Congress Roles & The Presidency (ANSWERED)

QUESTION

For the initial post, respond to one of the following options, and label the beginning of your post indicating either Option 1 or Option 2:

Option 1: Political scientists disagree on the exact causes of low representation of women in Congress. Why do you think there are so few women in Congress in comparison to men? How likely is it that these patterns of representation will dramatically change over your lifetime? For this discussion question, you will have to do some research online.
Option 2: What characteristics do you think voters look for when choosing a president? Do you think voters choose the characteristics they are looking for depending on the socioeconomic and political environment – lack of jobs, riots, COVID-19, environmental concerns and other issues etc.? Explain your answer.

Be sure to make connections between your ideas and conclusions and the research, concepts, terms, and theory we are discussing this week.

ANSWER

Option 1: Low Representation of Women in the Congress

The congressional office has been dominated by males for most of American history. The first woman entered Congress in 1917 and the first Black woman entered in 1965. Women were not allowed constitutionally to vote before the twentieth century, which forestalled their opportunities for office-holding and candidacy. The formal legal barriers to holding office and voting were compounded by other barriers such as lesser access to economic, social, and educational credentials. Women are disadvantaged also due to inequalities in the sexual division of labor and gender roles in society.

More women have participated in voting than men in the past four decades. As such, the argument that women are less political than men is not valid. The reason why few women hold elective positions is primarily institutional. Political institutions may be biased against women due to the societal expectations of women’s abilities and roles. Cultural expectations are reinforced in the campaigns and elections that politics is a masculine discipline. The negative belief that women are not appropriate to wield political power has been demonstrated in opinion polls from the twentieth century.

Party leaders have for a long time advised against nominating women as candidates since they are unlikely to be voted for due to violation of their expected qualities and social roles. However, the number of elective posts held by women has been recently been increasing steadily. For instance, the majority of seats in the Nevada Legislature are held by women, making it the first state to have more women than men in the legislature (Sanbonmatsu, 2020). Such trends indicate that it is possible to achieve gender parity in Congress as well. As such, I believe that Congress will achieve gender parity in my lifetime.

Option 2: Characteristics that Voters Look for When Choosing a President

Voters make decisions on where the polity of their country should head. They are supposed to choose leaders who they believe will boost the economy, solve social equity concerns, protect the environment, tackle climate change, and protect the country from foreign threats among others. Presidential candidates typically demonstrate large and dramatic differences in their image and skills. The personality of the candidates becomes evident when presenting their goals if elected. Personality entails presenting who they are as individuals, and this is what shows their differences. Recent elections have demonstrated how voters view personality and policy choices in their choice.

The personality of presidential candidates contributes to predictable and serious political consequences. The personality of presidential candidates drives their degree of achievement when in office. It determines how they deal with unethical behavior, how they use executive orders, how they relate with the legislature, and how they accomplish policies. The information and motivation that voters have on politics is often low. As such, they often make political decisions based on their perception of the candidates or using cognitive heuristics.

Candidates cannot hide their personality profiles from the public when advocating for their political goals and attacking their opponents. Voters use such cues to make decisions when voting. Voters are often likely more willing to vote for candidates who they believe personalities match their own (Nai et al., 2021). Most presidential candidates have similar goals in improving the socio-economic status of the country including and not limited to decreasing the unemployment rate, improving security, and tackling disease. However, voters make decisions based on the personalities of the candidates depending on how they portray themselves when defending their capacity to be the best choice for the presidential seat.

References

Nai, A., Maier, J., & Vranić, J. (2021). Personality goes a long way (for some). An experimental investigation into candidate personality traits, voters’ profile, and perceived likeability. Frontiers in Political Science, 3. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2021.636745

Sanbonmatsu, K. (2020). Women’s underrepresentation in the U.S. Congress. Daedalus, 149(1), 40-55. https://doi.org/10.1162/daed_a_01772