How popular is Congress?
Critical Analysis
Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, your big brain, the information provided and any links below:
What percent of the population approves of the current congress?
What year shown in the graph above had the highest approval of Congress?
Identify one trend from the graph above.
Why do you think congressional approval is at its current level?
President Biden currently has a 43% approval rating. Explain why Biden is more than twice as popular as Congress.
Is the data from the chart above a sign of a successful system of government?
We have a bicameral legislature consisting of a House and Senate. How would having a unicameral (one chamber) legislature impact Congressional approval?
Political polarization is the divergence of political attitudes away from the center, towards ideological extremes. Explain the connection between political polarization and congressional approval.
Explain how the data from the chart above might impact the decision of a potential congressional candidate to enter politics.
Do you approve of the current congress?
Write and Discuss
Take ten minutes to write about the question at the top of the page and then discuss with your classmates.
Act on your Learning
Contact your member of Congress and tell them whether you approve of the work they are doing them and why.
Get Creative
If the congress was a restaurant, what would it be?
Learning Extension*
Check out the latest Gallup Polling data on congressional approval. Caution: intended for mature audiences. Viewer discretion advised. Look through this list of members of the current 118th Congress. Now imagine you could ask any of them to go get a coffee. Who would you ask?
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