FINAL PRESENTATION

By: Arlynnell Dickson

Representing the Poor: Poverty, Geography, and the U.S. House

Motivating Questions: - Does Congress as a whole represent the interests of poor Americans? - Do representatives respond to the interests of their poor constituents? - Do they sponsor more poverty legislation? - Do they vote to support policies designed to help the poor?

Current stageExamine the Congressional Record’s frequency of key socioeconomic terms

Compare the results of last semester’s media coverage with the Congressional Record

Last Semester: Track Socio-

Economic Terms in the Media

Poverty

The Poor Middle Class

Wealthy

Inequality

Congress &

The Media

Mission:

• Track the number of results for the phrase “Congress and X”

• Record Congressional sessions from 1969 – 2014

• Transfer results into bar graphs

69-70 71-72 73-74 75-76 77-78 79-80 81-82 83-84 85-86 87-88 89-90 91-92 93-94 95-96 97-98 99-00 01-02 03-04 05-06 07-08 09-10 11-12 13-140

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

Comparison of Poor, Middle Class, & WealthySource: The New York Times

The Poor Middle Class Wealthy

Welfare Reform

The Poor Middle Class

Wealthy

Occupy Wall Street

This Semester: Track Socio-

Economic Terms in the Congressional

Record

“For every day Congress is in session, Capitol Words visualizes the most frequently used words in the Congressional Record, giving you an at-a-glance view of which issues lawmakers address on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis. Capitol Words lets you see what are the most popular words spoken by lawmakers on the House and Senate floor.”

Poverty

The Poor Middle Class

Wealthy

Inequality

The Rich

Capitol Words

Mission:

• Track the frequency of socio-economic terms

• Copy data from Capitol Words

• Compare with media graphs from last semester

The Poor Occurrence Over Time Occurrence By Party

The Poor

Wealthy

The Rich

The Poor v. Middle Class

95-96 97-98 99-00 01-02 03-04 05-06 07-08 09-10 11-12 13-140

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

The Poor Middle ClassThe Poor v. Middle Class

Media:New York Times

Congressional Record: Capitol

Words

Ambiguous terms like "the poor,"

"wealthy," and "the

rich" showed mixed results

Search results

show only the MOST RECENT

results for the terms

If you dig through

the other years more

relevant contexts appear

Most relevant: middle class,

inequality, poverty

Issues

Low IncomeLow Income Housing

Other Projects:Welfare Reform

Case Studies

Welfare Reform Case Studies

Collect roll-call votes for 16

different poverty-related bills

Download information

including: vote, gender, party,

religion, race, job type

Dr. Miler will use this data for her book as specific

case studies

Minimal Political

Representation of the

Poor

Individual Legislators

Congressional Bills

Media Coverage

Congressional Record

Conclusion:

- Poverty does not affect individual legislator’s actions

- Congress devotes minimal attention to the poor

• Hearings, debates, bill sponsorship, bills passed

⁻ Media coverage doesn’t focus on the poor

• Sources, time frames, terms