Debunking the “Record-Breaking” 117th Congress

By Kaycie Goral

A “Historic” “Record-Breaking” and “Most diverse” Congress yet.

Much has been reported on the record number of women, racial minorities, and members of the LGBTQ community elected this past November to Congress.. However, it’s just as important to note that Congress continues to be overwhelmingly cis, white, heterosexual, and male.

When the phrase “record-breaking” is bandied around, it is easy to think we are on the fast track to achieving diversity in Congress. In reality, despite several “record-breaking” elections, the U.S. continues to fall behind much of the world for diversity in the national legislature, especially when it comes to women’s representation.

Yes, This is our most diverse Congress yet. However, our failure to reach gender balance indicates a more significant and ongoing representation crisis: one that will take intentional legislative actions and investment in systems reforms to correct.

Let’s Look at the Numbers

It’s no surprise that Congress is less diverse than the U.S. population, with 78 percent of members identifying as white (a much higher percentage than the actual 60 percent of white Americans)

• Regarding women of color, there will be 51 total (46-D, 5-R), compared with 48 women of color serving in 2019.
• Women of color will hold 48 seats in the U.S. House (43-D, 5-R) compared with 44 in 2019.
• There will be three women of color (3-D, 0-R) in the Senate compared with 2 in 2019.

In Total: Women hold just over 27 percent of all congressional seats compared with about 25 percent in 2019.

The party makeup for Congresswomen continues to lean Democrat (105-D and 36-R). Even while setting a new record, the Republican Party has a third of the women members the Democratic Party has in Congress. According to our representation counters, women will account for nearly 40% of Democrats on Capitol Hill, compared with less than 15% on the Republican side.

In short: This Congress has broken 2019 records for gender and diversity. Unfortunately, the improvements fail to substantially progress toward a Congress representative of the diversity in the U.S.

Where do we go from here? Onward and Upward.

It is true; we have seen small increases in women’s representation in recent years. However, our improvements have been slow and uneven across the racial, geographic, and ideological spectrum.

With the 118 women serving in the House of Representatives, the U.S. currently ranks 68th globally for women’s representation, tying with Kazakhstan. Compare this with many of our democratic allies, that rank in the top 50 for gender balance in legislatures. Other countries are improving faster than the United States not because women are better prepared to run and win in other countries; but because other countries have implemented fairer electoral systems and strategies to level the playing field for women.

By implementing systems strategies like ranked-choice voting with multi-member districts, we can make steady and sustained gender balance in politics. These reforms have a long history in the United States, and they have been shown to increase women’s representation in other countries that have adopted them. Thirty-seven of the top 50 countries for women’s representation have proportional representation or mixed electoral systems for their national legislatures.

To combat our representation crisis, we must increase the recruitment, training, and funding of women candidates and invest in fair representation electoral systems designed to improve descriptive representation.

Kaycie is a Communications Fellow for RepresentWomen. She is a recent graduate from American University with a BA in communications and criminal justice. Follow Kaycie on Twitter:@d_Kaycie