United States of America

House of RepresentativesSenate

Senate

Political system Political systems: Presidential, Parliamentary, Presidential-Parliamentary, Monarchy, Communist, Transitional.
Presidential system
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Structure of parliament Structure of parliament: Unicameral, bicameral
Bicameral
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IPU membership Current membership status
No
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Data on women

empty

Basic information > About parliament

Speaker

Speaker
Kamala D. Harris (Female)
Year of birth
1964
Additional information
Vice President
Speaker
Patrick J. Leahy (Male)
Year of birth
1940
See historical data for this field.

Secretary general

Secretary General
Ann Bishop-Berry (Female)
Notes Additional information about the Secretary General, in particular regarding their term.
Sworn in on 1 March 2021.

Members

Current number of members, by sex
Men The number of male parliamentarians who currently hold seats in parliament.
76
See historical data for this field.
Women The number of female parliamentarians who currently hold seats in parliament.
24
See historical data for this field.
Percentage of women Calculated by dividing the current number of women by the current number of members.
24% See historical data for this field.

Age

Average age of all members
Click for historical data
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Total number of MPs, 45 years of age or younger
5 See historical data for this field.
Total number of MPs, 46 years of age or older
95 See historical data for this field.
Total per sex
Total of male
75 See historical data for this field.
Total of female
25 See historical data for this field.
Total per age interval
18-20
0 See historical data for this field.
21-30
0 See historical data for this field.
31-40
1 See historical data for this field.
41-45
4 See historical data for this field.
46-50
11 See historical data for this field.
51-60
25 See historical data for this field.
61-70
37 See historical data for this field.
71-80
17 See historical data for this field.
81-90
5 See historical data for this field.
91 and over
0 See historical data for this field.
Number of members, by age
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Totals per age interval 0 0 1 4 11 25 37 17 5 0
Total <= 45: 5 Total >= 46: 95
Male 0 0 1 3 9 14 29 15 4 0 75
Female 0 0 0 1 2 11 8 2 1 0 25
Percentage of members, by age
Age as last election or renewalOverallMaleFemale
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger0%0%0%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger1%1%0%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger5%4%1%

Reserved seats and quotas

Electoral quota for women Quotas to promote the representation of women in parliament.
No
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Elections > Election results

Results

Members elected, by sex
Number of men elected
28
Number of women elected
7
Percentage of women elected The percentage is calculated by dividing the number of women elected in the election and the number of seats at stake at the election.
20%
Note on the Distribution of seats according to sex
- Thirty-five seats were contested at the 2020 Senate elections: 33 seats from regular renewal and two special elections.
- The “Full composition” in the “Parties or coalitions winning seats” above includes Senator Kamala Harris (Democrats) who was elected Vice President. She will resign as senator before being sworn in as the Vice President on 20 January 2021. She will become the Senate President by virtue of holding the post of the Vice President.
Number of women after election or renewal, by mode of designation
Women Directly Elected
7

New legislature

Total number of men after the election The total number of male parliamentarians in this parliament/chamber following the election or renewal, regardless of their modes of designation.
75
Total number of women after the election The total number of female parliamentarians in this parliament/chamber following the election or renewal, regardless of their modes of designation.
25
First Speaker of the new legislature
First Speaker of the new legislature First name of the Speaker of the new legislature following the election or renewal.
Kamala D. Harris (Female)
Political party
Democratic Party
Date of election
20.01.2021
First Speaker of the new legislature First name of the Speaker of the new legislature following the election or renewal.
Patrick J. Leahy (Male)
Political party
Democratic Party
Date of election
20.01.2021
Elections > Historical data on women

Women's suffrage

Women’s right to vote
Women’s right to vote Year in which women obtained the right to vote
1920
National or local Suffrage: National or Local
National
Restricted or unrestricted suffrage Suffrage: Restricted or Universal
Universal
Notes Suffrage: Additional Notes on right of suffrage
Even though African Americans were given the right to vote in 1870 with the 15th Amendment, the Supreme Court left to the state governments the responsibility for protecting most of the basic rights of their citizens, and some state governments passed laws that made it almost impossible for African Americans, to exercise their right.. In 1965, the Voting Rights Act confirmed that no person should be denied the right to vote on account of race or color. It must be noted that the State of Wyoming granted women the right to vote in 1869. Other States followed suite. The right to vote was granted at the federal level in 1920.
Women’s right to vote Year in which women obtained the right to vote
1965
National or local Suffrage: National or Local
National
Restricted or unrestricted suffrage Suffrage: Restricted or Universal
Universal
Notes Suffrage: Additional Notes on right of suffrage
Reconfirming the right to vote for men and women alike (from 1920 onwards women had the same voting rights as men)
Women’s right to stand for election
Women's right to stand for election Year in which women obtained the right to stand for election
1788
National or local Stand for Election: National or Local
National
Restricted or unrestricted suffrage Stand for Election : Restricted or Universal
Universal
Notes Stand for Election: Additional Notes on right to stand for election
The Constitution of 13 September 1788 does not mention sex with regard to the right to stand for election to either Houses of parliament.
First woman in parliament
First woman in parliament Year in which first woman entered parliament
1917
Notes
First woman speaker
Year of first woman speaker Date at which, for the first time in the country's parliamentary history, a woman became Presiding Officer of Parliament or of one of its Houses.
2007