Political women have positive and powerful impact

Ilhan Omar, a newly elected Minnesota House Representative said, “No matter how many times we are assisting others to make decisions for us, we need to be the ones at that table. I want my voice there because my voice is the voice of so many people.” The rise of women in politics has had an extremely positive and powerful impact in the United States.

With more representation women have gotten the courage to stand up for their rights and the rights of others. The percent of women in politics has been slowly increasing each year but there needs to be a greater representation of women in political fields than what the United States has now.

From 2013-2015, only 19.4 percent of Congress was made up of women when women make up over half of the population. Only fifty years ago that number was even smaller at 2.6 percent. Women deserve a larger role in how our country is run and this can not happen if they are excluded in running for political offices.

Nia-Malika Henderson found that in 2015 there were 77 women who held a job in a state level field. The amount of women in these fields are growing larger every election period, but there is still only one woman to every 10 men as governors.

There needs to be an accurate representation of the population of the United States in our government system and the majority of the population is not old white males. 

Cynthia Terrell, chair of FairVote’s “Representation 2020” project said, “At the current rate of progress, it will take nearly 500 years for women to reach fair representation in government.” This is only if the rate stays the same and does not decline. The “Representation 2020” project looks to level the playing field for women in all job fields which would allow for more women to be involved in our government.

Projects like “Representation 2020” show others the real problems in the working world for women being underrepresented and ignored for jobs because of their gender. If more project like this were to start up, it would push this movement in further into the public’s eye.

FairVote’s sent out a report that shows women hold an average of 31 percent of state legislative seats elected in multi-seat districts, these are when each district has multiple seat to give out. While only 23 percent were elected in one-seat districts, where only one spot is available to win.

If our system were to adopt multi-seat districts as way of choosing state legislatives positions there would be a more evenly distributed political power. This would give not only women but also minorities a larger ability to be elected.

The increasing number of women in political fields is a great asset to the government. Some believe that there is no need to press for more women in politics because the people are always given the right to choose. With the government system already in place, all citizens are given the right to choose who they want to represent them in the government, but women should be encouraged more to represent other women in politics.

The representation that comes with the politicization of women will create a more equitable government system which allows women to be more engaged in the political process.