What Exactly Is Representation in a Representative Democracy?

Last Wednesday, girls around the country — and indeed, the world — watched the inauguration of our nation’s first woman, first African American and first Asian American vice president. For many of these girls, the world changed immediately, irrevocably. Because in a world where it is often posited that “you can’t be what you can’t see,” these girls saw themselves assuming one of the highest offices in the world, finally. And that seeing was as momentous as it was groundbreaking.

Growing up as a young girl in Texas in the 80s and 90s, I felt that I was surrounded by capable, powerful women. Sally Ride was my astronaut. Ann Richards was my governor. Geraldine Ferraro was my Vice Presidential nominee. Barbara Jordan was my representative and civil rights leader. As a Texan, I felt a connection to First Lady Barbara Bush and as a Democrat, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. All around me, women held positions of power and influence, making strides for education, healthcare, children, families and more. I was told I could be anything I wanted to be. And I believed it.

It wasn’t until I grew older — and became intimately involved in a number of female candidates’ political campaigns — that I grasped the full picture of women’s participation in democratic governance. Beyond the first and second-hand horror stories I heard of continued discrimination and women’s difficulties in achieving equal opportunity, there were also the stark statistics: One hundred years on, politics is where the US lags the most on gender equality. Moreover, at the current pace of change, gender equality won’t arrive in the U.S. until the year 2227. Yes, you read that right. Two thousand two hundred twenty seven.

Representative democracy requires representation

Our country was founded on the principle of representative democracy, in which elected officials represent a group of people in passing legislation, as compared to a direct democracy, where the general public decides on policy initiatives directly.

Most current democracies are representative, in large part because the nations themselves are too populous, which makes managing a direct democracy unwieldy and near-impossible.

For a representative democracy to function as it was meant to, we need two main things: first, for everyone to vote; and second, for our electors to be accountable to the populations they serve. We do not currently have the former (though we should). We have struggled mightily with the latter, particularly in the past few years, leading to renewed debates on the importance of character and values-based leadership and calls for accountability on the part of leaders who place personal power or financial gain over the benefit of their constituents.

It matters that our representatives reflect who we are as a country. That is, our representatives should and must reflect us, Americans, including in gender, race, sexual orientation, adaptive capabilities, socioeconomic status and other measures. For our purposes today, I want to focus on gender representation.

Despite recent strides, the U.S. Congress has a massive gender gap

I am not too old to remember that 1992 was named “Year of the Woman” because it marked the first period during which more than two women at a time (!) served in the Senate, with three women serving in September and four additional women elected in November of that year.

To be sure, we have made gains since the Year of the Woman: There are currently 118 women in the U.S. House of Representatives (that’s 27 percent of members); and 24 women in the Senate (24 percent of members). In addition, we have nine women governors (18 percent); but 49 out of 50 state legislatures are made up of less than 50 percent women.

Yet even now, despite gains, the U.S. ranks 75th out of 193 countries in women’s representation in government.

This continuing gender inequality in governance is a problem, in no small part because data consistently shows that women are incredibly effective at governing.

When women lead, nations flourish

This is best illustrated by the once-in-a-lifetime crisis presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many recent headlines observe that the nations that have best managed the crisis are helmed by women leaders. But this reality extends far beyond our current circumstances.

Women make tangible progress on critical issues

It’s not just about seeing your identity represented in your leader; it’s also having the issues that matter to you represented. A large body of global research reveals that the higher the proportion of women lawmakers, the greater the number of laws enacted to advance gender equality. That stands for women in both major parties in the U.S. And beyond equality, there is also a wealth of data that reveals why nations flourish — along a slew of critical indicators, including economy, health, education, family policies — when women are well-represented at the helm.

Women collaborate to get things done

As leaders, women tend to be more collaborative and more willing to cross the aisle to work alongside members of the other party. This type of collaboration is important because it helps us achieve outcomes — it helps us get past the gridlock and the endless partisan debate and grandstanding that our elected officials have both created and found themselves a part of the last decade. And this type of collaboration is more important now than ever before, as a role modeling for a society that is more divided than perhap even during the civil war, which poses a dangerous threat to our democracy.

Women aren’t self-serving as a rule; they serve the greater good

A less-often discussed but an important aspect of women leadership: women work harder for you. In a comprehensive study and book, Gendered Vulnerability, researchers found that women focus more on their constituents than men do. Women communicate with constituents more frequently, place more staffers in district offices, and sit on committees that address issues that are specific to their districts, as opposed to sitting on committees that can advance their political ambitions. They more frequently vote in line with their constituents interests. They also bring home more federal dollars to their districts than their male counterparts.

So, representation matters. It matters to those who have been marginalized, or under or mis-represented. It enables them, us, to see a future that not just includes our voice, but a new future in which we achieve exponential progress for us all.

More by Courtney Spence: The State of United