Should ethnic congressmen represent ethnic groups

congeth

Source

General Social Survey https://gss.norc.org

Details

Question Some people say that it is only fair that in a society like ours, people holding public office should have roughly the same racial or ethnic background as the population as a whole. So, for example, if 30pct of the people were Hispanic, then 30pct of the public officials should be Hispanic as well. Others say that in choosing people for public office they should be considered purely on the basis of ability without regard to their ethnic or racial background. Let me ask you about these ideas in several different areas. A. What about people in Congress? Should they have the same racial or ethnic background as their constituents, or should they be considered purely on the basis of their ability without regard to their racial or ethnic background?

Values

[1] consider ethnic background
[2] ability, not background
[NA(d)] don't know [NA(i)] iap [NA(j)] I don't have a job [NA(m)] dk, na, iap [NA(n)] no answer [NA(p)] not imputable [NA(r)] refused [NA(s)] skipped on web [NA(u)] uncodeable [NA(x)] not available in this release [NA(y)] not available in this year [NA(z)] see codebook

Question Years and Ballots

ballots	years
A/B/C	1994

Overview

For further details see the GSS Data Explorer page for congeth.

Counts by year:

year	iap	consider ethnic background	ability, not background	don't know	no answer	Total
1994	1518	131	1279	53	11	2992
Total	1518	131	1279	53	11	2992