AP Government Name: _____________________________

Unit 2 – Interactions Amongst the Branches

Introduction to the 117th Congress

PART 1: Use the below websites to examine the demographics and data regarding the 117th U.S.
Congress.
 https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/03/10/the-changing-face-of-congress/
 https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/03/politics/117th-congress-historic-numbers/index.html
 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rPsVLYljcvXPeNP01LWw8Ll3kfxxf4RyXmBDmCZ1zYw/edit?
usp=sharing

PART 2: After examining the data, answer the below questions:

1. What is surprising you? What is not surprising? Why?

The 117th Congress is a huge majority of Catholics and this surprises me because of how many their are. What
doesn't surprise me is the fact that Hinduism is the lowest amount of people because most are not white.

2. What are your takeaways? What stands out to you? Why?

What stands out to me is they are setting a new record in the amount of women joining the 117th Congress.

3. What do the changes and/or continuities regarding the makeup of Congress mean to you? (from your
perspective and point of view)
It shows me that they are trying to diverse the amount of people in congress with women and many
religions and races which is important to me and is a good thing.

4. Does a more diverse Congress make Congress more representative? Explain.

It does make congress more representative because with a more diverse community it is expanded out to more
people of different cultures.

PART 3: Read the directions below and complete the task:

 In the box on the backside of this paper, create a political cartoon that reflects your perspective and point
of view regarding the demographics and data of the 117th U.S. Congress.

 Be creative - think about the message you want to portray.

 Your cartoon must be school appropriate and exclude offensive materials and innuendo
(ask if you’re unsure about something)