% voted in the 2012 presidential election (Kernell et al., 2016, p. 450). Although national voting rates in 2008 and 2012 were lower than historical rates, voting rates among minorities were at an all time high. This suggests that there is an inverse relationship between national voting rates and minority voting rates, at least in the context of the 1968, 2008, and 2012 elections: if one rate rose, the other fell. Further research on why this occurs would be beneficial for future presidential elections. Voting rates among immigrants are still very low compared to native born voting rates, so efforts to encourage political participation among immigrants should be increased. Efforts to increase the national voting rate (including all races and ethnicities) should also be

Another argument agrees that money increasingly dominates the US electoral process and is the main factor in contributing to a candidate’s success is that candidates who spend more generally win. In 2012, Mitt Romney’s

Without a certain degree of control over the governmental levels of power, blacks end up disproportionately dependent on white-created legislation and white administration of those laws (Pohlmann, 219). The potential dangers of gerrymandering involves the distribution of blacks into districts where they are diluted into a minority or the creation of districts where blacks are an excessive majority so that an overall district majority white can be achieved (Thornburgh v. Gingles, 31). These redistricting plans severely hindered blacks ability to vote for a representative of their choice (1). However, in order to stem the progress of racially discriminating gerrymandering, these districts are examined based on the impact and district composition

The African-American community is comprised of 34 million people, and makes up approximately 12.8 percent of the American population (Barker, Jones, Tate 1999: 3). As such, it is the largest minority group in the United States. Yet, politically, the black community has never been able to sufficiently capitalize on that status in order to receive the full benefits of life in America. Today, African-Americans, hold less than 2 percent of the total number of elected positions in this country (Tate, 1994: 3) and the number of members within the community that actually partake in voting continues to drop. In spite of these statistics, as of 1984, a telephone survey found that 70

Verba et al. also speak to the impact of income level on political participation, a topic often repeated by political scientists (DeSipio 1996, McClain and Tauber 1998). The conclusion: “for each kind of participation, affluence and participation go hand in hand” seems rather obvious (Verba et al. 1995: 189). Indeed, if a Latino parent works two low paying jobs and worries about paying the bills every month (as many do) he or she will likely have little incentive to travel to the polling place to ensure Hispanic representation in Washington. Additionally, Hispanics encounter further impediments to political participation: lower ages and education levels, coupled with language difficulties and illegal and non-citizen statuses further enlarge the gap between

In forming a government for the people, by the people, and of the people, our Founding Fathers developed the idea a bi-cameral legislature. This Congress, composed of the House of Representatives and Senate, thus became known as the people’s branch of government. American children are taught in schools that anyone can be elected to Congress, so long as they meet the qualifications of the Constitution. So long as you meet the age and residency requirements you are indeed qualified to be a candidate for Congress.

In politics, racial and ethnic backgrounds tend to outline the outcomes of public policies- especially in minority communities. Minorities in the United States yearly increase due to both legal and illegal immigration (Shaw et al. 332). The trend will continue and by the middle of the 21st century, the minority population, cumulatively, will surpass the so-called White majority in the United States. The definitions of pluralism and two-tiered pluralism differ between the person’s race and ethnic backgrounds. As for the minorities, it may both bring some advantages and as well as disadvantages in public participation and the passing of public policies; however, in current times, two-tiered pluralism is becoming more dominant in politics as the racial divide within the United States continues to worsen.

During the 2012 presidential elections, many of the vote turnout rates revealed that the minority vote was the most decisive and important vote for the election. In fact, the minority vote, in 2012, was accredited for Barrack Obama’s presidential incumbency. An example analysis of the aforementioned statement was shown in the Minority Turnout Determined the 2012 Election article by William H. Frey. In his article Frey reports that “[the] increased minority turnout was indeed responsible for Obama’s win in the 2012 election… during this period, the (typically Democratic leaning) combined Black and Hispanic electorate rose to approach nearly quarter of eligible voters” (The Brookings Institution). Frey’s research helps illustrate how crucial,

Contrary to the real meaning of it, the House of Representative is not sociologically representative to the American population as the people’s house, the most receptive entity of the government to the community. However; its agents are very productive in term of representing the citizens of their states. According to the book our lawmakers in Congress, are ordinarily older white males that have legal experiences. The United States population is very heterogeneous and constitutes a large number of people that are minorities with different backgrounds, races, ethnicities and levels of education. As learned in the book “We the People”, in 2010 of the 535 members of Congress only 95 were women around 41 were African Americans and about 31 were

If would be nice to have diversity in Congress, but how much diversity do we need? The whole point of Congress is to represent the people that live in America and I understand that we have diversity, but the diversity represents a small percentage of people. In no way would it be weird to have more whites than other nationalities in Congress, because about 60% of US population are white. I also do not think we should just elect people based upon their gender or nationality, so that we can have more diversity. The most competent person for the job should be elected without the consideration of

In his book, Tyranny of the Minority, Benjamin Bishin refers to this occurrence through his very own proposed concept called the Subconstituency Politics Theory of Representation. Centered on social psychology and reinforced by multifaceted studies on the behavior pattern illustrated in legislators’ voting, the subconstituency theory is able to effectively explain how candidates ' behavior in campaigns and legislators ' behavior in Congress are affected by the degree of knowledge and participation harbored in the average citizen. According to Bishin, a candidate’s career depends on their ability to “transform passive citizens into active

Prior to the 1960s, rarely was there black representation in Congress. Putting aside for a moment the irony of this in a country that declared its independence under the banner of “no taxation with representation,” this posed a serious issue for the black community.

Historically in America, voting has been a relatively discriminatory practice. It has limited and deprived many individuals of many diverse races, ethnicities, and walks of life from casting their votes to select the individual who they feel is most educated, and skilled to represent their interests. Not only has this been proven to be wrong by discriminating minority groups in voting, it also has proved to be a process, which minimizes the largest growing demographics in the country. Furthermore, with millennials growing to become more politically active, minority groups are becoming more politically involved than ever. Taking this into account an important question that is raised by the author William Eskridge in his book “Legislation and Statutory Interpretation” is “Would minorities be better off with more representatives who had to pay attention to their interests because they are a powerful and organized constituency, rather than with a few representatives of minority districts who specialize in protecting only their interests?” (Eskridge,Frickley,& Garrett, 2006, pp.55).

What is the importance of descriptive representation in Congress and how does it affect African American voters? Year after year, white men file into Congress to serve as representatives for the citizens of the United States. Though our nation is full of people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds our Congress is still mostly white. This has caused some to delve into researching the importance and the effect of diversity in representation, namely descriptive representation, for citizens of color. Since the passing of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Congress has slowly grown to be more diverse and representative of the American people. But is that important? Or is partisan identification more important? How do descriptive representatives compare to other representatives of the party? When a black member of Congress is elected and pursues policies supporting not only what they believe in, but due to the characteristics they share with their constituents, policies that their constituents believe in, their descriptive representation transfers into substantive representation.

Racial and ethnic minorities accounted for 90 percent of the population growth in the United States from 2000 to 2010, and the United States is rapidly becoming even more diverse. The rapid increase in the minority population has led to some backlash and challenges for law