Amazing reading about all of American’s problems no one has addressed really what started as the hole our nation is currently in. Here we find we cannot get any true and good representation anymore. Majority is deciding balance of representation and not a true reflection of the people. Article 1 Section 2 of the United States Constitution covers the House of Representatives, Clause 3 Seats is how constitutionally representation in the House of Representatives should be seated. Clause 3 states:
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
Clearly stated is “the Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand…“. The logic for determining this number can be found in Federalist Paper 55, along with the logic used to arrive there. Federalist Paper 55 was written by Madison and right off we see him write:
“first, that so small a number of representatives will be an unsafe depositary of the public interests; secondly, that they will not possess a proper knowledge of the local circumstances of their numerous constituents; thirdly, that they will be taken from that class of citizens which will sympathize least with the feelings of the mass of people, and be most likely to aim at a permanent elevation of the few on the depression of the many; fourthly, that defective as the number will be in the first instance, it will be more and more disproportionate, by the increase of the people, and the obstacles which will represent a correspondent increase of representatives.”
Further we find Madison adding:
“Another general remark to be made is, that the ratio between the representatives and the people ought not to be the same where the latter are very numerous as where they are very few.”
Clearly on the Federalist Paper 55 on 13 February 1788 we know Madison understood there needs to be a balance where a number of representatives is neither too few nor too many. One of my favorite quotes from this paper is:
“In all very numerous assemblies, of whatever character composed, passion never fails to wrest the sceptre from reason. Had every Athenian citizen been a Socrates, every Athenian assembly would still have been a mob.”
I leave you to ponder what that means to yourself.
One for every 30,000 was considered that balance whereby enough representation was present all people would be represented within the House of Representatives. To understand this you also have to recall the structure of our government as originally designed. The House of Representatives is the people’s house. The Senate whereby once appointed by State governments was the State representation at the government table. A truly balanced government.
It was after the 1920 census we saw a battle between rural and urban factions which caused the House for the only time in history to fail to reapportion itself based on the census.
1929 before the 1930 census government passed The Permanent Apportionment Act. This when signed became law limiting the number of Representatives to 435 and determined a very convoluted, political and constantly changing how those seats are split among the states. They start with one representative for every state, a total of 50, leaving 385 seats to be split based on the states population. Each state is given only one because of the constitution stating a minimum of one representative per state.
If we use the constitutional calculation, based on the 2020 census we would have a house with 11,048 members; although currently we have 435. Currently there are around 342 million people living in the U.S. having only 435 representatives where this is equal to one representative for every 786,207 people. One representative represents 26 times the number of people indicated in the constitution of 30,000 per representative.
Since 385 seats are split based on population clearly gives a majority consideration through representation to larger states such as California having 52, Florida 28, Texas 38. How about Wyoming, Vermont, South Dakota, North Dakota, Alaska, all having only one representative.
No wonder we are were we are today. In 1787 Madison warns us of this very situation we see today and still we have allowed our nation to get here. We got here because few know this is what happened and even fewer seem to care how badly since 1929 our constitution has been violated by every elected official in the land.
Our constitution is clear that the only way to change it is through amendment that are ratified by 2/3 of the states. In 1929 using the Permanent Apportionment Act law has circumvented the requirement of representation of the people as governed by the constitution. Still since 1929 citizens always vote for the someone from the two parties that brought us this unconstitutional law. They changed the number of representatives through law and not a constitutional amendment.
