A day in the life of a member of Congress

¶ … Life of a Member of Congress

Members of the House of Representatives and of the Senate must have many qualifications in order to appeal to the voting majority and financial backers, and there are a number of reasons why each of those qualifications might be necessary for peak job performance in Congress. Unfortunately, many of the job requirements have little or nothing to do with actual capacity to handle the work. There are many aspects of life as a Congressman of which the public generally remains completely unaware, and the daily activities of members of Congress may surprise a large percentage of people.

Congress does not at all represent the American population

Age

Constitutional rule

Political Experience

Disconnected from younger generations

WASP

Race a. Disproportionate whites b. Little representation for minorities

Religion a. Protestants

C. Education/Occupation

Trained for higher-status occupations

Overwhelmingly populated with lawyers

D. Wealth

1. Less than 1% of Americans are millionaires

2. At least 1/3 of Congressmen are millionaires!

3. Does not understand needs of the poor and working classes

II. Requirements of congresspersons

A. Experience vs. Age

B. WASP vs. enlightenment

C. Lawyers vs. Diversity

D. Wealth vs. Perspective

III. Some congressmen and congresswomen are genuine

A. Unfair prejudice

B. Media coverage

1. Lots of coverage for negative

2. Impossible to get coverage for positive

C. Large populations

1. Few people meet their representative

2. Few people understand platform

D. Congress itself is suboptimal, a single rep cannot fix it

Look at Congress

In the United States, there are a great number of politicians at work upholding the system of government that is in place. Representing the country is a full-time job for many elected officials in a republic, and it is a very important position to take. The citizens of the country have the opportunity to practically custom-build the government system by electing politicians such as Congressmen that they feel will most be able to keep the needs of the people as the top priority and present and vote on the best ideas to Congress on behalf of the people. Of course, not all day is spent sitting in Congress sharing ideas and voting on bills and amendments. In fact, the average day for a Congressional representative does not include Congress at all, because it is only in session 145 days per year. [1] the question may be posed, then, what does a Congressman do all day, and what makes him qualified to do these things on behalf of the people he represents? Members of the House of Representatives and of the Senate must have many qualifications in order to appeal to the voting majority and financial backers, and there are a number of reasons why each of those qualifications might be necessary for peak job performance in Congress. Unfortunately, many of the job requirements have little or nothing to do with actual capacity to handle the work. There are many aspects of life as a Congressman of which the public generally remains completely unaware, and the daily activities of members of Congress may surprise a large percentage of people.

Although congressmen have been specifically elected to represent the American citizens in the government, in many ways the members of Congress do not at all represent the American population. In order to be elected to Congress, in fact, representatives seem to need to be entirely atypical of their constituents and the U.S. population. FIrst, Congressmen are older than both the average age of Americans, and the actual majority of Americans. This factor is not entirely decided by the voters, unlike some of the other atypical features required of the representatives. This abnormal age range is due in large part to the age requirements for congressmen which is set forth in the Constitution itself. Additionally, however, in order to gain support for a political campaign from financial supporters and voters alike, a vast amount of political "experience" is generally required. [2] What this generally means is that the politicians are completely set in their ways and often disconnected from the needs of the younger generations by the time they are elected into office. Other Congressional norms are disproportionate to the rest of America, as well. Take, for example, the overwhelming number of White males that preside in Congress. At least half of the constituents in any district are female, yet not nearly half of the people in congress are female. There is also a much smaller number of black or hispanic members of the House of Representatives, and even fewer in the Senate. [3] Members of congress are also by and large Protestant Christians, by no means representing the number of non-Protestants in the country or in each individual district or State. [4]

These factors have been long and strong in American politics, adding up to the WASP unspoken, though widely recognized, requirements of every politician. White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant males make decisions for every ethnicity and religion in the country. The differences do not end there, however, as members of congress are more often than not trained in higher-status occupations, which may or may not be a valid requirement for someone in this position. Lawyers make up a large percentage of the occupations of congressmen. [5] Members of congress are also disproportionately wealthy; due to the methods of campaigning and lobbying in America, politics are a big-money business. Although less than 1% of Americans are millionaires, at least one third of House and Senate representatives are worth a million dollars or more. [6]

Some of the requirements of congresspersons make logical sense for the profession, while others simply do not. Sufficient political experience is a sensible requirement of a candidate, but it must be weighed with the cost of electing representatives that are past their prime, bought into the status-quo, disillusioned, or even senile. One journalist described witnessing congressmen who were obviously too old to be competent in this job. [7] the WASP requirements of congressmen are illogical in this desegregated, supposedly enlightened post-suffrage and civil rights era; one's gender, ethnicity, and religion have little or nothing to do with how well one can perform in Congress, apart from the fact that each representative will have to overcome all of the prejudices held against them. Education requirements make sense, but the huge number of lawyers in Congress lead to an unbalanced group; having representatives experienced in other fields would help give perspective on solving social issues. Finally, certainly a millionaire will not have the perspective to relate to, understand, or effectively address the problems which accompany poverty and financial struggles of the common American. Essentially, the reason any of these qualifications is really necessary for the job is because if the candidate does not fit this mold, people will not vote for him.

This is not to imply that there are not some congressmen (or congresswomen) that are genuinely interested in the needs of the people, and have worked very hard to become qualified for their position, and work hard to maintain that position. In Monica Bauer's "Personal Perspective on Congress," the sometimes unwarranted prejudice against congressmen is addressed. The Congresswoman being highlighted here was elected to represent her own hometown, where her family could be traced for at least four generations. [8] This is a situation where the representative truly has a stake in the well-being of her constituents. The problems in Congress may be heightened by the media while the positive progress being made is overlooked, though other perspectives on the proceedings in Congress reveal a lot of wasted time and ridiculous uses of the system. These failings, however, may not be something that a single Congressperson can repair, so the honestly good representatives may be forced to make do with the system the way it is. One reputation and public image problem that may be faced by a representative is that due to the size of the represented areas of people, very few people will meet their representative or get to know their work on a deeper level. There is a difference, perhaps, in the public perception of Congress and the actuality of Congress. Congress is, by definition, supposed to bargain, compromise, and follow the rules that a bicameral system must follow; Congress cannot help but be partisan, move slowly, and make deals that may be less than ideal. [9] Though this may be telltale that if the common and prevalent critiques of Congress are inherent in the way it works, then the entire system needs an overhaul, which will never happen if it continues to be populated with rich, white, old men who have a stake in the system staying exactly as it is now.