The most diverse Congress ever still isn’t representative of the US population

Once again, the new Congress made history. Seven times in a row, it is the most diverse body. The reality of a divided congress, however, may mean that such gains in representation do not translate into policies that advance gender equality and racial justice in the near future.

This year, there are a record number of women – 149 – as well as a record number of people of color – 133 – who will be members of parliament. Many of these new members are groundbreaking: Rep. Maxwell Frost is the first Gen Z and Afro-Cuban member of Congress, Rep. Becca Balint is the first woman and LGBTQ person elected from Vermont, and Rep. Summer Lee is the first Black. elected women from Pennsylvania.

Congress has long been overwhelmingly white and male, and each of these gains helps bring it one step closer to being more representative of the US as a whole. Additionally, while most of the increase in representation remains concentrated among Democrats, Republicans have seen slight improvements, including increases in Latina and Black lawmakers this term.

Overall, however, this change is still far from enough. Today, 25 percent of Congress is people of color, compared to 40 percent of the US. In addition, 28 percent of parliamentarians are women, while 51 percent of the population are. Although Congress has made great strides in recent years, it still does not reflect a country that continues to diversify at a rapid pace.

Because of how control of Congress is currently divided, there is also a paradox, explains New America senior adviser Theodore Johnson. Although this Congress is the most diverse, ambitious policies to expand civil rights and protections for underrepresented groups will not advance when Republicans run the House. “A more diverse Congress needs to make better policy, needs to make more inclusive laws, and give more people an experience in America,” said Johnson, a former White House member who recently wrote about this dynamic for The Bulwark. Republican control, he noted, would prevent that from happening.

The spending cuts demanded by many GOP members, for example, could prevent investment in social programs that “hit conservative hot buttons on race or sexual identity,” Andrew Biggs, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told Slate. And the GOP’s attacks on subjects like critical race theory and trans rights hint at how the party plans to continue promoting hostile positions for LGBTQ people and racial equity in its bid to rally its base.

Additionally, elected women and minority lawmakers span the ideological spectrum, meaning that greater representation does not guarantee alignment on policies that address civil rights issues.

The impact of greater representation in Congress

While it may seem obvious, a more representative American Congress helps ensure that more people feel they have a voice in government, and pushes legislators to consider issues they might otherwise ignore.

Research shows that such representation is important because it helps build voter confidence, because it ensures that more viewpoints are included in policy and because lawmakers are more likely to advocate for constituencies that share aspects of their identity. “It’s about immediate impact, but it’s also about long-term understanding of the real needs of our community,” Annise Parker, president of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, told The Boston Globe. “It’s critical that we have that conversation. It’s something that our best and most supportive allies can’t do.

And while the burden of implementing policies that help address inequality should not fall on members of underrepresented groups, many have played a key role in championing substantive bills in the past. Johnson pointed to the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act in 2000, the passage of federal sentencing reform in 2018, increased funding for HBCUs, and the approval of an anti-lynching bill in 2022 as policies that would not have been implemented if Black legislators had not advocated for people- that person.

The pressure even led to success across party lines. Take, for example, the First Steps Act, condemning reforms implemented under President Donald Trump in 2018. “Diversity, frankly, in Congress allowed the bill to pass,” Johnson told Vox. Other examples include the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’s vocal lobbying for immigration reforms like ending Title 42, and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus’s support for legislation to combat anti-Asian hate crimes.

Past research by Georgetown political scientist Michele Swers has also found that female lawmakers are more likely to sponsor bills focused on women’s health, and are more likely to participate in policy debates about gender equality. When examining policies in the mid-1990s, for example, Swers found that liberal women legislators sponsored an average of 10.6 bills related to women’s health, about 5.3 more than liberal men.

“I find that in general, it’s more directly related to policy consequences for women, so when we think about women’s rights issues, if women in Congress are more involved, they’re more involved,” Swers said in an interview. with the American Enterprise Institute. Women have been at the forefront of pushing for policies that focus on paid family leave, sexual misconduct in the military, pay equity, abortion rights, and maternal mortality. LGBTQ members, who have seen their ranks grow in Congress, have also been integral to bills like the Respect for Marriage Act, which enshrines federal protections for same-sex marriage.

Whether more inclusive legislation is passed may depend on party control.

In this term and other recent ones, there are limits on what policies a more diverse Congress can pursue because of the number of Democrats.

A Republican House majority is likely to block efforts to pass bills that address issues including discrimination against LGBTQ people, immigration reform, and police reform. And before that, a narrow Democratic Senate majority also led to the failure of bills to protect abortion rights, to establish universal child care, and to strengthen voting rights. House Democrats also passed legislation such as the Equality Act, which prohibits discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, as well as the Dream Act, which would give undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children a path to citizenship, but not someone made it. through the Senate.

Today, there is more diverse representation among Democrats, although Republicans are also seeing some increases. This year, Republicans elected three new Latina lawmakers to Congress, as well as the highest number of Black Republicans — 5 — in decades. The contrast between the two parties remains stark, though. All told, about 40 percent of Democratic lawmakers are people of color, compared to 10 percent of Republican lawmakers. Additionally, 41 percent of Democratic lawmakers are women, compared to 15 percent of Republicans.

And of the record 19 Latina women, 27 black women, and 13 LGBTQ candidates elected this cycle, most are Democrats.

There is an open question whether more diversity in the Republican caucus will translate into a new approach to policymaking. GOP lawmakers including Sens. Tim Scott and Marco Rubio have worked on criminal justice and immigration reform in the past, for example, though Johnson noted that Republican lawmakers may face pressure to shy away from issues related to race, given the party’s distaste for identity. . politics. In addition, many members of the GOP not only actively oppose certain policies that focus on civil rights, but also develop rhetoric that is harmful to certain communities – including anti-trans statements and the elevation of ideas like the “good replacement theory.”

It is also worth noting that more diversity in Congress does not mean a monolithic approach to politics given the significant ideological differences between women and minority parliamentarians. While Democrats, and some moderate Republican women, supported codification Roefor example, newly elected Sen. Katie Britt, the first woman elected to the Senate from Alabama, before cheering Supreme Court ruling to change that precedent.

“Demographic representation is not always the same as representation on certain policy issues because all Latinos, all women, all LGBTQ people disagree with the policy agenda,” said Kelly Dittmar, a political scientist at Rutgers and a scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics. “We didn’t just vote for women, and XYZ policy passed.”

Congress still has a lot to do

Despite the inroads that have been made in representation, there continue to be major gaps both at the legislative and staffer levels. An October study from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies found that 18 percent of senior House staff are people of color, which is less than the 40 percent of the population who are also non-white.

“While the 118th Congress is the most racially diverse, the makeup of its staff breaks records for lack of diversity,” said Dr. LaShonda Brenson, a senior researcher at the Joint Center, told Vox. “Staff people of color now make up about 25 percent of the House workforce, according to LegiStorm data. That’s lower than it has been since the 115th Congress (2017-2019).

Congress’s low pay, unpredictable work hours, and unpredictable working conditions are among the factors that limit who can work as an employee. An increase to the minimum wage in the House, as well as a joint unionizing effort, intended to make Congress a more inclusive and supportive place to work.

These gaps can also lead to prioritized policies, given the important role that staff play in the creation and implementation of legislation. Addressing racial and gender disparities is central to developing key policies – from funding for infrastructure projects to the spread of pandemic business debt.

“Policy is not neutral. Different groups experience it differently, and you need to have staff with that kind of knowledge and perspective,” said University of Minnesota political scientist Michael Minta, who studies the importance of diversity in Congress.