Political Representation in America

Lori Cox Han, PhD, is Professor of Political Science and Doy B. Henley Chair of American Presidential Studies at Chapman University in Orange, California, USA.Caroline Heldman, PhD, is a political scientist and Chair of the Gender, Women, & Sexuality Studies program at Occidental College in Los Angeles, USA.

• Preface1. Background and HistoryThe U.S. ConstitutionThe Bill of RightsDemocratic Representation: Models and TypesThe Expansion of Suffrage and Voting RightsRepresentation Among Demographic GroupsSelecting RepresentativesConclusionFurther Reading2. Problems, Controversies, and SolutionsExpanding Voting RightsContracting Voting RightsVoter Turnout in the United StatesDemographics of Voter TurnoutDiversity among Elected OfficialsConclusionFurther Reading3. PerspectivesYoung People in American Politics: Past, Present, and Future, Rebecca BargiachiLeading in Lavender: LGBTQ+ Representation in the United States, Daryl BarkerLatine Political Representation, Patricia EsparzaThe Evolution of AAPI Political Representation in the United States, Mary Chung Hayashi“Why Don’t Young People Vote?”: An Analysis of HBCU Student Political Apathy in Louisiana’s Conservative Climate, Cassandra Shepard4. ProfilesOrganizationsAAPI Advocacy AllianceAARPAmerican Civil Liberties UnionAmerican Political Science AssociationBlack Lives MatterEMILY’s ListEquality NowGLAADHuman Rights CampaignLULACNAACPNational LGBTQ Task ForceNational Organization for WomenNational Urban LeagueReproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL)SBA Pro-Life AmericaThe Asian American FoundationUnidosUSUnited States Supreme CourtPeopleSusan B. AnthonyCesar ChavezHillary Rodham ClintonFrederick DouglassKamala HarrisDolores HuertaJesse JacksonMarcia P. JohnsonMartin Luther King, Jr.Harvey MilkPatsy MinkBarack ObamaSilvia RiveraSonya SotomayorElizabeth Cady StantonGloria SteinemLeona TateHarriet TubmanMalcolm XFurther Reading5. Data and DocumentsData2024 Presidential Election Exit PollsCensus Data on Income and Education by Demographic CategoriesDemographic Data for the 118th CongressDocumentsConstitutional ProvisionsJohn Stuart Mill, The Subjection of Women, 1869The NAACP Adds Its Voice to the Women’s Suffrage Movement, 1915A. Phillips Randolph Urges Black Americans to Support Suffrage, 1917Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin, “Woman Suffrage,” 1918The Civil Rights Act, 1964Wesberry v. Sanders, 1964The Voting Rights Act, 1965President Lyndon B. Johnson, Remarks at the Signing of the Voting Rights Act, 1965South Carolina v. Katzenbach, 1966Shaw v. Reno, 1993Shelby County v. Holder, 20136. ResourcesBooksScholarly JournalsOnline Resources7. ChronologyGlossaryIndexAbout the Authors