The United States claims to be a representative democracy, ideally representing the demographics of each state in its two national legislative bodies. The idea behind the bicameral legislature is that in the Senate, there will be an equal number of representatives from each state, whereas in the House, the interests and desires of the people from each congressional district will be carried out by their congressman—or woman. Though the 113th Congress is the most diverse that the United States has ever seen, there are merely 20 women in the 100 member Senate and including delegates and 81 women in the 435-member House of Representatives. The idea that the demographics of the House and Senate are representative of the United States is one that should be viewed skeptically, especially when only 20% of the Senate represents 53% of the voting population today. What’s more, the fact that a female bipartisan coalition began the compromise to end the government shutdown shows the fact that women are some of the biggest adults in Congress today.
Back in the day, Congress used to be a much more brotherly group of people who would live in Washington, D.C. every day and not just days in which Congress is in session. The only people who remain true to the way Congress used to run are actually now the female senators. The twenty women in the Senate avoid party politics, promising not to put down each other in the press or run against each other, but also are friends with each other, meeting for monthly dinners. Regardless of party, women take the effort to make bonds which will prove to help them when creating a bipartisan piece of legislation that will pass through the Republican House and Democratic Senate.
On October 8, after a regular Senate women’s dinner, Maine Republican Susan Collins took the first step to end the shutdown, refraining from blame and proposing a concrete plan to end the crisis while asking her “Democratic and Republican colleagues to come together”– something that definitely wasn’t happening before. Democrat Barbara Mikulski of Maryland chimed in, stating “I am willing to negotiate. I am willing to compromise,” backed up by Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska who agreed that what Collins said was “a plan which [she thought] is pretty reasonable and responsible.”
Reflecting on the role of women in beginning the end to the infamous October government shutdown, it is discouraging that there is such a dearth of women willing to run for office, as the twenty women currently in the Senate have proved to be leaders in their legislative body. It’s even more interesting that today, women are attending college at a higher rate than their male counterparts, yet they are not represented nearly as strongly in their government or in other prominent leadership positions. Not until women are given equal representation as men- 50 seats in the Senate- will they be a formidable force in creating legislation for a government that is “of the people, by the people, for the people”, one that is willing to compromise to get the job done. A woman’s place, in 2013, is in the House… and the Senate as well.
