[OC] Relative Share of Representation in the US Congress Compared to Lowest Represented State Leaves Montana with 80% More Representation in the House.RickMoranisFanPage t1_j3ddfqv wrote
Reply to comment by HugeRaspberry in [OC] Relative Share of Representation in the US Congress Compared to Lowest Represented State Leaves Montana with 80% More Representation in the House. by SexyDoorDasherDude
The easiest way to combat this would be to increase the number of representatives in The House. Congress hasn’t increased it from 435 for over 110 years even though the country as a whole has nearly quadrupled in population in the same time.
One way to do this would be to have the number of representatives correspond to the least populous state. Taking the population of the US in 2020 divided by the population of Wyoming in 2020 would give us 575 members. This would lessen the disparity highlighted on this graph.
This would take an act of Congress to do and not even an amendment to The U.S. Constitution. Unfortunately Congress is controlled by power hungry members and this would dilute their power so it won’t get passed anytime soon.
AgnosticAsian t1_j3e4419 wrote
>Congress hasn’t increased it from 435 for over 110 years
Another legacy of Woodrow Wilson.
There are many contenders for worst president ever but for me, he tops the chart easily.
RickMoranisFanPage t1_j3e56hw wrote
Was he against increasing the number of House seats?
AgnosticAsian t1_j3e8iy2 wrote
If you believe the freezing of House seats was at least partially motivated by racism and fear of the growing black population, it would certainly match with what we know of Wilson.
His opponent in the 1912 election, Taft, was also the last president to sign a bill increasing the number of House seats so there's that.
RickMoranisFanPage t1_j3ef2b4 wrote
Wonder why no subsequent President raised it since though
AgnosticAsian t1_j3ehuig wrote
Because everyone has just accepted the state of things and it hasn't become that big of an issue.
Yes, it's an issue but it's not something that greatly affects the daily lives of many. At least not in an immediate sense.
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