Monday, Jul. 20, 2020
In absolute numbers, is the US Congress one of the most diverse legislatures among Western democracies?
In absolute numbers, the current U.S. Congress, with 22% of members from non-white backgrounds, has a higher proportion of non-white members than in other large Western democracies such as Canada (15%), the U.K. (10%), Germany (8%), or France (6%).
The number in the U.S. has grown steadily over the last five elections. In relative terms, however, representation in Congress does not correspond to the ethnic mix of the country's population, estimated in 2019 to be 39% non-white. Pew Research notes that the number of Blacks in Congress, 12%, is in line with their share of the population, while Hispanics and Asians are underrepresented.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Pew Research: Diversity in the 116th Congress
- UK Parliament: Ethnic diversity in politics
- Institute for Research on Public Policy: Diversity in Canada's Parliament
- France 24: Diversity in France's National Assembly
- Migration Media Service: German parliament members with at least one foreign-born parent
- The Journal of Legislative Studies: Ethnic group representation in cross-national politics
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Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.
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