Why are there 538 Electoral Votes? Who decided on these Numbers? Does anyone ever question, Why!
What would be the effect of a larger Congress? What would be the impact if each Congressional District had fewer residents? What was the original intent of the Founders for the Congress?
What would John Boehner do if the Congress were larger? Could the Republicans and Democrats continue with their Two-Party system if the Congress was a larger, more representative body?
Could the Koch Brothers, Exxon-Mobil, Walmart, ALEC and other Corporate interests buy the legislative influence if every Congressional District represented a smaller group of voters? What would the influence of lobbying actually be in a larger body of representatives?
Article I, of the United States Constitution established the Legislature of the new government, the House of Representatives and the Senate.
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
The Constitution does not limit the number of members in the Legislature. The First Apportionment of Representatives is in the Constitution, Article I, Section 2, Paragraph 3:
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.
Section 5 states:
Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide.
After the Constitution was proposed, the Founders proposed 12 Amendments to the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment to the Bill of Rights would have established the Number of Citizens which were represented by each Congressional Representative:
"After the first enumeration required by the first article of the Constitution, there shall be one Representative for every thirty thousand, until the number shall amount to one hundred, after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall be not less than one hundred Representatives, nor less than one Representative for every forty thousand persons, until the number of Representatives shall amount to two hundred; after which the proportion shall be so regulated by Congress, that there shall not be less than two hundred Representatives, nor more than one Representative for every fifty thousand persons."
James Madison in the Federalist Papers, #58, specifically addressed concerns that the Legislative Body would not continue to grow to reflect growth of population. Actually, Eight of the Original 13 States passed the 1st Proposed Amendment, and 2 more would have made it law. Subsequently, Kentucky passed the Proposed Amendment. The Second Amendment that was proposed limited congressional payraises. It also was not initially approved, however, after Gregory Watson, a university government student realized that it was still a valid amendment, it was passed by a sufficient number of states to become an amendment in 1982, as the 27th Amendment. Madison said in the Federalist:
The large States, therefore, who will prevail in the House of Representatives, will have nothing to do but to make reapportionments and augmentations mutually conditions of each other; and the senators from all the most growing States will be bound to contend for the latter, by the interest which their States will feel in the former. These considerations seem to afford ample security on this subject, and ought alone to satisfy all the doubts and fears which have been indulged with regard to it.
What are the Benefits of having more Representatives?
One of the Strongest Arguments for having a more representative democracy is that when a Representative is from a smaller district, the people in the district will tend to have more influence than the lobbyists. If we had One Representative for every 50,000 as the 1st Amendment proposed, today's House of Reprentatives would be close to 6,000 members. The Party structure would be very difficult to maintain and third parties would certainly have an easier time to find a legislative position within the body of the legislature. The original founders were concerned that a small group of legislators would become a rich, oligarchic group that lost touch with the common people, and they wanted the Representatives to represent smaller districts.
The Arguments against a larger legislature involve the fact that a smaller legislature makes it possible for representatives to make personal acquaintances among themselves and get to know each other on a personal basis. That might also be an argument against a smaller legislature. Other arguments involve the costs of transportation and staffs. Of course, if Representatives have smaller districts it would not be necessary for them to have larger staffs.
Certainly, with the advent of electronic voting and computer emails and communication, a larger legislature would not be any more dysfunctional than what we currently have.
Perhaps, the biggest impact that a change in the size of the House of Representatives would have would be in the Electoral College. A larger House of Representatives would restore the concept of a Representative Democracy. Rather than having 7 States which have only One Representatives and Two Senators, Every State would be represented according to their populations.