The House of Representatives is too small. Here is one way to fix it.

[In It to Win It]

For more than a century, the size of the House of Representatives has been frozen at 435 seats; in that same period, the US population has tripled. This means that today, the average representative is responsible for more than 750,000 constituents. Scholars and politicians say this imbalance is why many Americans feel like Congress is disconnected from them.

So what if we…added more seats? That’s what Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) is proposing in a new bill because he believes it’s closer to what the country’s founders originally envisioned. While expanding Congress could make our ratio of voters to representatives smaller, it also raises a difficult question: Can a larger, more crowded legislature actually govern, or are we just adding more voices to the gridlock? Vox dives into the math, the history, and the potential future of a "bigger" American democracy.

[murielm99]

1. Sean Casten is a good guy.

He has worked with the leadership of our state party to hold town halls in the red districts of our state. He is accessible and he answers questions honestly.

[rampartd]

2. many advantages to more representatives

constituent services load soread to more staffers

harder to gerrymander (well, different)

reforms this large should probably be considered as part of a much larger reorganization.