Sarah Bryner wrote the report that analyzes racial and gender diversity among the 117th congress members to discuss the election fairness and challenges faced by the candidates. The latest Congress is the most diverse in terms of race and gender, and it is the achievement of nationwide respect for equity (Bryner, 2020). The article’s central thesis is that the 117th Congress is capable of becoming more diverse if being elected was less challenging, particularly for people of color or women.
The author explains that the percentage of racial diversity in the latest Congress only slightly changed because almost each new elected candidate has the same race as the previous member from their state. Historically, most of the Congressmen are white males, the 117th Congress also includes more than 150 participants with this appearance (Bryner, 2020). According to the report, women in Congress are still rare, and the seats that were free by the moment of the article’s publishing were unlikely to be taken by female candidates. Bryner (2020) states that “voters will almost certainly elect a woman to a seat currently held by a man, either because both candidates chosen are women or because the race is not competitive” (para. 11). The article also includes statistics about diversity divided by the parties: Democrats have more representatives of different races and genders than Republicans (Bryner, 2020).
The article highlights that diversity affects the fundraising for states, and women or people of diverse races experience challenging situations in getting financial support. The analyzed data shows that the black male is more likely to raise more money than the white male; however, it does not work for female candidates (Bryner, 2020). Although the fundraising opportunities increase from one Congress election to another, racial and gender diverse representatives still might lose their seat due to the social biases and the surplus of white male politicians.
The diversity in the 117th Congress increases but does not fully utilize its potential due to the historically formed biases. Bryner’s article was written in the middle of the election race, and forecasts about the chances of people of different races and women to win became the critical data to analyze. The challenges diverse candidates experience in fundraising decrease their capability to stay in Congress or get the desired seat.
Reference
Bryner, S. (2020). Racial and gender diversity in the 117th Congress. Center for Responsible Politics.