Representation in the 116th Congress

Interactive Storytelling, Web Design

Problem

The United States Congress is not representative of the diverse identities in the country it governs. Without varied and intersecting identities, there is no one present to represent folks that hold those identities, understand their experiences, and can advocate for them.

Concept

As the 116th Congress inauguration was happening, there was significant press attributed it’s many history-making elections. I felt like this was an important moment to celebrate these successes as well as shed light on the glaring homogeneity of identity in the U.S. Congress, when shown as a whole.

Purpose

• Inform and Engage a Younger Generation in Politics.

So often people are taught that politics are boring and dry, when in reality they influence our lives daily. Representatives are advocates on our behalf and everyone should be paying attention to who is their Rep. and how are they using their power. 

• Showcase Digestible Information, Using Illustrations, Photos, Infographics, and Color.

The intention of this website to display the disparity of identities within congress. There is more diversity of identities than ever, but congress is still not reflective of the United States population, which becomes clearer through infographics. 

• Speak to the Importance of Representation of Identities.

Whoever is in congress at this moment is who the next generation will grow to understand belongs in that space. If they do not see themselves reflected in a member of congress, they will most likely believe it is not a space for them. My hope is that people leave the website more informed about identities, representation, and why it is crucial for future generations of leaders to see themselves reflected. I hope they leave with newfound knowledge and passion to be a catalyst for change.

Target Audience

I wanted to target a younger audience 16-24 years old under voter age to get them paying attention and excited to become a registered voter. This website only scratches the surface and is intended as an entry point into understanding how identity, politics, and the homogeneity of our government overlap.

I know that many young people don’t understand the importance of politics and are not cognizant of the way representation is implicitly teaching them. On the website I introduced terms like intersectionality and privilege, to allow access to that information, and give an understanding I didn’t gain until I had access to college-level courses. Perhaps this will be their first instance of thinking critically about how they absorb media and how they have internalized it. 

Research

I began researching many articles celebrating the new diversity within congress. Specifically an interactive article from Politico.com that displayed groups of identities in the 116th congress, but failed to display intersectional identities. So I then went through every member of the senate and built a spreadsheet of all of the identities in the categories of party affiliation, age, gender, sexuality, race, and ability. This was labor-intensive but the research did not exist already synthesized, so I had to create it myself.

Above are the women who made history in the election of the 116th congress. The user can click on any of the women and see what state they represent, what party, and why they made history.

I intentionally select photos that I felt reflected a modern congresswoman, full of life, with coffee in hand on the way to her office, speaking with conviction, all to show the next generation what it looks like to be a congresswoman.

Since this project was geared toward a younger audience, this section of the website provides an introduction to how the three branches of the U.S. government function.

Similarly, in the screens below, the website gives an introduction to the concepts of identity, intersectionality, and privilege. These terms are often inaccessible, and by breaking them down, the page hopefully gives users the tools they need to understand why representation is important to the future of these power structures.

Lastly, The website hosts an interactive infographic to showcase some of the main categories of identity. when clicked, identity markers highlight in red, and dots, laid out as the house and senate floors, will turn red for each member of congress that represents the one or more systemically marginalized identities selected. In this example, there is only one person who represents categories of systemically marginalized Gender, Ability, and race, Tammy Duckworth.