An Intersectional Analysis of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, 1979-2020

• In Event: Intersectionality and International Relations

Abstract

Although members of the US Congress have grown more racially and gender diverse over time, has this gender and racial diversity been integrated across the institution, particularly in terms of policy committees? White men have historically been responsible for American foreign policy decisions (as US Presidents, as cabinet appointees, and as members of Congress). Thus, one wonders if foreign policy decision-making in Congress remains a policy domain where whiteness and maleness still dominate? Has it shifted to better reflect the gender and racial diversification of the members? Who represents the country? Considering the power members of Congress hold to frame and direct American foreign policy (Lindsay 1992), the historic racialization and gendering of Congress as an institution (Hawkesworth 2003), and the impact of one’s identity on how one imagines what is “foreign” (Campbell 1992), applying an intersectional analysis is necessary to best understand the interplay of these relationships. In this study, we create an original dataset where we compare how the gender, race, and political party of House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) members mirrors the gender, race, and political party membership of the US House of Representatives between the 96th to 116th Congresses (1979-2020). We find that while women and people of color are a growing percentage of the HFAC membership, they are disproportionately underrepresented on average. However, for select Congresses, we find that women of color as a group are over-represented as HFAC members, suggesting the need for deeper research into what animates this unique trend. In sum, as a global economic and military power, American foreign policy decisions can affect the lives of men and women of every race worldwide. As the one space where members of Congress can hold authority over American foreign policy construction, oversight, and execution, we suggest that the HFAC membership should at minimum reflect the gender and racial diversity of the US Congress and strive to better reflect the gender and racial diversity of the country as a whole. These findings contribute to studies of foreign policy analysis, representation, intersectionality, and Congress.

Author

• Sara Angevine, Whittier College