U.S. Congress Research Paper

US CONGRESS
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Abstract
The United States of American is one of the countries in the world where one can find the highest diversity with reference to the ethnic background. The main ethnic groups in the USA include the Hispanics, African American, Asians Americans, Native Americans, European Americans and the white Americans who can be split into smaller but major groups. All of these groups in one way or the other feel that they have to be represented politically so that they can have their needs addressed. Of the main representation that has been recognized in the American constitution is through the congress. The congress is one of the most influential parts of the US government. It is comprised of the senate and the House of Representatives. In total, there are 535 members, out of which the senators are 100 and the rest are representatives. Majority of the representatives are white and male while the rest of the ethnic groups are given a small share of the total representation. In the recent past, there have been some significant changes in the population demographics with reference to the African American, Asians and the Latinos as compared to the white Americans. This research, as such, tries to determine if there are going to be changes in the ethnic composition of the congress in the future relative to the population's changes with reference to the current trends in interracial marriages, ethnic mixing and changing social identities. The racial and ethnic lines are slowly fading away as different races ethnic groups as well as sub-groups intermarry. The social identities are also changing and taking on a more complex approach. The major ethnic and racial groups are likely to experience some major shifts in the future as is indicative of these trends. The methodology will involve collecting secondary information from the government sites among other credible sites such as journals, with reference the geopolitical data and that of the population growth and distribution across the states. The primary data will be collected through questionnaires posted on the social media such as Facebook and twitter . Analysis of the data will be done using the SPSS computer program version 18, run on windows operating system software. It is assumed that all the respondents will be honest about the information that they present and that the respondents will form a typical population as well as the idea that the population of respondents will form a normal distribution curve. The main limitation of the research is the fact that it is covering a large area and the funds are limiting.

Introduction
In the US, the electorate representation is very crucial and means the difference between having a fair legislature and a poor one, as well as, following the constitution to the letter. The United States of America is one of the most metropolitan countries in the world. There are quite a number of general ethnic categories and several subgroups of the various major ethnic groups. Some of the main ethnic groups in the country include the white Americans, Native Americans, African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans, European Americans and the Middle Eastern Americans. These entire ethnic groups live in different states within the states and the respective districts. Congress is one of the legislative representations that take a fundamental in the USA. As of the year 2013, in the 113th congress, the congressional population was 535 members. This is a number that encompasses all the senators and the representatives in the congress. Of the 535 members of the congress that can vote, there are 100 senators and the rest of the group which comprises of 435 members, belong to the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives and the senate from the congress of the United States of America according to the Article One of the constitution of the United States. The two sections of the congress have different mandates; however, the members are actually elected to the office. The senate looks closely at the president and the appointment that he/she makes while the House of Representatives make sure that all that relate to the legislatures on revenue are commensurate with the constitution and common good of the electorate. Each of the representative and the congressmen and women has two years in office before the next election to represent. Given the amount of influence that has been bestowed on these offices, it is the driving force of the US government and directly affects the country down to the individual electorates. As such, it acts as a mirror of the society in terms of the religious, racial, ethnic and economic diversities. Over the years, there have been changes in the representation but the minorities in the society and the women as well have not had much luck on the representation.
The federal government is the ultimate authority in the country, hovering above all the states in America in respect to legislations. The congress is thus the one true link of the electorates on the ground to the federal government through representations at the district level. That said, ethnic representation of the people in the government is very crucial and affects the lives of millions of people living in the United States. Of all the representations, the minorities have also to be given a seat at the high table for their needs to be addressed adequately. This paper seeks to underline the ethnic representation of the country through the congress and how that might change in the future. Where the minorities are not represented fully, their needs are always going to be addressed after all the other sections of the population have been addressed. This means that, it may take some time for the minority to finally have their say in the government. This research as such seeks to establish the ethnic representation with reference to the members of the congress and their ethnicity and the changes that occur in that respect through future developments in different ethnic groups in the populations. As such, it is a research that will seek to shed more light and fill in the knowledge gap of the congressional ethnic representation in the federal government along the ethnic populations.
Literature review
United States is made up of quite a number of ethnic groups and sub-groups and the sheer number of the groups is quite large. Identifying all the groups on the ethnic maps is quite tricky but the major group paint a picture that can be used for reference of the same. The ancestry in the ethnicity presents some very interesting information. Many of the questions on the ethnic population in America during the 2010 census were left out due to the controversies that would have erupted. During the 2000 census, most of the people’s ancestry related to the Africa American group. Majority of the African American from this group came from specific countries in Africa. In the 2010 census, the African American came second after the German Americans in the country. The German Americans are part of the ancestry population in the country and are composed of approximately 49 million . Most of the Germans that settled in the United States migrated into the country during the civil unrests that were experienced in Germany. The majority of the immigrant from Germany came to America during the middle years in the 19th century. Some of the notable figures in the society which are of the German descent include Tom Cruise, Sandra Bullock, Ben Affleck and Walt Disney among others. The African Americans came to America as slaves. The West and Central Africa form the cradle of most of the African Americans citizens in America today. Some of the African Americans at the moment have full ancestry to Africa while others have half of their ancestry tying to both America and Africa. Through the enactment of the 15th amendments, the African Americans gained their right to vote and be represented in the government back in the year 1870.
This amendment came after a long line of legal battles in the early nineteenth century. Today, some of the most popular African Americans include the current American president Barrack Obama and other figures such as Condoleezza Rice, Denzel Washington, Oprah Winfrey and Beyonce Knowles among others in various capacities. In the 1840s, there was a great famine that swept through Ireland. Most of the affected families sought refuge in America from the 1820s to the 1920s. As such, the Irish population in America is quite huge taking the third position on the ancestry list, as the Irish descendants are composed more than 32 million. Since the establishment of the American government, there have been more than 22 presidents that have been of the Irish descent. As of today, there are more than 32 million Americans that are of Mexican descent. Much of the Mexican population is com...