With such uneven demographics in Congress many Americans feel as if their voice isn't being heard. In one blog entry, I discussed the misrepresentation found in Congress and whether or not this mattered. We trust our Congressmen and Congresswomen to govern our nation in the best interest of all of its people. But how can give them the power to make laws that shape our lives and society when so many voices aren't being heard? Many Americans are unhappy with our Congress and the decisions they are making, maybe it is time to vote in people who share our voice and can accurately represent us not only in the Senate, but especially in the House of Representatives.
Our Representatives serve two-year terms, meaning we are capable to vote in a new Representative every two-years if we so desired. We would even be able to kick out every Representative and replace them the same election if we wanted to. We are able to see the voter's power at work in the House of Representatives because of its more reflective demographics. It more closely reflects our nation giving us a better "snapshot" or "yearbook." This may be due to the fact that this chamber was originally designed to be responsive to the people. The newer demographics reveal we didn't feel our voices being heard in the House and our evolving nation decided that this was not okay. We needed the all of the voices in our nation to be heard to govern and guide America.
Senators are elected for six-year terms, yet only 1/3 are up for reelection every election period. This makes it arguably more difficult to shape the Senate to be more representative of our country. However, reelection rates show that the incumbent is not always as successful in the Senate as opposed to the House. The biggest challenge a Senator has to face while running for reelection is an opponent. All that is needed to replace out Senators and make them more representative of our country is a new candidate that can satisfy our needs. One that can accurately voice our opinions and make the best decisions for the good of our nation.
Congress was originally intended to be the most powerful of our nation's government. Shouldn't we the people be accurately represented and have our voices be heard? Maybe voting in new candidates isn't the only way to get our Congress to better represent our nation. Maybe we could try to create a new branch, a "branch of the people." We could try to bring in randomly selected citizens every year or every time a defining or controversial law is being debated, educate them, and have them vote on the issue as well. How much power we should give to them and how much their vote matters in the final decision can be worked out should this become a possibility.
One thing, however, is clear. Something needs to change. We need to change something so that our Congress, which was meant to refine and enhance public opinion, represents its people so every voice is being heard and every person feels included. We should not feel as if we are being ignored by our Congress, otherwise how could we trust them to solve our problems or generate legislation? Something needs to be done so that every voice in our diverse nation is heard, whether it be done by voting in new Senators and Representative or by adding a new branch. However slow of a process it may be we cannot continue to exclude American voices if we want America to grow and prosper.
2 comments:
In his article "May I Speak" Hernando Fonaceir addresses the current misrepresentation of the American people in congress. His article is very articulate and well written. There are many facts presented to back up his case, and I completely agree with his opinion. He provides clear and concise evidence and reasoning for his view that a change needs to happen. Like any well written article he even offers up a few solutions to the problem. These days it is hard to find people that can formulate an opinion and not only stick to it, but back it up appropriately and clearly.
One of my favorite quotes from his article is "We should not feel as if we are being ignored by our Congress, otherwise how could we trust them to solve our problems or generate legislation?" This is a very excellent point. There are many other good points made, but I don't want to sit here and quote the entire article. Well done Hernando, well done.
Hernando makes some key points about the state of public opinion regarding Congress in "May I speak". And just to continue on with what he was saying, American citizens have every right to feel weary, skeptical, and even betrayed by their own Congress. Our House of Representatives and Senate consists of a primarily Caucasian-male majority which is irritating to even me, and I am half Caucasian. The composition is just plain unfair to so many Americans out there who pay the same taxes as their white counterparts, and yet aren't represented. After all, we went to war with England for not letting the colonies be represented in parliament and now we're doing the same thing to our own citizens. 'No Taxation without Representation' used to be the motto of the Revolutionary War and it was the idea that this country was founded on. Our Congress is not supposed to have a majority which is consistent with the wealthiest demographic in the country because if the two are the same, where does money stop and liberty begin? Congress needs to be a pie-slice of the racial make-up of America. There should be so many races in the Congress that it could be interchanged with a UN meeting. America is a country of immigrants and I wish for once that our own government would represent the people that we are and the people we have become. I don't judge the founding fathers for their racial bias at the time of the founding of this nation as those were the norms of those times. I don't judge them because I know if they lived today, even they would see the wrongs of our own government and would have taken steps to fix it.
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