Organizing for collective impact & the democracy principle

Congress is often criticized for being “out of touch” with the American public. One biting critique is that Congress just doesn’t “look like” the constituents they represent. Its members are overwhelmingly more male, white, educated, and older than the general U.S. population. And while this holds true for most of Congress, there is one faction where it is not true: Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives. House Democrats more closely align with the demographic breakdown in the U.S. than any other party and chamber. There are some disparities—there are almost twice as many Black Democratic House members (25 percent) compared to the 14 percent in the U.S. population. And women are still a minority in the House Democratic Caucus (43 percent). But in other areas, House Democrats closely track America by race and gender. Hispanic and Latino House Democrats are at 17 percent, compared to 19 percent in the U.S. Even the ratio of LGBTQ members of the House is rising—with about five percent among House Democrats compared to seven percent in the U.S.

This is more than just a symbolic exercise. As the Native American saying goes, “Never judge a person until you walk a mile in his moccasins.” When our elected representatives share the living experiences of those they represent, it increases the likelihood they will be responsive to the needs and aspirations of the public. By comparison, House Republicans are woefully overrepresented by men (85 percent), and only one percent are Black and six percent are Latino. After being ousted as Speaker of the House, Rep. Kevin McCarthy in an interview lamented the sorry state of diversity in the Republican Conference. “I’d just become leader and I’m excited and President Trump’s there. And I look over at the Democrats and they stand up. They look like America,” he said. “We stand up. We look like the most restrictive country club in America.”