How has the makeup of Congress changed over the last few decades? Simply put, veterans have been making up a smaller and smaller percentage of those elected, while career politicians take their place.
David Mendoza, who maintains the Mendoza Line Tumblr, has assembled some interesting GIFs looking at the backgrounds of those elected to the U.S. House and Senate. He used Brookings’ Vital Statistics on Congress for the data.
It’s important to note that members of Congress were allowed to choose more than one occupation, so the totals may exceed the actual number of Representatives or Senators, Mendoza writes.
It’s interesting to note the increase in those who put their background as “public service/politics.”
A study from Pew Research also showed the gradual decline in military experience members of Congress have.
