In what ways can we learn from the efforts of women to obtain elected positions in the House and the Senate? What does the demographic description of the House and the Senate say about who is most likely to get elected to Congress today?

What will be an ideal response?

STUDENT ANSWERS TO THIS QUESTION WILL VARY BUT SHOULD DISCUSS THE LACK OF DESCRIPTIVE REPRESENTATION AND THE FOCUS ON SUBSTANTIVE REPRESENTATION NOT ONLY FOR WOMEN BUT FOR MOST MINORITIES. STUDENTS SHOULD DISCUSS HOW THE WOMEN OF 1992 DECIDED TO MAKE THEIR DECISIONS TO RUN (REACTING TO THE THOMAS SENATE HEARINGS AND NEW OPEN SEATS IN THE HOUSE AND SENATE). Descriptively, Congress is still 70–80% white male, and 90%+ of House incumbents and over 85% of Senate incumbents still have the advantage of winning elections. The barriers that these women had to overcome were demographic, financial, procedural, and tradition based. It is still very difficult for a woman or a minority to win a seat in congress, but it is getting easier, and the representation demographics are becoming more descriptive of the overall population. But we still have a long way to go!