Friday, September 21, 2018

Representing Us

The members of Congress not only don't represent us (preferring, instead, the donor class), they don't represent "us," as Jason Kottke pointed out today. Gender is the most obvious "us" that is under-represented (women make up 19 percent of the two houses of Congress vs. 51 percent of the population).

Kottke's source breaks down a bunch of other demographics that Congress misses, but here's the graphic for religion:


Being areligious is a mostly unacknowledged third rail in American politics, and clearly impossible for a Republican candidate.

1 comment:

Gina said...

Have you read the October 2018 issue of The Atlantic Monthly? I highly recommend it. I think I'll be writing about it at Eyes on Life for a while.... I've been thinking a lot about representation as I've been watching the political TV ads that candidates are spewing out right now. It's astonishing how fast the advertising turned to mud-slinging and name-calling. I wish there was a law against that kind of advertising in political campaigns. And then let the media report on each candidate's backgrounds, the good and the bad.