Demographics of the United States Congress
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The Congress of the United States has demographics that are different from America as a whole in a number of ways. This is true historically and today.
Religious Demographics
At present the top five denominations in the Congress are Roman Catholic(28.8%), Baptist(14.1%), Methodist(11.4%) Presbyterian(9.7%), and Episcopalian(7.9%). The only one of these five that is underrepresented when compared to US population is Baptist as they represent over 16% of the US according to some estimates. The rest are overrepresented. In the case of Episcopalian and Presbyterian this overrepresentation is substantial. Episcopalians represent 10% of the US Senate, but less than 2% of the US population. In the House they represent a little more than 7% which is still over triple their representation in society. Presbyterians represent 15% of the Senate, but less than 3% of the population. In the House they represent about 8.5%.[link]In the entire list of religious demographics the most underrepresented is non-religious or religiously unspecified people. They represent less than one percent of Congress as a whole, compared to 15% of the US population. Among religious denominations the Church of Christ is the most underrepresented and the Community of Christ is the most overrepresented as it is small as a percentage of the US population.
Historically the top five denominations are the same as the top five mentioned earlier, but with Baptist being less represented and Methodist more represented.
The first Jewish person in the House was Lewis Charles Levin. The first Jewish person in the Senate was David Levy Yulee
Catholics have been in the Congress from the beginning. Charles Carroll was in the Continental Congress and was in the US Senate in 1789. Daniel Carroll of Maryland and Thomas Fitzsimons of Pennsylvania were Catholics in the first House of Representatives. Gabriel Richard was the first Catholic priest in Congress. Father Gabriel Richard was a professor of mathematics first elected to the US House of Representatives in 1823.
Dalip Singh Saund was the first, and so far only, Sikh in US Congress having been elected in 1956.[link]
Gender
Today, 85% of Congress is male and 15% is female. The global average for female representation at the parliamentary level in 2005 was 16.3%. Rwanda has the highest percentage of female representation in the world at 48.8%, followed by Sweden. Iraq and Afghanistan also have higher percentages than the United States. Many countries have introduced quota systems that reserve a certain number of parliamentary seats for women. In 2005 countries that used a quota system had nearly double the level of female representation, 26.9% versus 13.6%. A quota does not exist in the United States."Women achieving more politically." The Associated Press 20 June 2006.[link]As of 2006, the US ranks 68th in terms of women holding office in the legislature.[link] This puts the US just above Israel, but below Ecuador. Interestingly the US is also below Liechtenstein, a nation that did not allow women to vote until 1984. The US does have higher female representation than several developed nations, including Ireland, Greece, France, Italy, Malta, and Japan, but lower than most others.
Jeannette Rankin was the first woman elected to Congress, in 1916. Women could not vote or be elected in most of the United States until the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920. Rebecca Felton was the first woman to become a Senator in 1922, when she was appointed to fill a vacancy left by Georgia Senator Thomas E. Watson. In the 109th United States Congress, there are 70 women serving the U.S. House and 14 in the U.S. Senate. This is the highest number of women to hold Congressional office in the United States at one time.[link]
Race
The Senate is 1% African American and the House is roughly 9.2% African American.
Joseph Marion Hernández was the first Hispanic in Congress. He was a Whig Party territorial representative for Florida in 1823. The first to represent a state, rather than a territory, was Romualdo Pacheco who represented California in 1877. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen was the first Hispanic woman in Congress and was elected in the 1980s. The Senate is 3% Hispanic and the House is approximately 5% Hispanic. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus[link] has 21 members.
There are 4 Asians and Pacific Islanders in the US House and 2 in the Senate. As mentioned Dalip Singh Saund was the first Asian American in Congress. Daniel Inouye was the first Japanese American in the House and later the first in Senate. Patsy Mink was the first Asian American woman in Congress.
Tom Cole is the only registered American Indian currently in the House.
[This Nation] and [Hispanic Americans in Congress] were used as sources for this segment.
See also
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