The Jambar

The U.S. is the world’s second-largest democracy, with a population over 341 million, behind India with a population of 1.48 billion. Yet, the U.S. ranks as the second-least representative government in the world.

The U.S. Congress is the 23rd-largest legislative body on Earth with a total of 535 representatives in two legislative bodies. Among democracies, India ranks fourth in size with 788. The United Kingdom is first with 1,447 total representatives.

The 435 representatives that make up the House of Representatives represent all 341 million citizens in the nation, meaning each person in Congress represents approximately 761,000 Americans. The ratio of Americans and their representatives has grown so large that no elected official can feasibly represent their constituents.

Additionally, no representatives with voting power come from any of the U.S. territories, such as Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands, or the federal district of Washington D.C. Together, these territories and D.C. have a population of over 4.2 million — around the size of Oklahoma — with no voting representation in Congress.

This means the average American taxpayer is not properly advocated for by the representatives they elect, a grave disconnect from the revolution-era slogan of “no taxation without representation.” This political environment has led to stagnating wages and a rising cost of living according to a study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

A 2023 study by the Pew Research Center shows that 72% of Americans have an unfavorable view of Congress. A 2022 study by Data For Progress reports that 39% of Americans ages 18-29 do not believe they are represented by Congress at all.

So why can’t Congress just get bigger? Congress used to pass apportionment acts such as the Apportionment Act of 1911, which set the House’s size to 435 members. Aside from a temporary increase to 437 upon Alaska and Hawaii’s ascension to statehood, which was later reverted, this act has dictated the House’s membership cap for 115 years. Any law or amendment that would expand the House has to be passed by Congress, which 74% of Americans say is widely corrupt, according to a YouGov study in May.

Except for one.

During the first U.S. Congress in 1789, James Madison proposed a package of twelve amendments to appease Anti-Federalists. 10 were ratified and became the Bill of Rights, and an 11th became the 27th Amendment. The Congressional Apportionment Amendment – also titled Article the First — remained unratified, as it fell one state short of the amount needed.

The amendment, as interpreted by historian David Kyvig in his book “Explicit and Authentic Acts,” established a formula to steadily increase the size of the House to be proportional to the population. 

According to Madison’s formula, if applied to every census, the House of Representatives would have approximately 1,700 members with a district size of 200,000 per representative.

Unlike most amendments, Congress did not set a time limit on the ratification of the Congressional Apportionment Amendment. 

Any state legislature could pick up the amendment and pass a resolution ratifying it today, but it depends on the average American’s vote.

If 27 more states ratify the amendment, it will become constitutional law, and the maps will be legally required to be redrawn.