The Pros And Cons Of Congress

Overall, it can be debated that Congress is not statistically or proportionately representative of the general population, and its citizenry. Although there has been an increase the notion of identity politics, there is a theoretical hurdle that must be passed in the form of the demands that are inherent to the nomination and selection process, which, most significantly carry a financial aspect that the general lay person, may not be able to tackle. Furthermore, it can be argued that although someone does not share the same characteristics of a given group from the United States population that they will be less effective in representing the challenges and needs of said group. For example, the mere fact that a Congresswoman may be involved on a certain issue dealing with female rights may not necessarily translate to a Congressman being weaker in defending or supporting the same issue. Although there has been an increase in the diversity that is held in Congress, I do not feel as though there is strong correlation to representation. I do feel

Overall, the public seems to become disenfranchised by Congress with the complexities and “messiness” in this legislative process. The conflicts held by certain members or parties also seem to be exacerbated by the presence of the media and people generate a more negative view of the congress. Today with social media, including most notably Twitter, as the current president Donald J. Trump regularly uses, there is a greater access to instantaneous information and faster response of the public to pass and share judgments. Interestingly however, Americans tend to have a more favorable view of their members of congress. This can be due largely in part again to the media. Local, small media outlets tend to portray their constituents in a more favorable light and can create an “us” vs. “them” mentality. Evidence for this phenomenon includes the 2010 midterm elections where arguable not much was done by congress