Republican Minorities

Paper Summary:

When Congressman J.D Hayworth of the Republican party lost his campaign to fellow-Republican Deborah Pryce, he believed that it was due to the fact that her campaign was helped by the Democrats electing another woman, Nancy Pelosi as their leader and her nomination as the first woman Speaker nominee. This paper questions whether unqualified minorities are unfairly promoted over more qualified majorities in the House Republican Party to try to promote an image of diversity. It questions too whether Pryce really more qualified to be the Republican Conference Chairman then Hayworth or others. By creating a baseline for how a member of Congress could rise into a House Leadership post, this paper examines how minority Republican and Democratic members of leadership have been elected into leadership, with a special focus on comparing Pryce and Pelosi. This analysis also proves that while minority Republicans are encouraged more often than non-minorities to run for a leadership post, a majority of the time the minorities that are elected are qualified for their posts.

From the Paper:

"Hoops' guidelines can generate an effective roadmap for any Member of Congress that is interested in becoming a leader among leaders, but it can also serve as a tool of analysis. Six out of the seven Members of Congress that were examined in this thesis fit Hoops' guidelines and were or are successful leaders in the House. The only one did not fulfill these criteria, Watts, was an unsuccessful leader. The elections of Nancy Pelosi as the House Democratic Minority Leader and Deborah Pryce as the House Republican Conference Chairman were not because of their gender, but because of their qualifications. Their elections may have been historic, but they were well earned, thus it can be concluded that while the House Republican Party has at times attempted to promote minorities over majorities, these minority candidates are just a qualified if not more qualified than their majority counterparts to leader. This conclusion is proven and supported by Hoops' guidelines."

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