The size of Congressional districts
Did you know that the Bill of Rights originally had 12 amendments in it? Two were not passed initially; one of them was ratified 200 years later and became the 27th Amendment; the other, Article the First as it originally was the first one proposed, is technically still pending. It stipulates the size of Congressional districts, to start at 30,000 and top out at 50,000 persons per representative.
If it had been passed (and never superseded), that would have given us a current House of Representatives with 6,000 members. Instead, with the House limited to 435 members, each district now represents almost 690,000 people.
There are people out there who feel that "435 can not faithfully represent 300,000,000 Americans". They reside at thirty-thousand.org and have a nice FAQ for you with questions like "Do we need more politicians?", "Wouldn't more Representatives mean a bigger government?", and "How would that many Representatives get anything done?" The answer to the latter bounces from saying that maybe fewer bills passed would be preferable, to noting that they get little done anyway.
6,000. The mind reels.
If it had been passed (and never superseded), that would have given us a current House of Representatives with 6,000 members. Instead, with the House limited to 435 members, each district now represents almost 690,000 people.
There are people out there who feel that "435 can not faithfully represent 300,000,000 Americans". They reside at thirty-thousand.org and have a nice FAQ for you with questions like "Do we need more politicians?", "Wouldn't more Representatives mean a bigger government?", and "How would that many Representatives get anything done?" The answer to the latter bounces from saying that maybe fewer bills passed would be preferable, to noting that they get little done anyway.
6,000. The mind reels.