Importance of Congress essays

Importance of Congress essays In theory, Congress was developed by our founding fathers to be an efficient system of legislators working together to create laws. However, due to misrepresentation of minorities and women, a dysfunctional system of pork barrel politics, and a congressional process which is designed to be slow and carefully looked at, but sometimes Congress tries to act too quickly making costly mistakes for our nation. First off, although law making is the principle business of Congress, members of Congress do much more than just make laws. In fact, Congress are supposed to represent the American population. However, with the way present day Congress is set up, it is nearly impossible for Congress to be equally representative. With that said, Congress is unrepresentative in that it doesnt mirror the diversity of the United States. Since congress is dominated by white males, it is fair to say that congress just cannot be responsive to the needs of other races, as well as women. In fact, in 2002 the House of Representatives had in office 59 women, 38 African Americans, 22 Hispanics, and 4 Asians. The numbers are even lower in the Senate, having only 13 women, 0 African Americans, 0 Hispanics, and 2 Asians in office. Congress must have a good portion of diversity similar to our country in order to be a truly representative body. Congressional misrepresentation among women and minorities is not to cease either. Voters can be urged to practice Affirmative Action, but such appeals are ineffective. For example, bloc voting hurts the chances of African Americans getting in to Congress. In this process, a black candidate can be elected only where blacks are a majority of the electorate. So, unless African Americans are running for office in a city where much of the population is black, it is unlikely they will get the votes to win. Moreover, given that members of congress should be a body which represents the nation proportionally, in all ...